Transcript

Cortney Piper: Welcome to Energizing Tennessee, powered by the Tennessee Advanced Energy Business Council. We’re your number-one podcast for news about Tennessee’s advanced energy sector. I’m your host, Cortney Piper. Electrification is a topic we return to time and time again on Energizing Tennessee. We’ve interviewed representatives from major automotive companies about their electrification goals, as well as regional utilities about building out EV charging infrastructure.

And a national media outlet about how the Southeast has become a major EV and battery supply chain hub. But one part we haven’t covered yet is the tire industry. You might be wondering why an electric vehicle needs a specialized tire. We’ll dive into that later. For today’s episode, I had the pleasure of speaking with Dale Harrigle, the Chief Engineer of Tire Development, Consumer Replacement at Bridgestone Americas.

Dale shared fascinating insights into how EVs place unique demands on tires, Bridgestone’s commitment to sustainability, and the future of tire technology. If you’re a car enthusiast like me, this is a conversation you won’t want to miss. And as always, if you like what you hear, subscribe to our channel and leave a rating or review.

It helps us reach a wider audience and champion Tennessee’s advanced energy sector.

Today, I’m speaking with Dale Harrigle, chief engineer of tire development, consumer replacement at Bridgestone Americas. Dale, thanks for coming on the show.

Dale Harrigle: Good morning and thanks for having me.

Cortney Piper: I don’t think I’ve interviewed a chief engineer of tire development. I am very excited about this episode.

I grew up in a car family in Southeast Michigan, right around the Detroit area. So I’m very excited about this episode. Dale, you’ve spent over 30 years with Bridgestone. So talk to us a little bit about your career path. Where did you start and how did you get to where you are today?

Dale Harrigle: Cortney, you bet you mentioned on a couple of podcasts that you grew up in an automotive family in Michigan.

I grew up in Pennsylvania in an automotive family. Big fan of motor sports. And I actually started at Bridgestone right out of college and was lucky enough to be a part of our racing organization. I started in Firestone racing as an engineer, I left Firestone racing as chief engineer after the hundredth running of the Indy 500.

So I’ve always had a passion for automotive. I had a passion for racing and spent a long time in my career at Bridgestone Firestone. In the motor sports area and then transition to the consumer tire development, where I also get to work on performance and luxury tires. So I have been in the automotive industry, been interested in automobiles as long as I can remember.

Cortney Piper: Dale, you’re my kind of person. You are my kind of person. This is going to be a great interview. Now we’ve talked about your career path. How has the company evolved during that time? And what key developments have you witnessed that have really shaped the industry?

Dale Harrigle: I think the biggest thing for Bridgestone over the last 30 years has been our transition into a fully global company.

When I started, it was still very North American focused. And lately I’ve seen a huge focus on larger topics like sustainability, renewable and recycled materials, things of that nature. And those types of things really have a global impact. And then as far as tire industry itself. One of the largest changes in the last 30 years has been the introduction of silica to tread compounds.

Prior to about 1990, tread compounds were always carbon black based. And once the transition to silica occurred, silica allows for much better rolling resistance and carbon black compounds while maintaining wet performance. So it was a unique technology that actually expanded tire technology to the areas that we see today.

Cortney Piper: Talk a little bit more about rolling resistance for our audience and why is that, why that is so important?

Dale Harrigle: Rolling resistance of a tire is directly linked to either fuel economy on a conventional vehicle or range on an electric vehicle. And we are always trying to minimize the energy lost in the rolling tire.

But because the tire has to conform to the surface has to conform to the road, we’re always going to see some energy loss. We call that energy loss rolling resistance in the tire industry. And it’s something that we’re always pushing to minimize and reduce.

Cortney Piper: And I’m glad that you all are doing that. And, we have seen more and more manufacturers developing products to support the growing EV sector, including tires.

And you just talked about why this is so important. And last year, Bridgestone Americas debuted a new Turanza EV grand touring tire that is a tongue twister Dale. And the company’s first ever replacement tire designed specifically for premium electric vehicles, and it featured some new Bridgestone technology.

So my first question, very fundamental, but what are the unique demands that electric vehicles place on tires?

Dale Harrigle: In general, most of the electric vehicles we’ve seen to date are heavier than conventional vehicles, and a lot of that has to do with the weight of the battery. But the other thing about that battery is it’s placed very low in the vehicle, so it affects braking, handling, acceleration, where most electric vehicles on the market right now have awesome acceleration.

They have full torque at zero engine RPM. So there are a lot of fun to drive and people have taken advantage of that fun to drive by, using that accelerator. When you do that it greatly increases the amount of wear that an electric vehicle can put on the tires. So we’ve seen, in a lot of electric vehicles, lower wear life and one of the ways that Bridgestone has addressed this is through our peak life polymer. Peak life was brand new on the Turanza EV and peak life gives a significant wear improvements and, also helps us maintain or lower the rolling resistance of the tire. So the biggest focus for EV tire is the wear life and the performance of the tire over life.

Cortney Piper: What are some other ways that Bridgestone has responded to the needs of EV specific tire technology? I mentioned the enlightened technology. Can you talk a little bit more about that and really just anything else that you all have done to respond to this new needs that are specific to electric vehicles?

Dale Harrigle: Enlighten is really a suite of technologies for us. It allows us to put a number of advanced technologies into the tire, everything through the manufacturing process, actually. Through the tire itself, and it’s focused on improving sustainability, also improving where life and rolling resistance of the tire.

The Turanza EV was launched with 50% sustainable and renewable materials, which is one of the highest tires available on the market today. And it is the highest current Bridgestone tire. So that enlightened technology envelope allows us to roll those technologies into the tire. Another key thing with electric vehicles is they tend to be very quiet.

You don’t have the engine noise. So with Turanza EV, we’ve implemented some technologies in our tread pattern that the tread pattern actually has little ridges in it that helped to break up the sound produced as the tire rolls down the road, and that helps keep the tire quieter and helps the tire be perceived as quieter to the driver, to the passengers can reduce cabin noise up to upwards of 30%.

Cortney Piper: Wow. I would have never have thought about that. Dale, are there any challenges with engineering or manufacturing these new kinds of tires? You talked about incorporating silica, you’ve talked about different designs, tread designs.

Is there anything particularly different or challenging about the engineering and manufacturing process for these kinds of tires?

Dale Harrigle: I think, the biggest challenge from an engineering perspective has been the amount of new technology that we’ve brought into these tires. We mentioned Peak Life.

Peak Life was a revolutionary new comp or polymer process that we brought to the market very quickly because we recognize the need with the Turanza EV. So that was one aspect. There’s also The sustainable and renewable materials that we’ve incorporated into the tire. There was a large amount of engineering around those materials to make sure that they’re validated and ready for the market.

So I think it was the overall technology package all wrapped up in our enlightened technology that really pushed us as an organization to be better, to move towards the Turanza EV.

Cortney Piper: Is the way that you manufacture these tires different from the tires that you would manufacture for just your regular old run of the mill internal combustion engine vehicle?

Dale Harrigle: Not particularly. The materials are different. The materials are new, but the manufacturing process has been honed over a very long time for tires. And the manufacturing process is pretty much the same. And we will see these materials and these ideas cascade across into other tire types as we move forward.

Potenza Sport All Season also uses Enlightened technology. That’s our offering for more of an enthusiast driver that still wants an all season product that uses Enlightened technology. That’s using Peak Life polymers. We saw Peak Life polymers incorporated into our Dueler Ascent tire, which just launched back in August, which is more of a pickup truck SUV type tire. So we’ll see these technologies cascade throughout our complete product offering as we move into the future.

Cortney Piper: That was really my next question is how do you see the shift towards EV specific tires reshaping the industry? Is there anything more that you want to add to that?

Dale Harrigle: I think the other thing that’s going to be key is just the predicted growth in EVs.

In 2024, EVs were 9% of vehicle sales. By 2027, they’re expected to be 25% percent of vehicle sales in the United States. So we’ll continue to see this EV market expand. I think we’ll continue to see EVs Maybe address different mobility needs than they are today. And we’re trying to stay on top of those trends and make sure that we have tires ready as those different EVs come to market.

Cortney Piper: Bridgestone is deeply committed to sustainability from materials to recycling. And it’s one of the reasons that we love having you all as a member of the Tennessee Advanced Energy Business Council. So can you tell us why sustainability is such a priority and highlight some of the most impactful initiatives the company is currently working on?

Dale Harrigle: Sustainability has always been deeply ingrained in Bridgestone’s DNA. And for Bridgestone, sustainability is about delivering value and for society and for our customers by improving the way people move, live and work by improving mobility not only for now, but also for generations to come.

And we’ve set some pretty ambitious targets for the future, including 2050 targets for carbon neutrality and delivering tires made for 100 percent renewable materials. One of the big items that I can talk about from a sustainability focus is guayule. Guayule is a desert shrub, which is currently being grown in parts of Arizona, and it replaces the natural rubber. Right now natural rubber is typically almost 100% sourced from, trees in our biggest plantation is in Liberia in northern Africa and guayule allows us to have a different source of natural rubber. It performs the same as rubber from Hiva trees, I believe it’s called.

And that allows us to do a couple of things. It allows us to diversify the supply. It also allows us to grow guayule in Arizona as a desert shrub. It doesn’t require irrigation. It grows naturally. So it’s a good crop for Arizona that is very sustainable. And one of the ways we’re demonstrating the value of guayule and how it is a one to one replacement for Hiva rubber is through our Firestone racing program. Our IndyCar program. We actually have alternate sidewalls that have the guayule rubber incorporated into the sidewall. So we’re using racing as a demonstration of the practicality and the ability to drive sustainability forward through the use of some of these alternate materials.

Cortney Piper: That is fascinating. And racing gives Bridgestone and these demonstrations just a wider audience and eyeballs and a look into how these one to one replacements actually work and can do the job. That is just, that is a brilliant idea. Dale, you did not mention earning ISCC plus certification. I know that’s a major milestone. So can you, first of all, explain what that is? And what it means for Bridgestone’s broader sustainability goals.

Dale Harrigle: ISCC plus is a globally applicable certification standard that aims to increase transparency and traceability of our raw materials through the process. In the case of natural rubber, ISC goes all the way back to the plantation in Liberia, which is ISCC certified and demonstrates that the rubber came from a particular source that we said it did. And it’s tracked all the way through that process to the tires that it’s actually delivered to the consumer. It allows us to demonstrate that we are working or applying the sustainability goals.

It also is a independent verification that Bridgestone is doing the sustainability actions that we claim that we are. We actually have since 2022 we have 16 facilities that are now ISCC plus certified, including the facility that builds our race tires that we just talked about a moment ago and these certifications also represent major strides to our 2050 goal, which includes achieving that carbon neutrality and tires from 100% renewable and sustainable resources.

Cortney Piper: Dale, I am consistently impressed by Bridgestone’s very intentional focus on sustainability as well as innovation and the quality of products you all are able to make available to the market. It is an incredible feat. And I am so proud and pleased to have Bridgestone represented in the state of Tennessee.

It is just absolutely amazing. Before we wrap up, I do want to recognize Bridgestone as a valued TAEBC member since the very beginning Nick Ramos, who currently serves on our board. He’s your executive director of environmental affairs and I want to thank him for providing leadership to our board, but then also for recommending this topic, Dale, and for having you on the podcast.

I think tires are one of the most underrated part of a vehicle, whether it’s your run of the mill, typical internal combustion engine or an electric vehicle, the kind of tire that you have on that vehicle can make a huge difference. Not only when you’re talking about safety, but also miles per gallon.

You’ve got the right tires on your vehicle and you provide the proper maintenance and you will get more MPG out of that vehicle. For whatever reason I am going to just chalk it up to being from the Detroit area. I love a good tire. I love a good tire. I’ve got Bridgestones on my car now. I got Bridgestones on my cars quite a number of years ago.

And the first time I had them on my vehicle, I was hooked. Thank you all very much for that. Dale, looking ahead, what other innovations or projects are on the horizon at Bridgestone that you can share with us?

Dale Harrigle: I think the thing that excites me the most is, we’ve talked about some of these very unique technologies new to the market.

I think it’s the idea of taking some of these technologies and continuing to spread them across mobility. We will see more products come out with Enlighten. Enlighten has very real benefits for rolling resistance, for fuel savings, for wear life things of that nature. And we’ll continue to push those products across the organization across our entire product line so more consumers can benefit from those technology improvements, not everyone right now has an electric vehicle, but we want to take what we’re learning from the EVs and continue to push those learnings across our entire product line.

Cortney Piper: Excellent. Dale, tell our listeners where they can learn more about you and Bridgestone.

Dale Harrigle: Bridgestone is where I would recommend starting is just BridgestoneTire.com on the World Wide Web. And then from there, we do have a number of items that address our sustainability focus and also talk about our great products that we have on the market today.

Cortney Piper: Excellent. Dale Harrigle, Chief Engineer of Tire Development, Customer Replacement at Bridgestone America’s Thank you for coming on the show.

Dale Harrigle: You’re welcome. Thank you for having us.

Cortney Piper: And that’s our show. Thanks for tuning into Energizing Tennessee, powered by the Tennessee Advanced Energy Business Council, your number-one podcast for news about Tennessee’s advanced energy sector. Subscribe on Apple podcasts or wherever you get your podcast and if you’d like what you heard, please share it with others or leave a rating and review.

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