TC02: A patented electrostatic cleaning device that captures tyre wear at source to reduce air pollution

Standard tyres shed approximately 10-30% of tread during their lifetime, generating micro-pollutants which enter our atmosphere, oceans and impact human health. Over 40M tyres are fitted to cars annually in the UK alone, and will shed ~16% of their mass. This problem is exacerbated by the uptake of ULEVs, which are heavier and have higher torque, resulting in 30% faster tyre-wear than ICE vehicles. **Increasing ULEVs on-the-road will increase carbon emissions from tyres as a direct consequence,** particularly for high mileage LGVs moving to electric. Fleet investment in EVs will increase by almost 50% over the next two years to £12bn. Currently, apart from cleaning our roads regularly, or dramatically overhauling the tyre industry, there is no immediate or preventative solution to reducing emissions.

The Tyre Collective (TTC) has developed a **patented electrostatic cleaning filtration device, attachable to vehicle wheels which collects tyre shed at source, preventing it from entering the environment.** This revolutionary device will be able to attach to any size wheel, and capture PM.

In this project, TTC will work with future customers to trial our devices on fleet vehicles. We will work with leading experts in Computational Fluid Dynamics to achieve a PM capture rate of 60%. The main outcome of this project will be TC02 V1, ready for soft-launch by Spring 2024\.

In this project we will:

* Optimise design of TC02, aiming to match our in-lab capture rate of 60% on-road
* Conduct a demonstrator trial with Zhero/WJ Group to test our device on fleet vehicles and across our future market
* Carry out a safety and regulation assessment for TC02
* Environmental assessment to review the impact of TC02 over its lifetime.
* Launch TC02 Version 1 for LGVs

TTC has gained significant traction from awards (e.g James Dyson Award), and has built a strong network of backers, supporters and advisors from industry including (e.g CEVT). Our team comprises mechanical, automotive and design engineers, and a team of senior commercial advisors. This project will include contributions from world-leading experts in Computational Fluid Dynamics (Filipe Buscariolo), particulate matter analysis and characterisation (Imperial College London), manufacturing and product safety (JNDC) and sustainability (Pilio).