Currently passenger car tyres carry labelling providing the consumer with information about their safety performance in dry and wet conditions, and about their emitted noise. There is a desire to add an aspect related to particle emissions and their effect on the environment, with tyre abrasion rate the prime relevant variable. There is currently no standardised, representative method of determining tyre abrasion rate—which means tyre particle emissions cannot currently be regulated.

We will devise and validate a standardised, representative and practical method to measure tyre abrasion rate for the purpose of legal classification and labelling. For the first time, the tyre abrasion rate will be compared to particle emissions determined from the vehicle and laboratory-based measurements.
We will propose a standardised on-road test for tyre abrasion rate, in order to stimulate the adoption of European standards on non-tailpipe emissions. The proposed test method will be applied to several Light-Duty vehicle tyres and validated data will be generated. This will be an important first step to put forward standardisation. Results will be shared in conferences and peer-reviewed publications, as well as disseminated through the UNECE-PMP informal Working Group and the Tyre Industry Project (TIP).