Tyre pollution is a thing, and this car is already fixing the issue
This clever electric car captures some of the tiny particles produced by tyre and brake wear – while its lightweight design aims to produce less in the first place
Quick Summary
VENTRA is a student-built electric car from Eindhoven University of Technology designed to capture tyre and brake particles as they are released.
Its T.R.A.C.E. system can capture a simulated 42% of tyre particles during city driving, while the 790kg car is designed to reduce tyre wear in the first place.
Tyre pollution is a thing. And while we tend to think of electric cars as producing no emissions, there's actually a problem with that idea, the tyres are still touching the road.
That's where VENTRA can help. Created by the student team TU/ecomotive at Eindhoven University of Technology, this electric car is designed to capture some of the particles produced by tyre and brake wear before they disappear into the environment.
The clever bit is the orange wheel covers. Behind them sits a system called T.R.A.C.E., which uses electrostatics to collect particles close to where they're produced.
At higher speeds, airflow helps direct the particle-filled air towards the collectors, while small fans help pull air in at lower speeds. According to the team's simulations, around 24% of tyre particles can be captured between 50 and 80km/h, rising to 42% during city driving. Those are simulation figures rather than real-world test results, so there's still plenty to prove.
The car is trying to make less pollution too
VENTRA isn't just about catching the stuff that comes off the tyres. It's also designed to reduce how much gets produced in the first place.
The car weighs just 790kg, helped by a carbon-fibre-reinforced thermoplastic chassis weighing around 135kg. TU/ecomotive says a conventionally constructed equivalent would weigh around 230kg.
Weight means more load on the tyres, which can mean more wear. And that's interesting for EVs, where large battery packs can make cars considerably heavier than their petrol and diesel equivalents.
There's also a system called Clean Drive, which monitors how the car is being driven and gives the driver feedback. Smoother acceleration, gentler braking and less unnecessary steering should all help reduce tyre and brake wear.
And the students haven't stopped at collecting the particles. Some of the material captured by VENTRA has already been incorporated into an enamel coating inside the car, effectively turning the stuff that would otherwise have ended up on the road into part of the vehicle itself.
VENTRA is still an experimental concept rather than something you'll be able to order from your local EV dealer. But it highlights an important problem with modern cars, getting rid of exhaust emissions doesn't mean getting rid of all the particles a car produces.
As EVs become more common, the focus is starting to move beyond what's coming out of the exhaust pipe – and this little Dutch concept shows what that could look like.
