Prince William showed some impressive skills today (Image: Chris Ratcliffe – WPA Pool/Getty Images)
undertook a second engagement on Tuesday where he earned himself a new title as the Prince of Wheels.
The heir changed an environmentally-friendly tyre with ease on a visit to 2023 Earthshot Prize Finalist, ENSO, as they announced a pioneering new strategic partnership with Uber across the UK and USA.
The London-based start-up, which was a Finalist in the ‘Clean Our Air’ category of William’s prestigious environmental awards, creates tyres specifically designed for electric vehicles that are more sustainable and reduce harmful tyre pollution. At a Kia garage in west London, the future king was offered the chance by ENSO’s senior tyre technician Andrew Bernard, 28, to change the first tyre on its inaugural Uber vehicle, a Kia e-Niro.
Asked whether he had done it before, William said: “Oh loads of times!”
After being shown how to do it with an electric wheel nut remover, the royal changed the tyre with ease. “There you go, great job,” said Andrew, “you did that better than me.”
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With 1.5 billion vehicles on the road across the globe, the impact of tyres on air pollution is hugely significant. Their constant friction on roads releases harmful particulate matter, which results in invisible air pollution that is especially dangerous in cities.
In contrast to conventional tyres, ENSO’s low-emission tyres are precisely calibrated to enhance durability and reduce particulate pollution by 35 percent.
ENSO was a finalist in last year’s Earsthshot Awards and although they didn’t win were introduced directly to Uber by the Earthshot team, which has directly resulted in their new commercial deal with the global firm.
They are currently planning for an expansion into the US, where it is developing a $500 million carbon-neutral tyre factory that is due to be operational by 2027.
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Prince William said he had changed plenty of tyres before (Image: CHRIS J RATCLIFFE/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)
The Earthshot Prize was founded by four years ago as a global platform designed to discover, accelerate and scale ground-breaking solutions to repair and regenerate the planet.
Five winners are each given £1 million in prize money every year, but all finalists are offered invaluable practical assistance to develop their ideas.
The visit on Tuesday came within hours of another engagement undertaken by the prince where
The pair, who are visited to mark the end of the ’s ‘Up Against Time’ appeal that has raised £16m for two new helicopters.
The duo posed for photographs together and looked at the new helicopters, which they also signed with their signatures.