A number of tire manufacturers highlighted their future mobility solutions at the recent Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas, Nev.
Bridgestone Americas Inc. discussed “how its end-to-end customer experience, comprised of a suite of solutions, is driving sustainability, efficiency, safety and productivity for fleets large and small,” and highlighted its Bridgestone Fleet Care program, which it describes as “an end-to-end resource for fleets.
“Fleet Care provides end-to-end solutions for fleet management, leveraging sophisticated platforms to help keep vehicles, assets and drivers safe and operating efficiently. These solutions include GPS tracking, video telematics, driver behavior management, accident reduction solutions, route optimization and asset utilization tools.”
According to Bridgestone officials, another component of Bridgestone Fleet Care is Bridgestone ENLITEN technology, which “marks a major pivot in how the company approaches tire design to deliver both dynamic performance and increased use of renewable and recycled materials.
“Bridgestone’s recently announced expansion to its Warren County, Tenn., tire plant will integrate ENLITEN technology for commercial applications.”
The company “aims to integrate the exceptional capabilities of ENLITEN technology across its business, providing excellence in casing durability, retreadability, rolling resistance and wear for all applications. With ENLITEN, Bridgestone will develop and deliver ENLITEN technology- equipped tires customized for customers, all while working to exceed customer and market demands.”
Bridgestone also highlighted its suite of tire monitoring and management solutions. “By making tires smarter through real-time tire monitoring, these solutions are designed to help fleets reduce tire costs, increase productivity and improve safety,” say Bridgestone officials.
Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. announced plans for new collaborations and unveiled a new tire, the Goodyear ElectricDrive 2, which is an all-season tire designed for electric vehicle (EV) applications.
Available in May 2024, the Goodyear ElectricDrive 2 will come in 17 sizes to fit consumer EV sedans and CUV, including the Tesla Models Y, 3 and S; the Ford Mustang Mach-E and others.
Features include an aerodynamic sidewall that lowers aerodynamic drag; asymmetrical tread patterns for improved grip and responsiveness on wet and dry roads; SoundComfort Technology foam inserts to reduce vehicle noise; and more.
“With the continued adoption of EVs, we want to meet consumer and market needs with an updated EV replacement tire,” said David Reese, vice president, of product development, Goodyear Americas.
Goodyear also announced a collaboration with ZF, a global leader in vehicle systems and industrial technology, which has resulted in the integration of tire intelligence technologies with vehicle motion control software.
The collaboration delivers Goodyear SightLine, a suite of tire intelligence technologies, into the ZF cubiX ecosystem, a scalable vehicle motion control software that coordinates all dimensions of vehicle dynamics.
This provides further tire and road data into the chassis system and enables an improved driving experience with better comfort, control and efficiency, according to Goodyear officials.
“Goodyear SightLine will deepen our connection to the road and expand the scope and value of cubiX by supporting the era of software-defined vehicles,” said Martin Fischer, member of the board of management responsible for the ZF Chassis Solution division. “By joining our ecosystems, our customers will unlock a range of possibilities to customize and optimize their solutions in both vehicle motion and tire intelligence.”
Goodyear and Gatik, an autonomous middle mile B2B logistics fleet, announced a successful integration of tire intelligence technology into an autonomous driving system.
Gatik's autonomous fleet, consisting of Class 3 through Class 7 box trucks, is equipped with Goodyear’s Endurance RSA tires with SightLine technology. This enables Gatik to “advance the safety and overall accuracy of its efficient fleet operations while improving delivery uptime,” according to Goodyear officials.
In 2024, Gatik officials say they plan to implement the intelligent tire solutions into a “significant portion” of its autonomous fleets across the United States and Canada.
"The groundbreaking integration of Goodyear SightLine technology into Gatik's autonomous fleet is a first in the industry,” says Gautam Narang, co-founder and CEO of Gatik.
TDK Corp. and Goodyear also announced a collaboration to bring a robust tire sensing system to the market by combining TDK’s software, sensor and electronic components with Goodyear’s tire development, intelligent solutions and industry trends.
“This alliance will have the joint benefit of accelerating both technology and customer access to the highest performance sensor technology in the market,” said Jim Tran, general manager, of Americas HQ and deputy general manager, of technology and intellectual property center, TDK Corp.
Continental AG also showcased its vision for future mobility at CES.
“We are advancing technology solutions for the new era of mobility,” said Aruna Anand, president and CEO of Continental Automotive, North America.
“Continental has an impact on almost every aspect of the vehicle. By leveraging our expertise in software-driven mobility, we are shaping the future of mobility.”
Continental showcased its Crystal Center Display and the Curved In2visible Display; Continental’s Smart Cockpit High-Performance Computer, a collaboration with Google Cloud; the company’s Radar Vision Parking Solution; and other future mobility technologies.
Continental also showcased its Zone Control Unit (ZCU), which it describes as "a modular platform for electronic control unit. ZCUs form the mid-level of the electrical/electronic architecture between the 'server level' with high-performance computers and the individual electronic components such as sensors and actuators."
CES started on Jan. 9 and wraps up on Jan. 12.
