Smart tires are rolling out to predict flats, blowouts
What if your car tires alerted your smartphone when they need to be replaced?
Tire makers have come up with a host of ideas to kickstart a future where conventional black rubber tires do more than roll down the highway. For instance, Italian tire manufacturer Pirelli envisions scenarios where tires sense changes on the street, predict hazardous situations and can intervene if necessary. Some concepts are grounded more closely to where transportation is today, such as tires with embedded sensors offering early indications of damage.
The possible benefits are twofold: Tire companies get sellable information on driving behavior, and they can use the data to enhance products. And consumers get futuristic features that make vehicles feel more like smartphones on wheels.
“Tire sensors know how you’re driving, where you’re driving and how quickly the tire is wearing down,” said David Shaw, chief executive of consultancy Tire Industry Research. “If you get a puncture or blowout, then it can phone home and organize a service stop for you. But most importantly, they want to get the data.”
Some next-generation tire sensors are already on the road, primarily on large trucks that transport goods for companies. But they’re making their way onto high-end consumer vehicles, too. Earlier this year, McLaren announced a hybrid supercar with computer chip-loaded tires that can warn drivers if they’re approaching the tire’s maximum speed rating.
In one of the latest examples, Goodyear is bringing intelligence to tires on light commercial vehicles such as package delivery vans. The product serves as one step in a wider push to add connectivity to all its tires by 2027, which means lower-end consumer cars may one day have tires built to predict breakdowns and alert drivers of wear.
Goodyear’s sensor-equipped tires are launching under the firm’s new SightLine brand and will include software offering treadwear and tire-pressure alerts.
“Think of it like a Fitbit for the tire,” said Chris Helsel, chief technology officer and senior vice president, global operations at Goodyear. “Much like smartwatches that monitor vitals like heart rates and oxygen levels, SightLine’s tire intelligence monitors the health of a tire.”
Typically, internet-connected sensors are mounted on the inside of a tire. In Goodyear’s case, it looks like a thin, round chip, roughly the size of a quarter.
As the surface of the tire contacts the road, the internal sensor picks up information about road temperature, tire pressure, traction and vehicle acceleration. A built-in telematics device then sends that data to the cloud. And once retrieved, an algorithm works to forecast when a problem is likely to occur. If the system detects and determines that a blowout is imminent, it can send an app alert with options on where to get it fixed.
The system including tires, sensors and the software would add about $96 annually to the operating cost of a new vehicle, Goodyear says. The tire tech could show up on passenger vehicles within two years, Helsel says. It’ll first roll out on light delivery vehicles this summer.
Since the sensors come in direct contact with tires and come in proximity to the pavement, they supposedly offer richer data than today’s industry-standard tire-pressure monitoring systems. Those are mounted on air valves and are responsible for the tire pressure readings on your dash.
Goodyear is among several tire makers to bet on techembedded tires. German automaker Continental has sold digital tire monitoring systems for medium-duty trucks for years. The sensors mounted inside the tire can also be purchased separately and retrofitted. French manufacturer Michelin and Japan-based Bridgestone have similar tech to measure strain on tires.