The Future of Tires: Smart
By: Discount Tire
We have smart cars, TVs, phones and even intelligent refrigerators nowadays, so no one should be surprised to hear that “smart tires” have finally hit the headlines.
WHAT ARE SMART TIRES?
No, we don’t mean tires for smart cars. We don’t mean tires for electric vehicles (EVs), either.
We mean tires that are smart.
Of course, just exactly what we really mean by “smart tires” is up for discussion. Wouldn’t any tire that can do more than roll in place be considered smart? Each tire manufacturer seems to have different ideas about what functions they should fulfill, or even precisely how advanced the tech they offer should be.
Regardless of manufacturer, they all aim to improve driving experience, increase safety and provide valuable data that can be used to create better tires in the future.
Note: it’s understandable to confuse airless tires with smart tires. They are pretty futuristic looking. But take it from us, they’re not the same thing!
PASSENGER VEHICLES
For example, Goodyear is launching sensor-equipped tires under their new brand, SightLine which includes treadwear and tire pressure alerts. This will initially be outfitted for fleets, specifically for light commercial vehicles like vans.
Called “predictive maintenance technology,” this tech uses cloud-based algorithms that fleet operators can communicate with in real time, greatly aiding in typical fleet transportation issues like flats. This definition of “smart tire” seems like the next logical step up from your basic TPMS system and, while extremely useful and an excellent safety upgrade, doesn’t really wow us (just yet).
Discount Tire does not currently stock the SightLine brand quite yet but we offer a huge inventory of other great Goodyear tire options.
But Pirelli, the Italian performance based tire manufacturer, dreams of tires that can forewarn drivers of changes in the road or hazardous obstacles and situations—and even do something about it, if need be. This is serious smart car-type behavior that requires a computer chip.
Pirelli is already beginning to include chips in tires, which you can see in the McLaren Artura supercar ($225,000 USD) that is equipped with Pirelli’s P Zero Trofeo tires. These send data about tire temperature and air pressure, giving drivers the info they need to perform better at the track.
The Pirelli P Zero Trofeo is not available through Discount Tire but we stock Pirelli’s other excellent tire lines and options!
Even ordinary tires nowadays have some “smart” features. Your typical TPMS (Tire Pressure Monitoring System) is standard on vehicles built after 2007. This system alerts your vehicle when your tires are 25% below their recommended tire pressure rating. Keep in mind, this system can’t tell you what caused your air leak. Nor does it alert you when there’s a loss of pressure above the 25% recommended reading, either.
TPMS also has nothing to do with tread depth or traction and does not analyze the road conditions and weather.
It’s basically a (potential) impending emergency alert, a far cry from what these other tires are boasting.
CONSTRUCTION, INDUSTRY & AGRICULTURE
Unless you’re in the business, you probably haven’t considered advances in construction or agricultural vehicle technologies. Here’s your chance: construction and agricultural equipment is typically large, expensive and very important to our infrastructure and well-being. Tractors, mining trucks, cranes, backhoes and dump trucks—they all need big tires that will work well, efficiently and, essentially, be on call 24/7.
Industrial, construction and agricultural vehicles themselves are quite expensive, and their tires aren’t any different. A 14 foot mining truck’s tires can cost $50,000 each. Average farm tractor tires can range between $1-3,000 with 1k being a steal (and the price tag can go much, much higher). Any business or firm will want to reduce operating costs while maximizing the amount of work that can be gotten out of each set of tires.
Smart tires not only offer valuable data to tire manufacturers about what’s required in each industry’s vehicles, but also deliver invaluable data that greatly assist with vehicle and operational management, such as maintenance, repair and scheduling.
FLEET & COMMERCIAL
Smart sensors are and have been installed on large fleet vehicles like large trucks, package delivery vehicles and semi-trucks for some time already. The transportation and delivery industry requires constant data and stats to keep their operating costs down. Knowing the frequency tires in their fleet must be replaced is key to this goal.
So it’s clear that there are benefits to the smart tire system. Using Goodyear’s SightLine brand, fleets will have real time access to the health of their tires and quickly generate safety information and services. The Goodyear chip is thin, round, about the size of the quarter and not visible. Connected via the internet, it picks up information such as road temps, traction, vehicle acceleration and tire pressure.
Cloud-based algorithms can then forecast potential issues and if a tire failure or blow out is imminent, the app sends an alert to display where the driver can go to get a repair. It adds less than $100 operating cost to a new vehicle, to boot.
Normally, a flat tire or repair can significantly set back a delivery route, costing time and money for the entire fleet. But this new tech should allow fleets to better react when these issues arise.
Also, Goodyear’s proprietary predictive maintenance tech can help with keeping fleet and commercial vehicles well maintained, working better for longer. As more and more people buy and shop online, the fleet/commercial industry will require more resources to meet demand, meaning more innovation, even with regards to its tires.
Check out Discount Tire’s Fleet program!
WHERE IS THE DATA GOING?
All of this exchanging of information between the tires and your vehicle sounds great! “Knowledge is power” and all that. But this begs the question—because you know that the data between the tires and vehicle doesn’t just stay between them like a secret—where is all this data going?
TIRE MANUFACTURERS & RETAILERS
Besides the driver, the parties most obvious to gain anything from smart tire data are of course tire manufacturers and retailers.
Customer usage data is absolutely invaluable for tire manufacturers and retailers because it helps them sell tires. Knowing precisely how their customer base is using their product allows them to adjust selling tactics so they’re offering what their customers want. It also helps them improve on current products so they fit emerging and present needs. It’s the most direct form of market research: raw consumer data.
NASCAR
NASCAR has actually been using tires with RFID tracking chips in them for years. They track data such as tread life and performance so they can continue to better driver’s safety and performance during races.
Considering the sheer amount of tires and driving required for motorsports, this isn’t surprising. You can easily imagine the thousands of tires that race cars go through on a single race weekend alone, tires that take quite a heavy beating from the extreme speeds and driving style required. Think of all that data (and possibly tires) going to waste. Understandably, NASCAR wants to maximize their resources and knowledge so they are constantly testing tires.
Goodyear has been the NASCAR tire manufacturer for half a century and has been heavily involved in tire and track testing. Although they’re quite mum on the subject of all their findings, designs and testing, we do know that we see those results not just on race days but also on the street. Engineering and design innovations on the track often find ways to enter the passenger vehicle market, especially for performance tires.
Mike Martini, president of the U.S and Canada Consumer Tire Sales Divisions at Bridgestone notes in the Detroit Free Press that:
“Racing is the ultimate proving ground for our tire technologies, and it helps our company develop and test improvements to the fundamental materials we use to build our tires for everyday driving.”
Racing is the most extreme form of driving so it makes sense to use data collected there to apply to ordinary driving tires, ensuring they’re well within safety and performance limits.
IS THIS AN INVASION OF PRIVACY?
In short: Not really.
Chips in tires aren’t a new phenomenon. Goodyear has been putting them in tires since 1993 and was looking into RFID technology as far back as 1984. Continental has offered digital tire monitoring systems for years to equip medium-duty trucks. You’ve probably bought a set with them already installed. However, they’ve been used for less nefarious purposes than you’d suppose, mainly for inventory logging.
Tires look very similar so you can imagine the nightmare it must be in huge warehouses trying to locate a very specific tire. The government has nothing to do with this technology; it’s purely a need on a manufacturer’s level.
On Discount Tire’s end, Product & Quality Manager Josh Sortor wants customers to know that:
“Typically, the sensors in tires just have an ID associated with them and those IDs are “paired” to the vehicle. To my knowledge, there has been no customer information saved on those devices.”
And although the idea of personal driving data being used to sell them more products might raise consumer hackles, in this industry it’s actually a boon to the customer. Enhancements to tires means advancements in safety and performance features that directly benefit drivers. Futuristic features like speed and blow-out warnings or even tires reaching out to repair services for you are all within the potential scope for what smart tires (and the data they collect) could do for drivers.
At the end of the day, the data is impersonal (not remotely juicy or interesting or even connected with you personally) and widely intended for beneficial use by all.
THE FUTURE OF TIRES
COST & IMPLEMENTATION
Currently, the tires mentioned previously (Goodyear and Pirelli) don’t have pricing available online. Potential customers need to contact Goodyear and Pirelli directly for information. Goodyear’s SightLine isn’t even available on their regular website; it has its own site. Goodyear’s SightLine will be available as original equipment for new mobility and fleet providers.
Our best guess is that these tires will be, like any other technological innovation, a bit pricey to start. We expect costs to fall as the tech becomes more commonplace and easier to source. Likely add-on tech features will be available to upgrade “normal” tires.
Nokian Tyres seems to think that smart tires will be a common sight on the road in five years (at the latest). This is because of the rise in smart cars and emerging auto-pilot systems seen on Teslas.
The head of Digital Technology for Nokian has stated: “If a car does not have an active driver to ensure that the tires are safe to use, safety needs to be measured in another way.”
It’s certainly true; tires are the only thing connecting your vehicle to the road and if our future is one where humans aren’t managing risk while driving, they’re probably going to neglect regular maintenance of driving systems like tires. They’re a component that future commuters might not pay attention to in lieu of other vehicle features, such as seat comfort, seating capacity and spaciousness, or even safety features like air bags.
In the meantime, we have smart cars to contend with and smart tires might help those drive even better. For example, your anti-lock braking system (ABS) helps prevent wheels from locking. Smart tires that read tread depth could communicate with the ABS computers to auto adjust as the tread wears away. This would help your ABS work efficiently even as your tires age and wear down.
Smart tires also allow a smooth transition between driver piloted vehicles to robotic vehicles (read: autonomous cars). Regular vehicles can be equipped with smart tires now and the tech can grow in the years to come, ideally being fully prepped for auto-piloted highways of the future.
DISCOUNT TIRE
Discount Tire does not currently stock any smart tires. However, we’re excited at the prospect of tires that help drivers stay safe and improve their driving experience. You can guarantee that Discount Tire will offer smart tires when they become an integral component of a vehicle’s safety system. Until then, we’ll continue to service traditional tires that provide superb performance and experience at excellent prices.
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