At the 2017 Geneva International Motor Show, Goodyear unveiled what the tire of the near future could look like. The IntelliGrip Urban is a concept tire designed for future-generation autonomous electric ride-sharing vehicles in urban areas.

On-demand transportation – or ride-sharing – as an alternative to taxis, rental cars, or actual driving is no longer just the choice of millennials. The value in convenience of immediacy, location and payment is appealing to all demographics and is bringing ride sharing services into the mainstream. The trend toward urban life creates an ideal environment for the adoption of these new modes of transportation.

“With a focus on vehicles for future urban areas, the IntelliGrip Urban concept tire’s technical features aim to maximize uptime and energy efficiency. This is crucial for ‘Mobility as a Service’ providers to offer improved mobility to their customers,” said Jean-Claude Kihn, president of Goodyear Europe, Middle East and Africa.  

The Goodyear IntelliGrip Urban, with its advanced Sensor-in-Tire technology, is a smart tire designed to support autonomous vehicle control systems and enhance passenger safety. The concept tire senses road and weather conditions. By gathering this critical data and sending it directly to the vehicle’s computer system, it enables the car to optimize speed, braking, handling and stability.

Future-generation autonomous fleets will be operating in a complex environment, with other vehicles, drivers, pedestrians and data from all of the elements making up the Internet of Things. Tires such as the Goodyear IntelliGrip Urban could play a critical role in this evolving ecosystem.

Furthermore, fleet operators will benefit from the tire’s tall and narrow shape, which reduces rolling resistance to increase energy efficiency and range of electrical vehicle fleets in an urban environment. The IntelliGrip Urban’s sensor technology would also allow operators to precisely identify and resolve tire-related issues before they happen. 

KEY FEATURES AND BENEFITS

The IntelliGrip Urban would enable fleets to monitor their vehicles and tires in real time, giving them a competitive advantage whilst helping to increase their profitability, supported by following key features:

• Sensor-in-Tire technology helps autonomous cars to better read road conditions, supporting and enhancing passenger safety and peace of mind. The entire fleet can benefit from the crucial Tire-to-Vehicle information exchange via the cloud.

• Proactive maintenance allows fleet operators to precisely identify and resolve tire-related and potential safety issues before they happen. A one-stop, user-friendly solution to maximize tire performance and schedule proactive maintenance helps to reduce total cost of operations and improve the uptime, efficiency and sustainability of the fleet.

• Tall and Narrow shape reduces the rolling resistance of the tire in order to increase the energy efficiency and range of the electrical vehicle fleet in an urban environment. The concept tire’s shape also contributes to improved aquaplaning performance, which allowed Goodyear’s designers to decrease the amount of grooves on the tire, increasing mileage and reducing noise levels.

The specially-designed tread provides grip in both winter and summer conditions in urban environments, maximizing uptime and optimizing the efficiency for fleets.