Wireless sensors in tyres are being trialled to improve overall tyre management and maximise uptime for the fleet, by tyre manufacturer Goodyear and Tesloop, a California-based city-to-city mobility service that uses a fleet of Tesla electric vehicles that average 17,000 miles per vehicle per month.

Goodyear and Tesloop trial in-tyre wireless data tracking

Chris Helsel, Goodyear’s chief technology officer said: “As the new mobility ecosystem continues to take shape, we are taking steps to match the pace of technical change in the transportation industry and develop tyre innovations that meet the intelligence of the vehicles riding on them.”

Together with other vehicle data, the wireless sensors continuously measure and record tyre temperature and pressure, which is then sent to Goodyear’s cloud-based algorithms that have been specifically designed to predict when tyres need servicing or replacement, the company has said.

In a sign of the times, Goodyear has also expanded its mobile fleet solutions to passenger vehicles, providing tyre maintenance and repair while Tesloop’s Teslas are regularly idle at charging stations.

“When operating cars nearly 24/7/365, minimising tyre incidents is critical to the customer experience and the business model,” said Rahul Sonnad, Tesloop’s CEO. “The possibilities for data-driven tyre diagnostics are remarkable and promise to help a business like Tesloop operate more efficiently.”

The new wireless data tracking builds upon Goodyear’s commercialisation of Goodyear Proactive Solutions for truck fleets, using advanced telematics and predictive analytics technology to allow fleet operators to optimise fuel efficiency and precisely identify and resolve tyre-related issues before they happen, the company said.