Goodyear branches out to address new mobility trends

AKRON—Chris Helsel, Goodyear's senior vice president and chief technology officer, must need a large score card to keep up with the activities of his global research and development team.

Working out of four global innovation labs, the Akron-based firm has a broad range of ongoing projects, many focused on the future of transportation and mobility, and others looking to improve the performance of its tires that are used in today's world. There are numerous partnerships, trends to keep up with and splashes to be made at such iconic venues as the recent Geneva International Motor Show.

"At Goodyear, our New Ventures team includes our innovation labs, which we've positioned to test, learn and build solutions with players in the new mobility space, from fast-growing start-ups to more established companies," Helsel said in an email. "And we have a global incubation and deployment team who takes these solutions to market, working closely with our regional business units."

The labs are located at its headquarters in Akron, which has access to the regional center of emerging automotive technologies; in Luxembourg, with a close proximity to key OEMs and as the tire maker's main connection point in Europe; in Shanghai, which is the hub for the rapid development of electric vehicles as well as a place to scout for new materials technology; and San Francisco, right in the middle of the world's most impactful tech hub, and also where many of companies working in the ride-sharing economy are located.

At the San Francisco site, Helsel said Goodyear's goal is to connect with auto makers, suppliers and mobility-related startups working on the next generations of vehicles and service models. "This office works to optimize tires and service solutions for autonomous vehicles and ride-sharing fleets; to utilize tire and vehicle data to plan for tire replacement and service; and to connect with mobility leaders to accelerate Goodyear's innovation platforms," he said.

Being a trendsetter

With the wide array of emerging technologies, it can be difficult to decide which platforms and technologies to pursue. Goodyear's CTO said the firm internally refers to today's trends that are driving the auto industry as FACE, standing for fleets, autonomous, connected and electric.

"Today, as a global population, we drive about 10 trillion miles," Helsel said. "Some analysts project that number is going to double by 2030, accelerated by trends toward EVs, AVs, car-sharing and more. Considering that, we are looking at some great potential opportunities for more tires. In electric vehicle forecasting alone, there are expected to be 57 million tires on such vehicles by 2020."

Breaking down the letters of FACE, Helsel shared these insights:

• Fleets: "We see variations around two basic consumer fleet models, car sharing and ride sharing, the difference being who owns the vehicle, an individual or a company. In either case, it's about minimizing cost of ownership while maximizing uptime to keep that vehicle on the road and making money. We know this business really well, from our current commercial trucking business. So from the perspective of a tire company, there are two jobs to be done—lowering maintenance costs and providing predictive maintenance for those fleets."

• Autonomous vehicles: "When you take away the driver, you take away the feel of the road that would have come through your hands on the wheel and your feet on the pedals. In an AV, that job is best done at the point of contact with the road—the tires. Most of the top vehicle manufacturers have announced plans for highly autonomous technology to be ready for the road by 2025, so it's coming. We are actively working with test fleets and early adopters in this field, monitoring tire performance and learning."

• Connected vehicles: "Instead of a light on the dashboard with a symbol that people largely don't recognize, imagine you get a message to your virtual assistant that alerts you of the issue, the likely cause, and how to resolve it, or proposes a one-click solution which could be the closest available service station or even a mobile service that comes to you. And it's what today's consumers expect—always being connected and informed through their electronic devices."

• Electric vehicles: "Of course, the focus of EVs is on transitioning away from fossil fuels. But the batteries and drivetrains of electric vehicles are also much different. In some cases, the vehicles are up to 30 percent heavier and create more torque, which results in higher stress and wear on tires. And this is on top of range anxiety. We are tailoring our products and solutions to meet these specific needs."

Partner up

Goodyear is not shy about entering into partnerships to further study the relationship of tires in emerging technologies. Most recently, it struck a deal with Local Motors Inc. to supply the firm's eight-passenger Olli autonomous vehicles with an exclusive tire fitment. It also will supply tires to three autonomous shuttle buses operated by Luxembourg's Sales-Lentz Group S.A.

Helsel said Local Motors is one of the first suppliers to have Level 4 autonomous shuttles in operation. "This, in addition to a cutting-edge 3D manufacturing approach, makes Local Motors a key company with which to learn and build future solutions together," he said. The Olli, he added, also brings together under one architecture the four core trends of FACE.

In addition, Goodyear began a pilot program with Envoy Technologies Inc., an electric vehicle car-sharing service, where Envoy will use the tire maker's predictive tire servicing program to forecast and schedule tire maintenance and replacement.

"Wireless sensors in tires can collect data to help run fleets better, along with combining the data with our algorithms to predict tire wear, eventual replacement and smart scheduling of needed service," he said. "We even can install tires on-site as the vehicles are at their charging stations, with the use of mobile service vans."

Those programs are in addition to year-long pilot program with Tesloop, a city-to-city mobility service that exclusively uses Tesla electric vehicles, and Goodyear's initiative to participate in autonomous vehicle and intelligent tire testing at Mcity. The latter is a University of Michigan-led public-private partnership designed to enhance connected and automated vehicles and supportive technologies.

"With Local Motors, and with Mcity's autonomous vehicles, we continue to learn more about tire performance requirements in AVs and we discover more about how a 'perfect' driver can have an impact on tire performance," the Goodyear executive said.

In deciding who to partner with, he said many books on innovation suggest it's all about disrupting someone else. Helsel and Goodyear take a different view.

"Shouldn't we instead be talking about how the traditional and the startup can work together for a better future?" he asked. "Instead of 'out with the old and in with the new,' what if we focused on disruption in the form of disruptive collaboration?"

He said the startup pitches Goodyear hears are from small companies that have agility, a good complement to a large corporation like Goodyear that brings experience and the resources to bring projects to scale. "If we find common ground where we can work on joint projects, we disrupt together, rather than each other," Helsel said. "This collaboration is all the more important as we shape a new mobility ecosystem."

That doesn't mean it doesn't continue to collaborate with traditional companies. He said Goodyear is working with OEMs and others to put sensors in tires, then outfitting them on vehicles to help gather data, sync that with the vehicles, and generate real-time driving adjustments to improve the performance of the car.

"It's not just about putting sensors in tires; we have been doing various forms of that for years," the Goodyear CTO said. "It's taking the data, interpreting it through data analytics, and helping the car drive better and the car owner to be more efficient. As the only link to the road, the tire will remain at the core of mobility today and tomorrow.

"But tires will evolve. And we will work with various companies—big and small, new and old, traditional and startup—to introduce innovations that become solutions."

Balancing act

With all these balls in the air, Goodyear has to strike the proper balance between R&D projects that need to be pushed to market now, with others that may be the building blocks for developments that may not be commercial for years.

To Helsel, that means that as a tire company Goodyear must change how it works, embracing ideas and approaches coming out of the tech sector. "And we have," he said. "While the essence of the tire hasn't changed significantly since the early 1900s, the environment in which it's used is changing faster than at any time since the invention of the car. But everything about that experience is changing."

On the traditional tire side, Goodyear looks at new component materials that can influence tire development, he said, along with the importance of renewable-resource-based materials. "Recent Goodyear breakthroughs include the use of rice husk ash silica and soybean oil technology," Helsel said. "Goodyear's innovative industrialization of soybean oil technology, for example, proves that research and development in sustainable materials can benefit not only the environment, but also tire performance."

Beyond the traditional technology, though, the firm is embracing the "beyond tires" segment that is emerging in the industry. Besides its work with sensors and data collection and analysis, he said the Internet of Things is allowing Goodyear to advance connections between the tires and the vehicle control system, and directly to the customer's dashboard or smart phone.

"On one side, we are integrating to improve performance, safety and the customer experience with real-time information about road conditions and tire conditions," Helsel said. "And we are developing information systems for consumers to make it easy to know when a tire should be replaced, what tire is needed based on vehicle and driving habits, and tying into our supply chain to make sure we have the right tire, at the right time, at the right place to meet the demand."