Advanced vehicle technology impacting tire design, abilities

HILTON HEAD, S.C.—Advanced vehicle technology is coming fast, and it will have a major impact on tire technology as well, according to speakers at the 35th Clemson University Global Tire Industry Conference held recently at Hilton Head, S.C.

Keynote speaker Chris Helsel, chief technology officer at Goodyear, said vehicle technology has undergone radical changes periodically throughout history.

"In the 1950s, automatic transmissions eliminated the clutch," Helsel said. "That was a big change, but I think you'll agree it turned out OK."

New trends in mobility, with changing consumer habits and original equipment manufacturer expectations, are in turn presenting new challenges to tire manufacturers, according to Helsel.

"We've been dealing with change all along," he said. Goodyear uses the acronym FACE—fleets, autonomous vehicles, connected vehicles and electric vehicles—to describe the forces driving change in mobility.

"Long-established companies are now in danger of not being leaders or even survivors," Helsel said.

To remain a leader, Goodyear has established cooperative projects with advanced mobility pioneer Tesloop and exhibited non-pneumatic tires on an Olli autonomous shuttle bus at the most recent Geneva Auto Show, Helsel said.

"Synergies will create more disruptions in the next 10 years than in the last 50," he said.

Jason Barr, team leader for digital twin and software engineering at Bridgestone Americas, said his company, like other tire makers, has to find new ways to bring value to its customers.

"Vehicles are now computers on wheels," Barr said. "With this comes new apps, new services and new business models."

Tires of course will remain an important component of a vehicle, but the patterns of use will change with automated vehicles and ride-sharing, according to Barr.

"The cost per mile will go down, largely through increased utilization," he said. "But vehicle maintenance will remain static as a vehicle expense, because it will be a larger focus."

With the coming of connected and autonomous vehicles, "reinventing the wheel" has become a necessity, according to Barr.

"How a ride feels will go away with AVs," he said. The emphasis going forward for tires, according to Barr, will be on reducing downtime and having sufficient strength for continuous mobility.

Bridgestone's Digital Tire Twin concept offers customers a combination of advantages through the capture of data, according to Barr.

"You can capture data, but you have to do something with it," he said. What the Digital Tire Twin system does with data includes tire usage optimization, predictive and prescriptive maintenance, system performance optimization and uptime maximization.

The Digital Tire Twin system can predict and optimize tire wear life, traction performance and the fuel economy contribution from rolling resistance, Barr said. This makes it particularly useful for fleet management.

Bruce Lambillotte, vice president, technical consulting for Smithers Rapra Inc., said the growth of the global electric vehicle market will have a major impact on tire development.

Smithers released a study in late 2018 on EVs and their influence on tire technology that focused on battery-electric vehicles, which run exclusively on onboard batteries, Lambillotte said.

China is the world's largest market for EVs, and "BEVs and hybrids are the only EVs in their market," he said.

The EV market is growing rapidly throughout the world, though starting from extremely small preliminary numbers, Lambillotte said.

Despite a high compound annual growth rate, the EV market will be limited through 2028, except in China, he said.

"EVs are starting to get over the hump of having enough charging stations, especially in China and to a lesser extent in Europe," he said.

Reducing urban pollution and dependence on imported oil is spurring EV growth in China, Lambillotte said.

Electrics accounted for more than 30 percent of new bus sales in China in 2016, and more than 3 million low-speed, two-passenger EVs are on the roads in China now, he said.

Low rolling resistance for fuel efficiency and increased service range are crucial for EV tires, as are noise and vibration reduction, good traction, wear resistance and load carrying capacity, Lambillotte said.

"If you think we have a proliferation of sizes now, just wait," he said. "EV tires don't need to be radial or steel-reinforced, or offer ride comfort. The two important things are cost and durability."