Continental has presented its new C.A.R.E. (Connected. Autonomous. Reliable. Electrified.) technology system concept, which is geared towards providing a flexible tyre management solution for electric and autonomous driving, such as modern robo-taxi fleets.
According to the company, sensors are built into the structure of C.A.R.E. tyres, and these continuously assess data relating to tread depth, possible damage, tyre temperature and tyre pressure. This monitoring system, dubbed ContiSense, is capable of transmitting information on the condition of the tyres to ContiConnect Live, allowing fleet managers to remotely manage the condition of the tyres.
The interesting part of the concept is the ability to actively regulate the pressure of the tyres, by means of centrifugal pumps built into the wheel. As the vehicle accelerates, the centrifugal forces within the wheel act on the pump to generate compressed air that is kept in an integrated tank.
The company refers to this technology as PressureProof, and it says the technology will use this air to rapidly adapt the tyre pressures to various driving situations, ensuring that they are kept within the ideal range to improve efficiency and reduce CO2 emissions.
For now, Continental has yet to confirm when and if the technology will make its way to production, but it says that C.A.R.E. tyres will also be beneficial to improve the efficiency of privately-owned electrified and self-driving vehicles beyond just meeting robo-taxi fleet requirements.
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If the automated pump mulfunction, will my tires explode when I’m driving?
More rotational and unsprung mass can’t be a good thing right?
With factory fitted TPMS and aftermarket wireless TPMS, it isn’t so hard to pump up your own tyres right?
Did you even read the articles? Their main market is aimed at autonomous vehicles