By Roger Green
A short while ago Goodyear Tyres introduced new exciting technology that forms a self-inflating commercial van tyre. Goodyear has said they only want to introduce advanced technology when it's got a significant benefit to the market like reducing costs or overall safety and not something to create column inches. Something that genuinely fits this goal is a new technology called Air Maintenance Technology or AMT for short.
The very interesting advanced technology however has been seen on a passenger tyre by Goodyear at the Geneva motor show earlier this year. A short time ago the company displayed this technology for the commercial vehicle market at the IAA Commercial Automobile Show. Goodyear has announced the technology is still in development so they haven't openly shown the full technology behind the product but Goodyear resolutely believe this will completely change the market place in commercial tyres.
Very little is comprehended about the way the technology fundamentally works but it is understood the AMT mechanism is built into the tyre and it guarantees the tyre pressure is kept constant without the necessity for an external source of air, power or electronics. It is further accepted that this special AMT unit works sort of like a pump which is powered by the rotation of the commercial vehicles wheel. It isn't the first time however we have come across this type of idea with the first patent for this issued in the 1890s with further patents since but not a single person has had the facility to turn this into an profitably viable product. Goodyear now however has capability and technology available to take this concept forward into a full production tyre. It will however take a little time to develop, but has massive potential.
This AMT technology has the potential ability to save commercial lorry operators a large amount of time and money as accurately inflated tyres deliver reduced fuel usage and longer tread life. Goodyear believe that for each 0.5 bar under inflated there is a 1% loss in miles per litre of fuel. Accordingly a 10% under inflated tyre will lead on to 16% less overall mileage. The technology is being developed specifically for the commercial market versus the passenger tyre market due to the greater demands. In the commercial market tyres will carry much heavier loads over far greater distances which mean the pumps will be under far greater pressure than in passenger tyres.
Goodyear Tyres has received a 1.5 million dollar grant from the U. S. to help speed up the R and D of this technology for the commercial market. The Luxembourg state executive has provided a further grant to help with research and development of the technology for the passenger tyre market. A prototype of the tyre has been developed in the US and Goodyear report the air pressure mechanism does work. It is now believed that Goodyear are commissioning a year long test programme which will be beginning in the near future to test the product in real life and gain feedback from fleet commercial vehicles.
The very interesting advanced technology however has been seen on a passenger tyre by Goodyear at the Geneva motor show earlier this year. A short time ago the company displayed this technology for the commercial vehicle market at the IAA Commercial Automobile Show. Goodyear has announced the technology is still in development so they haven't openly shown the full technology behind the product but Goodyear resolutely believe this will completely change the market place in commercial tyres.
Very little is comprehended about the way the technology fundamentally works but it is understood the AMT mechanism is built into the tyre and it guarantees the tyre pressure is kept constant without the necessity for an external source of air, power or electronics. It is further accepted that this special AMT unit works sort of like a pump which is powered by the rotation of the commercial vehicles wheel. It isn't the first time however we have come across this type of idea with the first patent for this issued in the 1890s with further patents since but not a single person has had the facility to turn this into an profitably viable product. Goodyear now however has capability and technology available to take this concept forward into a full production tyre. It will however take a little time to develop, but has massive potential.
This AMT technology has the potential ability to save commercial lorry operators a large amount of time and money as accurately inflated tyres deliver reduced fuel usage and longer tread life. Goodyear believe that for each 0.5 bar under inflated there is a 1% loss in miles per litre of fuel. Accordingly a 10% under inflated tyre will lead on to 16% less overall mileage. The technology is being developed specifically for the commercial market versus the passenger tyre market due to the greater demands. In the commercial market tyres will carry much heavier loads over far greater distances which mean the pumps will be under far greater pressure than in passenger tyres.
Goodyear Tyres has received a 1.5 million dollar grant from the U. S. to help speed up the R and D of this technology for the commercial market. The Luxembourg state executive has provided a further grant to help with research and development of the technology for the passenger tyre market. A prototype of the tyre has been developed in the US and Goodyear report the air pressure mechanism does work. It is now believed that Goodyear are commissioning a year long test programme which will be beginning in the near future to test the product in real life and gain feedback from fleet commercial vehicles.
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