With roaring, outrageous hypercars such as the Bugatti Chiron and Lamborghini Centenario making their debuts at the 86th Annual Geneva International Motor Show, it's easy for lesser names and accessories to fall under the press' radar.
However, Goodyear has a concept on display in Switzerland that deserves to be highlighted. After all, it could pan out to be an integral part of the way we drive in the future.
That's because Goodyear's concept is tires, but not just any tires that the company has made before. These concept tires are specifically meant for self-driving cars, and Goodyear is counting on them to be major players in autonomous driving in the near future. It's ideal timing, too, considering autonomous cars have been targeted to impact roads as soon as 2020 by several different automakers.
What's unique about Goodyear's tires is the company has each tire touting a different concept and name, as evidenced by the Eagle-360 and Intelligrip. The former stresses maneuverability and connectivity, as reported by the New York Daily News, while the Intelligrip boasts advanced sensors and treadwear technology.
"By steadily reducing the driver interaction and intervention in self-driving vehicles, tires will play an even more important role as the primary link to the road," Joseph Zekoski, Goodyear's senior vice president and chief technical officer, said in a press release statement. "Goodyear's concept tires play a dual role in that future both as creative platforms to push the boundaries of conventional thinking and testbeds for next-generation technologies."
The Eagle-360 concept tires are sort of spherical-shaped, while the Intelligrip is bolstered to communicate with self-driving vehicles' main controls, with Goodyear saying the tire would be able to sense and pick up on different road surfaces and weather conditions, making for a safer autonomous ride. The treadwear technology of the same tire would alert its drivers when the tire needs to be replaced.
Wouldn't it be something if Goodyear can collaborate with Google or one of the several automakers developing an autonomous vehicle? After all, Goodyear's reputation as a solid tire maker remains renowned. It would be interesting to see such a collaboration come to fruition.
