Pirelli’s digital revolution has taken a new step forward in enabling a tyre to gather and transmit data. At the 88th Geneva International Motor Show, Pirelli presents its Cyber Car technology for Original Equipment in cooperation with major car makers. Cyber Car enables the tyre to directly interact with the car’s on-board electronics system, and in particular the driver assistance systems, delivering important information about the car’s operation to ensure a safer drive with enhanced performance. The new Pirelli system will be in market by year end on the most innovative electric and traditional cars.
Placing sensors in the tyres is an integral part of Pirelli’s Perfect fit strategy, which focuses on developing made to measure products and services that meet both driver needs and car manufacturer specializations.
CYBER CAR: WHEN TYRES AND CARS TALK TO EACH OTHER. Pirelli’s big news for the 2018 Geneva Motor Show, Cyber Car is the new smart tyre system for the Original Equipment market, designed in close collaboration with car manufacturers. Cyber Car supplies important data that improves safety and performance. With the exception of tyre pressures monitored by TPMS systems, up until now there has been no information collected individually by tyres that is transmitted to the car. Therefore Cyber Car takes car digitalization into a new era. The tyre embedded sensor is an innovative form of automotive intelligence integrated into existing driver aids that improves performance, efficiency and environmental impact through capturing and transmitting key tyre data to the vehicle, such as pressure, internal temperature and tread depth. It can activate systems such as ABS and stability control. For example, by reading a tyre’s ID, the vehicle can alter its set-up for a safer, more comfortable drive. By knowing the car’s accurate weight, the vehicle’s central control unit can calculate precisely how many miles can be driven before recharging.
Cyber Car informs the driver about the tyre’s vertical load (vital information for electric cars), temperature and pressure through the carmaker’s interface, allowing timely intervention if the pressures are wrong. Tyre maintenance becomes easier, thanks to specific feedback on tread wear and how tyres should be seasonally rotated. The Cyber Car also offers bespoke services, such as servicing, car valet and roadside assistance.
The first Cyber Car fitted models will arrive this year, with several manufacturers already at an advanced stage of integrating Pirelli’s technology into their own systems. The next evolution will be the Cyber Tyre system: the tyre of the future, based on a technical platform capable of collecting even more data, transmitting information to the car’s on-board systems with every wheel rotation. While this technology isn’t on sale yet, it is already in action on the Ferrari FXXK: the 1000-horsepower development hypercar for track use only.
