Continental announced the release of their Generation II tyre sensors at their press launch for their Generation 5 truck tyres in Seville, which will add yet more value to the ContiConnect 2.0 Tyre Management System.
Truck and Trailer Digital Solutions Soon to Follow in Q1 for 2023
The manufacturer confirmed that the generation II sensor will be officially rolled out in limited quantities from October onwards, with all Continental Urban tyres in Europe being automatically fitted with the sensors from 2023. During the management presentation at the start of the event, Continental explained that the reason the bus market was chosen first was two-fold. Firstly, with many customers already using the digital solutions offered by the manufacturer, it was an easy case study to make, but also, they had experienced a lot of demand from the bus and coach market to adapt to digitalisation, as these operators don’t want their services to pause at any moment or have their customers stranded at any location.
The generation II sensor has all the benefits of its predecessor but can also measure mileage and battery estimations as well as boasting Bluetooth connectivity. Kalyan Yalamanchili, Head of Digital Solutions Tires EMEA for Continental said; “We are very excited to launch the Gen II sensor. With this sensor we are a launching a platform that will be able to bring new functions with the feasibility of connecting through Bluetooth. It will also be able to give additional information such as mileage and battery status. With the new sensor we are raising a platform for the future.”
He added; “Approximately 30% of tyres in the market are running underinflated. When we go to trailers it is at 40%. This topic is very important as when the tyres aren’t at the correct pressure, they won’t achieve the same performance that we promise to our customers.”
Yalamanchili also revealed that a plan for the sensors to be developed with a new firmware for tread depth will be realised soon as well.
Further to this, Continental announced that they would be rolling out truck and trailer solutions for ContiConnect to allow for fleet operators to stay informed about the condition of their trucks and trailers in order to further increase safety, uptime and efficiency when they are out on the road. Both of these solutions are due to become active in Q1 for 2023.
