Continental Introduces Smart Tires to Drive Fleet Digitalization and Enhance Urban Public Transportation

Continental Introduces Smart Tires to Drive Fleet Digitalization and Enhance Urban Public Transportation

(IN BRIEF) Continental, a tire manufacturer, is equipping its entire Conti Urban tire family with latest-generation sensors, making it the first manufacturer to offer a complete range of tires with sensors. The smart tires, including the Conti Urban HA3, Conti UrbanScandinavia HA3+, and Conti UrbanScandinavia HD3, will be available in August 2023. This move supports fleet digitalization and helps municipalities and bus companies ensure efficient vehicle operation with lower costs during the transition to sustainable public transportation. The sensors provide tire data that can be easily accessed through the ContiConnect On-Site app, allowing for predictive maintenance and improved fleet management. The integration of digital tire management leads to operational reliability, longer tire life, reduced carbon emissions, and increased fleet sustainability.

(PRESS RELEASE) HANOVER, 11-Jul-2023 — /EuropaWire/ — The Conti Urban bus tire, a proven specialist in mastering the demands of downtown traffic, is getting smart: Continental is factory fitting the complete tire family with latest-generation sensors. The Conti Urban HA3, Conti UrbanScandinavia HA3+ and Conti UrbanScandinavia HD3 smart tires will become available in August 2023. This makes Continental the first manufacturer to offer an entire family of tires with sensors,  allowing it to continue driving forward fleet digitalization. Smart tires additionally help municipalities and bus companies to ensure efficient vehicle operation with lower costs during the mobility and energy transition. A very high proportion of vehicles in the bus segment, in particular, are already electrified, and this share continues to grow. Public awareness of climate change and policy measures such as Germany’s ‘Deutschlandticket’ for nationwide travel on local public transport will only serve to reinforce the shift to more sustainable forms of downtown public transportation and away from ICE technology. “There is a steadily growing demand for Conti Urban tires with sensor technology,” says Kalyan Yalamanchili, Head of Digital Solutions at Continental Tires EMEA.

Digital solutions provide a helping hand with growing demands

The bus industry is facing some major challenges. Passenger numbers are likely to rise due to various policy measures, the shortage of drivers is set to increase many times over, and there is growing pressure on companies to switch to alternative drive systems and digitalize their fleets. “We help our customers to successfully deal with these increasing demands using digital solutions such as the intelligent Conti Urban tire,” says Yalamanchili. “Thanks to our App ContiConnect On-Site and our Conti Urban tire family, customers are able to retrieve tire data very easily and conveniently from a smartphone via Bluetooth.”

Reliable, efficient, sustainable: added value for bus fleets in urban traffic

The various ContiConnect digital solutions are a major boon for efficient fleet management. “We make sure that our tires offer energy-efficient operation and a long life, as well as allowing predictive maintenance,” explains Yalamanchili. Smart tires like the Conti Urban make tire maintenance simple, convenient and effective. “By incorporating the new Conti Urban tire into our ContiConnect 2.0 digital tire management solution we are helping municipalities and local public transport operators alike to offer a reliable, efficient and eco-friendly system of public transport.” These are areas where bus companies can win over customers and secure their loyalty.

Operational reliability, longer tire life and good utilization of vehicle capacity are also a great help in lowering carbon emissions and increasing fleet sustainability. At the same time, digital tire management makes it possible to minimize real-life fleet costs, in keeping with Continental’s holistic consultancy approach of Lowest Overall Driving Costs, or LODC for short. “Tire sensors additionally provide the basis for capitalizing on benefits such as remote fleet monitoring and predictive service planning in future,” adds Yalamanchili.National and international Continental fleet customers have been using the intelligent Conti Urban tire for many years now and are going to benefit greatly from its built-in sensor technology. Yalamanchili lays out the statistics: “Experience has shown that ContiConnect can reduce punctures by around 30 percent for customers, achieve a fuel saving of two percent and increase usable mileage by some ten percent.”

Investment in the future: digital tire management brings benefits

The tire sensors transmit live data on various parameters such as tire pressure and tire temperature via Bluetooth directly on the vehicle. Fleet management then accesses this data using a stationary Yard Reader station or telematics units. If any data anomalies are detected, immediate action can be taken. The intelligent Conti Urban tires therefore help to reduce vehicle breakdowns and downtime, lower carbon emissions and cut costs. This creates the optimum conditions for carrying satisfied public transport users through cities aboard well-utilized buses in an environmentally sound manner and continuing to be a successful transport operator in future.

Media Contact:

Annette Rojas
Communications Manager
Business Area Replacement EMEA
Continental Tires
+49 160 9083 7745
annette.rojas@conti.de

SOURCE: Continental AG