Goodyear has announced a strategic collaboration with Plus (formerly Plus.ai), a global provider of self-driving truck technology, to provide solutions to assist in the development of the latter’s autonomous vehicles. One of the tire company’s main contributions will be the supply of connected tires, which will feed data into Plus’s online, machine-learning-based software stack, to help enhance fuel efficiency. Goodyear also suggests that its connected tires will help improve overall vehicle performance in severe weather conditions.
“Tires are the only thing on a vehicle that touches the ground and it’s this critical position that can help us enable future mobility solutions like autonomous transportation,” said Chris Helsel, SVP of global operations and CTO at Goodyear. “With our leadership in products and innovation, Goodyear is supporting efficient fleet operations and is pleased to drive more possibilities for the logistics industry with Plus.”
Plus is already deploying its driver-in autonomous driving solution, PlusDrive, to customers and is expected to start production of the FAW (First Automobile Works) J7 L3 truck powered by PlusDrive in the third quarter of 2021. Shawn Kerrigan, COO and co-founder of Plus, noted, “We are constantly exploring new opportunities to generate more value for customers using our autonomous driving technology. The collaboration between Plus and Goodyear enables us to leverage both companies’ innovative fuel efficiency technologies and harness these to further improve the performance of autonomous trucks.”