Autonomous cars could be very useful for the tire industry

• The arrival of autonomous cars could have a profound impact on the economic models of automakers, who traditionally sold vehicles to individual owners.
• The autonomous services could increase the number of vehicles belonging to the fleet and operated by it.
• These fleets may need new tires much more often, according to a Tire Rack manager, an ecommerce tire salesman.

Autonomous cars could change everything.

More than a century of humans driving could end, posing significant challenges to traditional car manufacturers.

No matter what happens, an industry can thrive: tires. Self-driving vehicles may not have a steering wheel, but unless someone deciphers the hovercraft code, they will continue to have road-conforming rubber.

"There will be no radical changes overnight," said Matt Edmonds, executive vice president of Tire Rack, an Indiana-based consumer tire dealer, which has existed since 1979.

However, there will be changes. Edmonds compared them to the period when radial tires arrived on the market decades ago. Ironically, the individual consumer might not be very involved.

"A small percentage of the population really looks at tires," he said.

Those who know it often understand that brands matter: Michelin, Continental, Bridgestone and Goodyear cost more than, say, the tires of some South Korean manufacturers, but they are worth the extra expense and can offer the latest technology in tire.

If autonomous vehicles come into force in the next decade, most experts predict that they will come in large fleets, much like large autonomous taxi services. And if the vehicles are fully electric, they will be particularly demanding tires.

Electric cars and autonomous cars may require a lot of new tires

Electric cars have hard tires. The immediate torque that their engines develop is developing rubber, which electric vehicle owners have learned.

When new electric vehicles arrive on the market, the new owners will discover it. But they will use their car much less than fleet operators could, which could represent more than 200 rides per day. Wearing 15,000 miles a year on a set of tires could be a thing of the past. Instead, fleet vehicles could see five times that annual total.

Clearly, this significant use would result in a much larger number of new tires, especially with electric vehicles, where it is essential to have the appropriate "rolling resistance" to maximize reach and maintain the same level of performance. energy.

Beyond the autonomous revolution, Edmonds expects new technological changes to affect tires.

"Manufacturers are working to integrate technology," he said. "This could tell homeowners that the tire is worn out."

The depth of the tread or the old penny test (if you can see Abe Lincoln's head, it's time to change tires) will not be needed, your tires will tell you when they will be worn out.

Tire Rack tries to keep one length ahead, as it has done for forty years. It means working as a source of information for consumers, making sure that they can get the right tires for their vehicles and that they are shipped and installed with ease.

For Edmonds, the biggest difference between yesterday and today is that "we will not have drivers, we will have runners".

He added: "When we get to this point, what will be important for the tires, is that they are designed to optimize that experience."

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