The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company has announced a goal of reaching net-zero value chain greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 2050, aligned with the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi) and its new Net-Zero Standard. The company also announced its commitment to achieve near-term science-based targets by 2030, and in 2022 will submit both targets to SBTi for independent validation.
Goodyear tyre factories in France, Germany, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Poland and Turkey will soon adopt 100 per cent renewable energy in the first step of a multiple-phase plan to solely procure renewable energy in all Goodyear facilities across Europe, Middle East and Africa by the end of 2022. The tyre maker will review other locations, such as Goodyear in South Africa and Cooper Tire plants in Serbia and UK, in a second phase.
Goodyear Ventures has made another mobility-related investment, becoming one of several parties to inject capital into US-based electric vehicle charging provider AmpUp. This funding, which also includes capital from Foothill Ventures and TechNexus Venture Collaborative, comes less than a year after AmpUp’s initial seed raise.
The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company has entered into a strategic collaboration with Plus (formerly Plus.ai), a global provider of self-driving truck technology, to provide optimised, autonomous trucking solutions. Goodyear brings a range of services to this collaboration, including connected tyres, and the partners will explore how Plus’s autonomous driving system can incorporate feedback from these tyres into Plus’s online, machine learning-based fuel optimisation, to further improve fuel economy.
It is, says Goodyear Tire & Rubber, an industry first – a local transportation authority in the USA is field-testing the non-pneumatic tyre and wheel assembly the tyre maker developed for autonomous urban vehicles. The lessons learned will contribute towards the further development of maintenance-free tyres.
More than a year after its counterpart for conventional saloons came to market, Goodyear is introducing the UltraGrip Performance+ SUV. This new tyre range covers the growing SUV and crossover market by offering consumers a “technology-packed winter tyre that increases the versatility and contributes to the safety of their vehicles.”
The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company has introduced a tyre intelligence solution for cargo van fleets. Called Goodyear SightLine, the solution will initially be available in Europe and North America, and later this year Goodyear will also offer it to original equipment customers and emerging fleet and mobility providers.
Goodyear has appointed Frank Titz to the role of managing director OE Truck EMEA, effective 1 April. Titz joined Goodyear in 1997 as manager sales & marketing Truck Tires for Germany. In the course of his career he has held various international sales and general management functions within the company and “brings with him a wealth of experience in the consumer and commercial business, including original equipment.”
The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company has entered into a strategic relationship with UFODrive, and going forwards will work together with the all-digital, all-electric car rental company to integrate their complementary mobility solutions. The two firms intend to pair Goodyear’s intelligent tyre monitoring system and proactive solutions suite with UFODrive’s eMobility software as a service platform.
Tyres already play a key role in effective vehicle braking, but a marriage of tyres and technology can enhance this. The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company and Dutch research organisation TNO are working towards this end and are collaborating on a demonstration vehicle that will test the implications of connected tyres talking to the vehicle’s control system, specifically the anti-lock brake system (ABS).
A broadened remit for Christopher P. Helsel: The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company has announced he will succeed Jonathan Bellissimo as senior vice president, global operations following the latter’s retirement after a Goodyear career spanning four decades. Helsel will also continue as chief technology officer, a role he’s held for the past three years.
With the addition of a new DiM250 Dynamic Driving Simulator, the Goodyear Innovation Center in Colmar-Berg, Luxembourg will gain greater tyre testing capabilities. The equipment supplied by VI-grade, a provider of real-time simulation software and driver-in-the-loop simulators, will also enhance technical collaboration between Goodyear Tire & Rubber’s European operation and its headquarters in Akron, USA, where another DiM250 recently entered operation.
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