Bridgestone participated in the 2023 Consumer Electronics Show (CES) held in Las Vegas, USA from January 5 to 8, showcasing Bridgestone’s comprehensive vision for sustainable mobility.
The three key themes that Bridgestone presented at CES 2023 are renewable natural rubber and tire recycling, the “Smart Corner” concept featuring digitally connected tires and air springs for electric vehicles, and digital management services tailored for personal transportation and large-scale transportation operators.
Bridgestone has been recycling renewable natural rubber and tires. The natural rubber extracted from shrubs in the dry desert areas of the USA and Mexico is guayule. Bridgestone is co-developing recycling technologies for tires as part of its ‘Ever Tire Initiative.’
Digital connected tires and air springs for electric vehicles enhance vehicle performance, efficiency, safety, and ride comfort through sensors embedded in the tires and air springs. This includes considerations of Energy, Ecology, Efficiency, Extension, Economy, Emotion, Ease, and Empowerment.
Just like a hotel concierge service, online service tools help transport operators and managers comprehensively manage their vehicles according to their specific needs.
To realize sustainable mobility, optimal control processes and tools must be considered at every lifecycle stage, from tire production and ownership to maintenance, resource circulation, and recycling. Bridgestone plans to showcase a vision of how tire and vehicle management technology will advance from beginning to end, with the ultimate goal of achieving carbon-neutral mobility and transportation.
Bridgestone has been committed to increasing the use of recycled and renewable materials to 40% of total raw materials by 2030 and achieving 100% sustainable material usage by 2050. Several key elements aimed at achieving a sustainable and circular tire economy will be presented by Bridgestone at CES.
The natural rubber extracted from guayule, an alternative rubber crop, has characteristics similar to rubber extracted from traditional para rubber trees. Guayule is a shrub that grows in the dry desert areas of the USA and Mexico and requires 40% less water than crops such as alfalfa or cotton, which grow in the southwestern USA.
Bridgestone has invested over $100 million in the development and commercialization of natural rubber from guayule. They currently operate a research farm covering 281 acres (approximately 1.14 million square meters) and a bio-processing pilot facility, and have established cultivation partnerships with various local farms and Native American tribes. The goal is to cultivate guayule on over 25,000 acres (about 101 million square meters, roughly six times the area of Seoul’s four gates) within the next decade, while also training local farmers on climate-smart agricultural practices and irrigation techniques to respond to climate change crises.
Bridgestone announced the ‘Ever Tire Initiative’ at the beginning of 2022, which focuses on recycling used tires to produce new tires. To collectively develop tire recycling technologies through a global Ever Tire Initiative, Bridgestone collaborates with multiple partners. A prime example is the bio-processing of expired tires through fermentation processes, which allows the materials to be reused in producing new tires.
Bridgestone’s Smart Corner solution demonstrates technology that maximizes the lifespan of tires and air springs while enhancing the performance, comfort, and efficiency of autonomous and electric vehicles.
The Smart Corner Solution combines premium tires developed specifically for autonomous and electric vehicles with Firestone’s AirRide concept air springs for electric vehicles. This solution utilizes embedded cloud-connected sensors in both the tires and air springs to deliver real-time predictive information to Bridgestone, improving driving safety, efficiency, and productivity.
Bridgestone’s Enlighten electric vehicle concept tire is made from renewable and energy-efficient new materials, reducing rolling resistance and extending the driving range of electric vehicles. At the same time, it meets the heavy load and wear resistance conditions required by electric vehicles.
The Enlighten electric vehicle concept tire from Bridgestone works in tandem with Firestone’s AirRide concept air spring, creating an integrated corner system tire that optimizes both efficiency and ride comfort.
The digitally connected air springs respond to ever-changing vehicle loads while maximizing safety and efficiency without compromising ride comfort, allowing active suspension systems to block noise, vibrations, and rough road textures. This proactive height adjustment device maximizes aerodynamic efficiency, improves user accessibility, and enhances vehicle underbody protection in urban and off-road environments.
Bridgestone’s Enlighten electric vehicle concept tire and Firestone AirRide concept electric vehicle air spring come equipped with integrated sensor capabilities that collect air pressure, temperature, and acceleration data. When combined with Bridgestone’s unique data analytics technology, this data provides real-time insights about corner loads, road surface conditions, and the performance states of the tires and springs to the vehicle systems.
This digitally transformed data enables alerts and actions that significantly enhance the safety of electric and autonomous vehicles. Furthermore, Bridgestone’s mobility solutions connect customers directly to services that predict the needs of vehicles, increasing productivity and convenience while extending vehicle lifespans and ultimately achieving sustainability toward a zero-carbon future in mobility.
Regular maintenance is vital for keeping transport vehicles in optimal condition and extending their lifespan while maximizing performance and efficiency. Bridgestone’s Fleet Care combines data-connected tires and vehicles’ integrated systems to automate fleet management or further enhance the benefits and convenience for owners/operators. Whether for personal transport vehicles or large-scale transport operators at the final delivery stage, Bridgestone’s Fleet Care solution is seamlessly integrated with vehicle systems to collect data for routine management, essential services for vehicles, and tire wear predictions, all centralized in a single online system.
This aggregated data provides advance insights into necessary maintenance states for each vehicle, offering service options that resolve vehicle maintenance needs with just one click. Bridgestone’s Fleet Care solution connects with the network of the company and independent networks as well as telecommunications service providers, allowing vehicle owners to select services tailored to their conditions. Digital payments are also simplified, with all services adjustably available for one-time payment or through a vehicle management subscription service.
Through this platform, Fleet productivity will be further enhanced, enabling fleets to operate more efficiently and economically.
Bridgestone aims to provide the same level of premium personalized value and services to both fleet groups and individual transport vehicles. By offering solutions that assist us in maintaining the journeys we are all currently on, while more efficiently operating the transport vehicles and fleets we all rely on, Bridgestone is delivering a new customer experience today.
Lee Sang-jin daedusj@autodiary.kr