Continental is employing sensor technology and data transfer to integrate tires into the vehicle network. Since the end of 2023, Continental has been supplying all the models in its Conti Urban tire family from the factory with latest-generation tire sensors. And now the Hanover-based solutions provider is using ContiConnect Lite to create a bridge between tire sensors and professional tire management. “ContiConnect Lite is a free app version of our digital tire management solution ContiConnect,” explains Clarisa Doval, Global Head of Digital Solutions at Continental Tires. “ContiConnect Lite revolutionizes tire management for our smart tire customers through a user-friendly app. The user simply registers online to gain instant insights into the tires’ performance.” ContiConnect Lite is a simple and free-of-charge gateway to selected ContiConnect functionality via smartphone. The new app version is also available for digital tire monitoring for agricultural tires, earthmoving tires and port operation tires.
ContiConnect Lite for easy tire monitoring
ContiConnect Lite helps drivers to monitor the condition of their tires. This brings added value, in particular for smaller fleets using intelligent tires or Gen2 sensors. No additional hardware is required to make use of ContiConnect Lite. “After the self-registration is complete, the vehicle can be modified and connected via Bluetooth,” says Doval. This then also enables access to a limited version of the ContiConnect On-Site App. In total, five vehicles and three users can be registered free of charge. “When tire sensors identify a change in pressure or temperature, drivers are instantly alerted via push notification, enabling immediate action.” The rear-time data from the tires enables predictive maintenance, cuts costs, saves energy and reduces emissions.
Moving smartly through urban traffic
The Conti Urban bus tire, a proven specialist in mastering the demands of downtown traffic, is also an intelligent product. Since August 2023, Continental has factory-fitted the whole tire family with latest-generation sensors. Customers can choose from the Conti Urban HA3, Conti UrbanScandinavia HA3+ and Conti UrbanScandinavia HD3. This makes Continental the first manufacturer to offer an entire family of tires with sensors, allowing it to continue driving forward to fleet digitalization. Smart tires additionally help municipalities and bus companies to ensure efficient vehicle operation with lower costs during the mobility and energy transition.
Driving fleet digitalization
The pressure on companies to switch to alternative drive systems and digitalize their fleets is growing all the time. “With digital innovations like the intelligent Conti Urban tire, we’re empowering our clients to master the growing challenges they face,” says Doval. “Thanks to our ContiConnect On-Site App and our Conti Urban tire family, customers are able to retrieve tire data very easily and conveniently using any Bluetooth-enabled smartphone.” The various ContiConnect digital solutions are a major boon for efficient fleet management. “Integrating the new Conti Urban tire into our ContiConnect digital tire management platform enables both municipalities and public transport operators to provide a dependable, efficient, and eco-friendly public transportation system.”
Investing in the future: digital tire management creates sustainability
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 also lay the groundwork for leveraging advantages like remote fleet monitoring and future predictive maintenance scheduling. ” adds Doval. National and international Continental fleet customers have been enjoying the advantages of this sensor technology – which is now also being factory-fitted across a complete tire line (the Conti Urban) – for many years now. “Data indicates that ContiConnect can slash tire punctures by approximately 30 percent for users, yield a two percent savings in fuel, and boost tire lifespan by around ten percent,” calculates Clarisa Doval.
