The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company (NASDAQ: GT) today announced a strategic collaboration with Plus (formerly Plus.ai), a global provider of self-driving truck technology, to provide optimized, autonomous trucking solutions that elevate the intelligent and connected transformation of the logistics industry.
Through this collaboration, Goodyear’s suite of services, including connected tires, will further enhance transportation efficiency and safety for semi-trucks powered by Plus’s Level 4 autonomous driving technology while also reducing carbon impact.
Goodyear and Plus will explore how Plus’s autonomous driving system can incorporate feedback from Goodyear’s connected tires into Plus’s online, machine learning-based fuel economy efficiency, to further improve fuel economy.
Integrating Goodyear’s intelligent tires with Plus’s autonomous driving system can also improve a vehicle’s overall performance in severe weather and extreme road conditions.
Plus is already deploying its driver-in autonomous driving solution, PlusDrive, to customers and is expected to start production of the FAW J7 L3 truck (First Automobile Works) powered by PlusDrive in the third quarter of 2021.
“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 Global Operations & CTO of 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.”
Shawn Kerrigan, COO and Co-founder of Plus, said, “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.”
About The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company
Goodyear is one of the world’s largest tire companies. It employs about 72,000 people and manufactures its products in 55 facilities in 23 countries around the world. Its two Innovation Centers in Akron, Ohio, and Colmar-Berg, Luxembourg, strive to develop state-of-the-art products and services that set the technology and performance standard for the industry. For more information about Goodyear and its products, go to www.goodyear.com/corporate.
About Plus
Plus is a global leader in autonomous driving technology for long-haul trucking, headquartered in Silicon Valley and founded in 2016 by serial entrepreneurs and industry veterans who have extensive experience in high tech and artificial intelligence. Plus is developing low-cost, high-performance full-stack Level 4 autonomous driving technology to make long-haul trucking safer, more efficient, and more sustainable. Plus is also collaborating with leading truck manufacturers, fleets, and ecosystem partners to drive the development of decarbonization transportation solutions including autonomous trucks powered by natural gas. For more information, please visit www.plus.ai or follow us on LinkedIn or YouTube.
SOURCE The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company
