Goodyear wins award for AMT technology

Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company seem to be on a roll. Just recently we reported one of Goodyear’s innovations was awarded by Tire Technology International.

Now the American tyre manufacturer has been selected by Car & Driver magazine for yet another innovation. The Goodyear’s Air Maintenance Technology (AMT) has been selected as a promising future technology. AMT allows tires to remain inflated at optimum pressure without any external pumps or electronics. All components of the AMT system, including the miniaturized pump, will be fully contained within the tire.

The editors of the magazine called the AMT an elegantly simple idea in the December 2011 issue. Goodyear’s chief technical officer Jean-Claude Kihn admitted the technology to be complex while the idea is fairly simple. He also added that the AMT is self-powered as the tyre rolls down the road.

Goodyear took the challenge of a self-maintaining inflated tyre, an innovation drivers have wanted for years. Much like the iPhone and the internet now, Mr. Kihn explains people will question the absence of AMT all these years and how they have managed to live without it.

The AMT system is currently under development at Goodyear’s Innovation Centers in Akron, Ohio, and Colmar-Berg, Luxembourg.