Bridgestone supply ologic technology tyres to Seat Minimó electric concept car

Seat has chosen Bridgestone as its preferred tyre partner to equip its new Minimó electric concept car, presented at the Geneva Motor Show. Minimó sits on specially designed tyres that apply Bridgestone’s ologic technology. Anticipating the design lines of a tyre oriented towards micro-mobility and CASE (Connected Autonomous Share Electric) vehicles, the tyres were developed for the car brand at Bridgestone’s R&D Centre in Rome.

The Seat Minimó is a small two-passenger, all-electric vehicle equipped with 5G technology. The concept car introduces a battery that can be exchanged for a fresh pack in a matter of seconds, and offers a range of more than 100km on a single charge. Minimó is engineered to adapt to the mobility platforms predicted to shape the future of city driving. It addresses challenges of urban mobility, including increasingly stringent emission regulations; restricted access to certain urban areas; and heavily congested roads.

Bridgestone in mobility solutions

Bridgestone characterises the collaboration as a further shift in its core business; as a premium tyre producer becoming a leader in mobility solutions.

Mark Tejedor, vice president original equipment Bridgestone EMEA, explains: “New social, economic and technological megatrends are pushing the pace of change in our industry and the future of vehicles is connected, autonomous, shared and electric. At Bridgestone we are working to make the CASE concept a reality in cities and on roads, collaborating with models like the Minimó that Seat now presents. We have in our team brilliant chemists and engineers and invested almost €800 million last year in R&D. As the digital revolution inspires new forms of mobility, we want to harness our expertise to the benefit of our customers to give them a real competitive advantage.”

Number one Seat supplier

Bridgestone is Seat’s leading tyre provider, with multiple models running on Bridgestone tyres as original equipment. The tyre manufacturer states that the new collaboration on the Minimó reinforces this relationship.

“Seat was looking for a reliable, flexible and innovative partner,” says Tejedor. “Bridgestone was selected as the exclusive tyre partner and as a result, our R&D Centre in Rome prepared in record time a concept tyre that met the demanding expectations of the SEAT designers.”

The Minimó prototype was presented for the first time at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona. The Bridgestone tyres fitted to the prototype car have a map of Barcelona’s Eixample district engraved on their sidewall. The tyre manufacturer states that the gesture reflects the “strong alliance” between Seat and mobility in Barcelona, as well as its own ability to manufacture a tyre tailored to customer needs.