Goodyear pilots predictive digital service solutions for electric vehicle fleets

Goodyear has started to pilot a new predictive digital service with Borrow, a short-term, fully electric car subscription company based in West Hollywood, California. Reflecting the tyre manufacturer’s increasing interest in future mobility services, Goodyear is using its predictive tyre servicing solution for connected fleets to forecast and automatically schedule needed tyre maintenance and replacement. Leveraging Goodyear’s expertise in tyres, the cloud-based platform predicts and automatically schedules tyre servicing via vehicle data and proprietary algorithms.

The collaboration with Borrow will allow Goodyear’s Innovation Lab in San Francisco to test the solution while servicing a fleet, representing a new model of emerging mobility — in this case, a short-term leasing model.

“Goodyear is focused on the future of mobility with a strong emphasis on fleets and electric vehicles,” said Chris Helsel, Goodyear’s chief technology officer. “This relationship with Borrow continues our testing of digital service solutions for consumer fleets, allowing Goodyear to lead in this space.”

Goodyear’s focus is to service the fleet’s tyres, as well as provide additional services to maximise Borrow’s uptime and customer experience. The vehicles are currently serviced with Goodyear’s mobile vans, with the potential to include its aligned dealer network and company-owned retail stores as the pilot progresses.

Borrow has put more than 80 customers on the road, and by the end of 2019, is projected to have 750 cars in service. By collaborating with Goodyear, Borrow aims to efficiently service its fleet to provide a hassle-free experience for its customers.

“We’re excited to pioneer this new ownership experience within the electric car revolution,” said Rodrigo de Guzman, Borrow’s founder and CEO. “The world of transportation is evolving quickly and we’re wholeheartedly accepting that challenge in a way that’s meaningful to consumers and glad to be working with Goodyear.”

Goodyear’s latest pilot builds on an ongoing pilot with Envoy, a provider of shared on-demand, community-based electric vehicles, as well as a test program with Tesloop, a city-to-city mobility service that exclusively used Tesla electric vehicles. These initiatives were developed and implemented through Goodyear’s Innovation Lab in San Francisco, which works to connect with automakers, suppliers and mobility-related startups to build products and data-driven service models for fleets, autonomous vehicles and other mobility applications.