The battle
is heating up over the use of batteries in Tyre Pressure Monitoring Systems ‘TPMS’,
as NHTSA considers comments on the TREAD Act Mandated TPMS Final Ruling, due by
July 31 2005.
At issue in
the TPMS debate, are two different technologies being applied to solve the
problem of getting pressure information from wheel mounted sensors, across a
rotating boundary to chassis mounted receivers.
The main
concern with battery powered RF systems, which use Lithium Thionyl Chloride
batteries to power each wheel sensor, is that all batteries ultimately fail and
this exposes the motoring public to the possibility of injury and death through
disablement of what must surely be considered a critical safety system.
“The
VisiTyre technology is very simple” says Phil Cohen, ETV’s Technical Director,
“VisiTyre eliminates the problem of battery failure, by eliminating the
battery!”
Batteries are
chemical products and as such are raising concerns on another front. In the US
there are approximately 16 million new passenger vehicles manufactured annually,
which must ultimately comply with the legislative requirements of the TREAD Act
and be fitted with TPMS. If each vehicle has five wheels (including spare)
fitted with a battery-powered RF TPMS rim module, there will be up to 80 million
batteries introduced annually, the toxic elements of which will eventually find
their way into the general environment.
VisiTyre is
the first practical and cost effective non R F TPMS system to address the safety
and environmental concerns of battery use in such a widespread consumer
application.
“The
plethora of identical battery powered systems from Schrader, Beru, SmarTire,
Pirelli/TRW, Johnston Controls and LiteOn, could well be sidelined by VisiTyre’s
clever engineering and sophisticated technical thinking, if common sense
prevails and the battery systems are ruled out on safety and environmental
concerns’” commented ETV’s Global Business Manager Gregg Eichhorn. “This is a
real test for NHTSA, which is under the spotlight after the overturning of its
first ruling in 2003. They have to get it right this time and it is hard to
imagine that they can allow batteries to be utilized in a legally mandated
Safety System.”
ETV along
with many other interested parties, have submitted detailed comments to NHTSA
who will consider all submissions received prior to the November 15 2004
deadline. The eyes of the Auto Industry and US Safety Advocate Groups, who
successfully challenged the previous ruling, will be firmly on NHTSA to ensure
that their safety concerns are being duly considered and reflected in the Final
Ruling.
PRWEB
13-12-2007 10:03:22 AM +1000
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