Conti calls for TPMS warning at 10 percent deflation

ERJ staff report (DS)

Hanover, Germany -- Continental has issued a statement saying , "According to the wishes of the European Commission, tire pressure monitoring systems are to be a mandatory fitment on all new vehicle models as of 2012." While the statement might be premature, the company has used the opportunity to urge legislators to require a warning to alert drivers when tyre pressure falls below 90 percent of nominal.

The equivalent rule in the US requires a warning only at 75 percent of nominal pressure. Conti said, "It is important to recognise that if legislation was to provide for a low pressure warning threshold of as much as 25 percent, more and more car drivers would drive around on underinflated tyres simply because manual tyre checks would be regarded as being inconvenient. This would then severely affect the running costs, fuel efficiency and vehicle safety."

The EU is currently studying responses to a proposal to implement a series of fuel-saving and safety-related measures related to tyres. Among these are requirements for noise, rolling resistance, wet grip and tyre pressure monitoring systems.

A Continental spokesman said, the European Commission is now complying with the demands of automobile clubs and automotive experts. He added, " If all cars had their tyres correctly inflated, car running costs in Europe alone could be reduced by 3.4 billion euros a year. Incorrect tyre pressure causes a big increase in rolling resistance, which in turn leads to an unnecessary gain in fuel consumption and more CO₂ than necessary being released into the atmosphere. Braking distance is also longer."

Continental is pressing for a compulsory tire pressure monitoring system that alerts the driver as soon as the pressure in at least one of the tires shows a 10 percent deviation from the recommended inflation pressure.

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Press release from Continental