Static electricity from the tires will power the car's electronics

Japanese tire maker Sumitomo Rubber Industries, ltd. has teamed up with professor Hiroshi Tani of Kansai University in Japan to develop a new technology that USES the rotation of tires to generate electricity, foreign media reported.

Sumitomo rubber converts the static electricity generated in the tires into clean energy by installing an energy harvester inside the tires.The device has two layers of rubber inside. Each layer is covered with an electrode and connected to a negatively charged film, which is connected to a positively charged film.When a tire rolls on the ground, its surface deforms, creating a kind of static electricity called triboelectricity.

This technology can be the power source of all kinds of automotive digital tools (car accessories), which has great practical application potential.

Sumitomo rubber has launched the "smart tire concept" to develop new tire technology concepts to meet the challenges of "greater safety performance" and "better environmental benefits" facing the automotive industry.In addition, the new technology could be a source of power for automotive sensors such as TPMS and other automotive devices, allowing the car to use a wide range of digital tools without batteries.

Back in 2015, a team at the University of wisconsin-madison was working on a similar technology that would use the friction of tires to power the headlights of a toy jeep.