Bridgestone takes stake in May Mobility
30/06/2022
Tyre-making giant Bridgestone has taken a minority stake in May Mobility, an autonomous shuttle startup based in Michigan, USA, marking yet another investment into an autonomous vehicle (AV) startup.
Bridgestone has previously collaborated with Swedish autonomous freight technology startup Einride to find sustainable mobility solutions for electrified, autonomous trucking and thrown its weight behind Kodiak Robotics, an autonomous trucking startup.
Bridgestone also recently announced partnerships with Yoshi, a last-mile delivery platform focused on car care services, and Tyrata, a tyre sensor and data management company. As with its other recent strategic investments, Bridgestone did not share how much stake it holds in May Mobility.
Bridgestone’s partnership with May Mobility will see the AV startup integrate Bridgestone’s predictive tyre wear modelling technology into its vehicles later this year. Bridgestone’s in-wheel sensors and predictive algorithms monitor the health of tyres, including tyre pressure, temperature and tread wear, which will ultimately help May Mobility reduce the total cost of AV ownership and improve fleet safety. Through this integration, Bridgestone will also gain insights into AV operations to improve its core tyre products.
“Our future plans to integrate the Bridgestone suite of predictive maintenance insights will help ensure that May Mobility vehicles operate even more safely, efficiently and sustainably,” said Brian Goldstine, President of Mobility Solutions and Fleet Management for Bridgestone Americas.
May Mobility also expects to improve business performance through the use of Bridgestone’s cloud-based fleet mobility solution, Azuga, which Bridgestone acquired last year. Azuga brings fleet management, camera intelligence and route planning features to May Mobility’s capabilities.
May Mobility operates its low-speed AVs geared toward augmenting public transit, rather than the robotaxi model of Waymo and Cruise, in five cities, including Hiroshima, Japan.
