Smart mobility is as relevant as ever, with growing urbanisation rates in almost all countries across the globe. But the concept isn’t new. At least I recall reading about the future of driving when I was very young, and a university project concluded that in the future, cars would be able to connect to each other and slide onto some sort of rail system when driving on the highway, so nobody would have to worry about steering or speeding when covering the long stretches of the journey. Not surprising, the project couldn’t have been more wrong in its conclusion. But why didn’t it work? It would have reduced accidents, pollutant emissions, road wear and maintenance costs, and it would have probably been quite easy to develop guiding chips and software to let cars in and out of the chain.

Well, the answer is simple, and is proven by the fact that car sales are still going up worldwide in spite of an ever-growing range of alternative transportation methods available to the buyers: freedom. As global wealth keeps increasing, all societies can recognize that the first luxury people growing out of poverty take is to buy a car, in many cases even before considering taking out a mortgage to buy a house. Why do they do that? Obviously to signal their increased wealth to the people around them (it’s harder to show if your house is bought or rented), but also to enjoy the freedom of being able to go exactly where they want to go and when. In these corona times being able to move about without bumping into others in public transportation is of course also an important factor. If this wasn’t the case, car sales would be dropping rapidly. Public transportation is cheaper, if you compare it to total cost of ownership of a car it’s easy math, and in many cases it’s also faster and easier. Plus, you can be productive getting some work done or enjoying a good rest when you don’t have to sit at the wheel in a traffic jam.

For those who care about global warming and reducing the environmental impact, there’s even further incentive to get rid of the car, but still, this is not what we see in the new car sales figures – although you could argue that some people buy a new car because it pollutes less than the old one.

Bicycles

With all the new technology, it will be very interesting to see how smart mobility will be implemented in cities across the globe, and if it will change the trend for good. After all, it’s be big cities with massive population numbers that will make a difference for the planet. If we look at a city like Copenhagen, it has for many years focused on being the world’s best city to ride a bicycle in, and it has implemented many innovative structures allowing cyclists to zip from one place to another in a matter of minutes with minimal need to stop along the way. Some places bridges have been built just to cater to cyclists. No doubt you can get around faster and cheaper in Copenhagen if you ride a bike than by any other means of transportation.

Another thing that is becoming increasingly interesting in the big cities is the drone technology, now we have seen Chinese firefighters putting out high-rise fires using drones controlled from the ground, and many places they have also begun working as parcel or food delivery agents. But is there a viable case to argue that we will all be flying in private drone vessels instead of driving in cars in the coming decade? I wouldn’t bet my money on it. First of all, it would take long until the general public would trust a drone manufacturer enough to not fear dropping to the ground or being flung into a building or another drone mid-air at any moment. Second of all, they would most definitely run on electricity, which we know from electric cars means very heavy batteries and/or short operation times. Probably in colder regions you would also struggle with much lower performance during winter, and possibly weather conditions not allowing them to take off.

That’s another nightmare scenario – to be caught in a thunderstorm or hailstorm up in the air.

Naturally, the ultimate challenge would be that everyone would basically need to have a pilot license to operate them, and air traffic control would be an entirely new concept in this scenario. We have all seen movies like Stars Wars or The Fifth Element where flying vehicles somehow get into invisible lanes and layers, but it’s hard to see how that can go from fiction to reality.

Urban hubs

So, how can consumers most likely have their desire for freedom fulfilled within a smart mobility concept? Most likely by creating urban hubs or city line parking facilities, so it’s easy to take the car to, from, or between cities, but not inside them. At these hubs, you would park the car and jump on the next shuttle to anywhere in the city, or even ride a bike that you brought with you. Designing these hubs, along with ample green areas in the cities, is the only way that any city planner can create the grounds for real smart mobility, and not take people’s freedom away from them. Then the only thing left is to address the issue of the environmental impact caused by passenger cars, both combustion engine emissions and tyre pollution from wear during use and waste management at end of tyre life.

Tyre manufacturers don’t seem to be making huge changes to the technology yet, except for a few innovative products like the Michelin Tweel – and the ultimate challenge is of course that the vehicle so far has to be in contact with the road surface to move and handle satisfactorily. It’s hard to imagine any tyre concept where rubber against the road surface isn’t involved, and it’s also hard to imagine any tyre manufacturer supporting such a project, given the massive investments they have in their production equipment, which isn’t easy to readjust to put out something else. Well, at least not any serious manufacturer – there was a Chinese plant that stopped producing tyres this year to start producing face masks instead because of corona demand, but that probably says something about the quality of both products coming out of that factory, and it makes me very interested in reading their mission statement.

Ultimately, for tyre manufacturers to start investing in any game changing product development, we would have to see a development like we have seen with British Tobacco actually advertising against smoking – which is very much in line with the trends of the day but doesn’t seem rational from a business perspective. So, to conclude, I’ll venture a bet that we won’t see any drastic changes in how much smarter our mobility options will become until we either see a scenario that will allow people to experience the same level of freedom as owning a car, drastically reducing the environmental impact from driving and tyre waste, and/or creating cities where it utterly doesn’t make any sense to drive instead of hopping on the city’s smart mobility system, whatever that might turn out to be.

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The Alliance for the Future of Tires (AZuR) is organising the NRW Tire Recycling Forum on 10 November 2026 at the Lohrheide Sports Park in Bochum, running from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. Held under the umbrella of the North Rhine-Westphalia Roundtable on Circular Value Creation, the free event targets municipal officials responsible for building, sports, green spaces, road and civil engineering, along with sustainability and climate protection managers.

Discarded tyres can be transformed into an array of construction materials, including impact-absorbing sports surfaces, sound and vibration insulation and protective layers for green roofs and photovoltaic installations. The gathering will examine how municipalities can integrate such recycled goods into their infrastructure and building projects.

Expert presentations, real-world case studies and details on funding programmes for urban development and sports initiatives across North Rhine-Westphalia form the core of the agenda. Public procurement will receive particular attention, with discussion centring on how technology-neutral, quality-focused tendering can encourage greater adoption of suitable recycled products in municipal work.

A guided tour of the Lohrheide sports park's newly installed running track, which contains tyre rubber granulate, serves as a principal attraction. Attendees will learn about the material's characteristics, the construction process and lessons drawn from planning, tendering and execution, offering concrete evidence of mechanical tyre recycling within a functioning circular economy. The event also connects to North Rhine-Westphalia's new circular economy strategy, which treats used tyres as a distinct field of action.

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BendPak’s Ranger Division has introduced the DST30PX, a next-generation wheel balancer in its DST Series, built to help shops handle larger OEM wheel assemblies and heavy aftermarket truck tyres. Older balancing platforms can struggle with these oversized wheels, slowing service and creating bottlenecks. The DST30PX addresses those issues through a new hood design, a larger shaft and an overhauled structural chassis.

The robust hood accommodates a wider range of tyre shapes and sizes, including oversized off-road and fleet tyres, without time-consuming repositioning. Its open-side design lets wider tyres, aggressive offsets and bulky sidewalls slide in more easily, cutting setup time and allowing operators to position wheel assemblies up to 43 inches in diameter. Ranger reinforced the chassis and hood assembly to handle added mass without flexing, compromising alignment or generating excess vibration, supporting consistent measurements and reliable accuracy. The rugged 40 mm shaft increases stiffness and accuracy for heavier wheels.

A large, 64-tooth magnetic transducer encoder with precision-cut square teeth converts rotary position into a digital electronic signal, helping achieve accurate profile readings and top-dead-centre positioning for minimal, precise wheel placement. This extra resolution benefits modern wheels requiring cleaner correction, smaller weight changes and better placement accuracy. The DST30PX also streamlines repetitive service through simple wheel data entry, precise rolling weight readings, automatic braking, manual or automatic hood-start operation and rapid cycle times. A quick-release hub nut, side-position brake, top-dead-centre weight indicator and tiered placement indicators accelerate setup and correction, while onboard storage includes a top tray, side cone pegs and a side shelf for Ranger Quick-Peel adhesive tape weight rolls.

Key features include a 145-lb (approximately 65 kg) capacity, a 30-inch wheel diameter range, a 43-inch maximum tyre diameter, low-RPM operation, a six-second cycle time, Dynamic, Static and Performance Alloy settings, a 16-bit processor, multi-directional quartz piezoelectric sensors, a multi-user save function with presets, ergonomic controls and a full-tilt LED display control panel. The DST30PX suits shops seeking higher precision, faster workflow, and advanced measuring for modern wheels without moving to a larger premium machine. It is ETL certified to applicable UL and CSA safety standards in the United States and Canada, ships with a starter kit of adhesive and clip-on steel wheel weights and offers Ranger Select setup and training.

Sean Price, Director of Product Development, BendPak, said, “The Ranger DST30PX represents a fundamental shift in how modern shops handle today’s radically heavier, oversized wheel configurations. It ensures technicians can mount, spin and perfectly balance oversized assemblies without a single second of wasted motion.”

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Continental has signed on as a global partner of the International Biathlon Union (IBU), with the agreement set to run from the 2026/27 season through 2029/30. The deal, negotiated by the IBU’s exclusive global marketing partner Infront, covers the LaVita IBU World Cup, the IBU World Championships and the Loop One Festival.

Biathlon’s close ties to winter make it a fitting fit for the tyre maker, which frames the sport as a natural setting for a partnership rooted in a positive view of the cold season. Athletes contend with shifting snow, weather and course conditions, blending endurance with shooting precision, a combination that mirrors Continental’s emphasis on preparation and confidence.

The tie-up places Continental inside one of EMEA’s strongest winter sports properties. The IBU calendar features 54 LaVita World Cup races and 12 World Championship races, many staged in key European winter markets, with Germany, France and Sweden among the largest EMEA television audiences for the sport. Beyond reach, European biathlon fans show a strong affinity for individual mobility, as 88 percent own at least one car, 80 percent drive at least semi-regularly and 59 percent drive regularly.

For the IBU, the cooperation adds an internationally established mobility brand to a partner platform that accompanies athletes and fans across the season, opening chances to develop fan experiences and market activities around major competitions. The deal extends Continental’s longstanding sports engagement in EMEA, giving it a season-long platform that links biathlon’s emotional pull with winter mobility relevance, on the idea that proper preparation turns winter conditions into possibilities rather than limits.

Alexandra Gaillard, Head of Marketing, Continental, said, “Our partnership with the International Biathlon Union brings together two organisations that share a common belief: challenging and unpredictable conditions do not have to limit what is possible. They can create opportunities for those who are prepared. Whether on the biathlon course or on winter roads, determination and the right equipment make all the difference when conditions change. Together with the IBU, we want to inspire people to rediscover winter and embrace the possibilities it offers, helping them navigate changing conditions safely and confidently.”

Ferdinand Hoyos, Head of Business Area EMEA, Continental, said, “Biathlon is a natural fit for Continental: success in the sport depends on the perfect combination of performance, precision and control in winter conditions, just as it does for our winter tire portfolio. For decades, biathlon has been one of the most popular and successful winter sports on the Olympic stage, and throughout those decades, Continental has remained a trusted leader in winter tyre technology. This shared commitment to excellence, performance and reliability makes for a great partnership and provides a strong platform to engage with fans, customers and retail partners across EMEA.”

Felix Bitterling, Commercial & Marketing Director, IBU, said, “With Continental, we are welcoming a strong and renowned brand to the biathlon family. The company’s commitment to quality, innovation and performance resonates perfectly with the values of our sport and federation. Biathlon provides an excellent platform for global visibility while creating meaningful engagement opportunities with our passionate fan base.”

Marco Sautner, Managing Director, Infront Germany, said, "Continental has seen firsthand the value that winter sports can create for leading brands. Biathlon's passionate fan base, strong presence in key European markets and range of activation opportunities provide an excellent platform to build on that success. It is hugely satisfying to bring together two organisations that stand to benefit from a long-term collaboration."

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Sun Auto Tire & Service has entered a strategic partnership with Interstate Batteries, designating the company as the primary battery provider for the Sun Auto Network. The announcement marks a significant development for one of United States’ largest independent automotive service providers.

Operating over 600 locations across 27 states, the Sun Auto Network encompasses more than 70 local and regional automotive service brands. This partnership represents another step in Sun Auto's ongoing efforts to strengthen operations and enhance customer experience through leading category partners.

Interstate Batteries, a battery specialist with national scale and strong consumer awareness, brings dedicated category expertise, marketing resources and nationwide support to the network. The company's products are now available at Sun Auto locations nationwide, combining Sun Auto's growing service footprint with Interstate's specialised expertise and distribution capabilities to create greater consistency in product availability, promotions and warranty support.

With over 70 years of industry presence, Interstate Batteries is recognised as one of North America's most trusted consumer battery brands. Sun Auto locations will support Interstate's warranty coverage, offering customers convenient access to warranty service across the network. The partnership advances Sun Auto's broader strategy of leveraging national network strength to improve products, resources and support for its local brands.

Tony Puckett, Chief Executive Officer, Sun Auto Network, said, "As we grow the Sun Auto Network, we're continually looking for ways to use our scale to make our local brands stronger and deliver more value to our customers. That means aligning with partners who bring deep expertise in their category and can support us consistently across the country. Interstate Batteries brings a trusted brand, specialised battery expertise and nationwide capabilities that make them a strong fit for our network and the customers we serve."

Lain Hancock, President and Chief Executive Officer, Interstate Batteries, said, "Interstate Batteries is proud to partner with Sun Auto Network and serve one of the nation's largest automotive service networks. Sun Auto's scale, customer-first approach and commitment to excellence make them an ideal partner. This agreement creates an exciting opportunity to support more than 600 locations operating under trusted local brands while ensuring drivers have access to dependable battery solutions wherever they travel."

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