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Tire Pressure Monitoring Has Auto Manufacturers Looking in the Mirror

8 December 2000

Government Pressure for Tire Pressure Monitoring Has Automotive Manufacturers Looking in the Mirror

    ZEELAND, Mich., Dec. 7 New legislation approved by
Congress has automotive manufacturers scrambling to determine how best to
integrate low-tire-pressure warning systems into new cars and trucks.  The
answer may mean taking a good look in the mirror.
    Spurned on by recent tire recalls and the belief that under-inflated tires
can lead to accidents, lawmakers have given the National Highway Traffic
Safety Administration (NHTSA) one year to draft standards for low-tire-
pressure warning systems.  Automakers would then be required to meet these
standards over the course of the next two years.
    But integrating new features into a vehicle isn't as easy as it may sound.
Redesigning, retooling and manufacturing instrument panels and/or overhead
consoles to accommodate new features and displays require a costly, time-
consuming process that can often take three to five years.
    One company believes the way to speed up this process is to look in the
rearview mirror.  Gentex Corporation, which develops and manufactures high-
tech rearview mirrors, has for the last year been marketing interior rearview
mirrors that display the vehicle's tire-pressure status.
    "The mirror is an excellent location for basic displays and driver
communications interfaces," said Ken La Grand, Gentex executive vice
president.  "The mirror is in the driver's natural line-of-site, can be
brought to market quickly, is in a consistent location across vehicle
platforms, can be easily serviced, and is a much more cost-effective solution
compared to redesigning a vehicle's interior.
    "Our tire-pressure-monitoring mirror can simply warn you that one of your
tires is under-inflated, or it can tell you the exact pressure of each
individual tire."
    There are two ways to monitor tire pressure.  The most accurate system
involves installing sensors in each tire that monitor tire pressure and
transmit the status via a radio-frequency signal to a driver display.  A
second type of system is tied into a vehicle's anti-lock braking system (ABS)
and uses tire-rotation speed to determine inflation.  Gentex's mirror-borne
display would work equally well with either system.
    "It's fair to say that this legislation has renewed vehicle manufacturers'
interest in our tire-pressure-monitoring rearview mirror.  Obviously, we're
biased, but we believe we have an excellent solution that will help
manufacturers meet the legislation while enhancing driver safety."
    Locating electronic devices and displays in the mirror is not new to
Gentex.  Over 40% of the interior mirrors the Company sells include some sort
of advanced feature, including compass and temperature displays, remote
keyless entry receivers, automatic headlamp control sensors, TRIP functions,
LED map lamps, global positioning system interfaces, garage door openers --
even taxicab-fare readouts.