Error parsing XSLT file: \xslt\FacebookOpenGraph.xslt Mike Waters' Blog: 24 September 2012 - The invisible support
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Mike Waters' Blog: 24 September 2012 - The invisible support

Date: 24 September 2012

Mike Waters is senior insight & consultancy manager at Arval, the leading vehicle leasing and fleet management company.

As I drive along I often forget how much technology my car is packed with.

There are the obvious tools and gadgets such as climate control, satnav and digital displays - but there are also a raft of technologies concealed within that I never see but that all have an important purpose.

Many of these hidden aids are safety related: ABS stops me from skidding if I brake hard in an emergency, ESC stops me from losing it on a tight corner while reversing sensors ensure that I don't misjudge those tricky manoeuvres.

These are just a few examples that spring to mind and I'm sure there are many others operating in my car but that I never think about until a light that I haven't seen before appears on the dashboard to warn me to take action.

This trend of stacking cars full of useful technology is set to continue and yet another example comes in the form of TPMS, or tyre pressure monitoring systems.

Although (TPMS) have been available for a while, all new models type approved after 1 November 2012 will have to fit TPMS as standard with the technology becoming compulsory for all new cars sold from November 2014.

How does it work? An individual sensor (known as a TPMS valve) is fitted to each wheel on the vehicle. It monitors the actual pressure of each tyre and reports it in real time back to the dashboard, alerting drivers if they need to fill up with air.

They are battery powered so don't last forever - the current cost of a replacing a valve is around £80 and a new one should last between five and seven years.

However properly inflated tyres could cut your fuel consumption and reduce the chances of you being involved in an accident - so that 80 quid sounds like good value to me.

Interesting to know but you don't need to do anything about it - buy or lease a new car and it will come with it. So if you're not already, you are likely to be relying on this technology to alert you of a problem with your tyres in the not too distant future.

So this is yet another example of how changing technology supports the driving experience, makes us safer and more efficient. Makes you wonder how we coped years ago!

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