The original European Union "General Safety Regulation"or "GSR", EC Regulation No. 661/2009, mandated the fitment of tyre pressure monitoring systems (TPMS) to all M1 category vehicles, i.e. passenger cars and multipurpose passenger vehicles. In the more recently published "General Safety Regulation 2"or "GSR 2", EU Regulation No. 2019/2144, the requirement for the mandatory fitment of tyre pressure monitoring systems (TPMS) has been extended to other categories of vehicle. From July 6, 2022, the fitment of a TPMS will become mandatory for all new types of M2, M3, N1, N2, N3, O3 and O4 category vehicle (i.e. buses, coaches, pick-up trucks, vans, heavy trucks, heavy trailers and semi-trailers) and, from July 7, 2024, the fitment of such systems will become mandatory for all new vehicles falling into those categories.
To develop the necessary technical requirements and test procedures for tyre pressure monitoring systems fitted to these other categories of vehicle, the European Commission sought assistance from the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UN ECE) via the Working Party on Noise and Tyres (GRBP). A specific Task Force, the Task Force on Tyre Pressure Monitoring Systems and Tyre Installation (TPMSTI), was set up to undertake this work and they met 19 times between February 2020 and July 2021. The new and revised requirements which were formulated by this Task Force were drafted into an 01 Series of Amendments to the existing UN ECE Regulation on tyre pressure monitoring systems; ECE 141.00.
The final draft version of the 01 Series of Amendments to UN ECE Regulation No. 141 were adopted by the World Forum for Harmonisation of Vehicle Regulations (WP.29) at its 183rd session in March 2021, and were formally published on December 17, 2021.
In most instances, only minor revisions to the TPMS technical requirements and test procedures which were already specified within ECE 141.00 have been necessary to accommodate the expansion of the Regulation’s scope to include additional categories of vehicle. For instance, revisions to cater for the different types of tyre fitted to heavier vehicles, the lower speed limits applicable to heavier vehicles, etc. However, there are two areas where it was necessary to develop completely new sets of requirements.
Some specifications of heavy vehicle are already available with either a tyre pressure refill system (TPRS) or a central tyre inflation system (CTIS), which are capable of refilling underinflated tyres whilst the vehicle is in motion. The fitment of these systems potentially negate the need for the fitment of a tyre pressure monitoring system (TPMS). To cover this situation, the 01 Series of Amendments to ECE 141 introduce specific performance requirements for TPRS and CTIS systems. TPRS and CTIS systems which meet these performance requirements can be deemed to be equivalent to a TPMS and vehicles equipped with such systems are not required to have a separate TPMS.
Due to the fact that the expanded scope for the Regulation now includes trailers and semi-trailers, it was necessary to establish specific technical requirements and test procedures to cover the data communications interface between the towing vehicle and the towed vehicle to allow the trailer to communicate its tyre pressure information to the vehicle which is towing it. To cover this, the 01 Series of Amendments to ECE 141 introduce specific requirements on the data communications interface between towing vehicles and trailers, permitting the use of either a wired or wireless interface for this purpose.
With regard to introduction dates, the transitional provisions specified in the 01 Series of Amendments to ECE 141 basically align with those specified in EU Regulation No. 2019/2144.