[w1nk]

This seems like (clearly?) bad journalism. RFID tags on their own are for sure not taking active sensor readings, that'd be left for something closer to TPMS style systems.

[ridgeguy]

It seems there are RFID tags that provide sensing functions. I didn't do a deep dive, here's the first thing I found. [1] They sense temperature, pressure, and other parameters. I wouldn't be surprised if something like this is used by tire makers.

[1] https://www.atlasrfidstore.com/sensor-rfid-tags/

[valianteffort]

But RFID are unique, read-only keys burned in to silicon at time of production.

Perhaps the car is using Wi-Fi for TPMS.

[reportingsjr]

Active RFID tags with integrated sensors are becoming more common.

Electronic sensors of various sorts have become low enough power to enable embedding a very small battery with sensors and RFID transmitter. These can log readings every second or few for a few _years_.

[mlyle]

A lot of TPMS are basically just specialized RFID systems. Some don't even have a power source for the tag.

[melony]

Are there antennas in car wheel wells? The main car battery can probably power it with a correctly calibrated antenna.

[mh-]

See my other comment for a simplified explanation, or check out https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Direct_TPMS