A device and a method control the operation of an electronic wheel unit that is allocated to a vehicle wheel. The method includes recording data relating to the operating conditions of the wheel using at least one condition recording unit and/or recording data relating to the energy that is currently available to the electronic wheel unit from a generator and/or an energy accumulator device using at least one energy recording unit. The operation of the electronic wheel unit and the defined energy consumption of the electronic wheel unit is controlled in accordance with the data that has been recorded by the condition recording unit and/or the energy recording unit using a central control unit that is connected to the condition recording unit and/or the energy recording unit.