New Michelin airless tires

Dborn · Jul 6, 2014

Does anyone on this forum have any info on these?
No more Fix-a-flat, no more air compressors, no more spare tires, no more auto jacks, no more tools rattling in the trunk. Will it reduce the price of cars? Will it reduce the cost of roadside service? Will some businesses go out of business?

Coming soon!

They have been testing these for several years now.

Resilient Tech was developing them for the military.

MICHELIN WILL PUT THEM ON ALL OUR CARS SOON

Amazing new tires........................

Michelin Tires... Absolutely SCARY looking...

Look for 'em in August.

These tires are made in South Carolina , USA .

SEE THROUGH TIRES

Radical new tire design by Michelin.

The next generation of tires.

They had a pair at the Philadelphia car show.

Yes, those are 'spoke' like connections to the inner part

Of the tire from the outside tread 'wrap!' The next picture

Shows how odd it looks in motion...

Makes you wonder how the ride feels doesn't it?

These tires are airless and are scheduled to be out on the market very soon.

The bad news for law enforcement is that spike strips will not work on these.

Just think of the impact on existing technology:

A. No more air valves..
B. No more air compressors at gas stations...
C. No more repair kits..
D. No more flats...

These are actual pictures taken at the South Carolina plant of Michelin.

tomas · Jul 6, 2014

Awesome, hope it performs. I love paradigm changes. Electric + solar + this AOK

jerry33 · Jul 6, 2014

The problem with these is that they have very high rolling resistance. Last I heard they were something like 8% higher than standard (non LRR) tires. And the other problem is heat. If the plastic wheel melts under heavy braking (e.g. the type found in rallies where the brake drums glow)...

Btrflyl8e · Jul 6, 2014

Funny this should show up now, I was just telling someone about the Tweel on Friday and showed them a pic. I've been watching this for a few years, waiting for it to come to market.

jordanthompson · Jul 7, 2014

dborn said:
no more fix-a-flat, no more air compressors, no more spare tires, no more auto jacks, no more tools rattling in the trunk.
A. No more air valves..
B. No more air compressors at gas stations...
C. No more repair kits..
D. No more flats...
.

no more tpms!!!

Johan · Jul 7, 2014

You can't adjust pressure for different conditions. Perhaps an unimportant feature or regular tires anyway.

ecarfan · Jul 7, 2014

I first read about those tires a few years ago. I'm intrigued. Love the idea of increased reliability, i.e. no more flats.

If they did not negatively impact EV range and had good tread life I would be willing to pay about 20% more for them than a traditional tire.

They do look bizarre.

techmaven · Jul 7, 2014

I'm very excited to see this technology more forward. I'm hoping that low cost and high performance re-tread is a strong possibility, as the end to end sustainability of the tire business is probably one of the last hurdles of truly sustainable transport. Recycling of tires right now is abysmal from a number of angles.

zwede · Jul 7, 2014

The soles of my shoes are made from recycled automotive tires. The shoes are excellent and have good tread wear.

Johan · Jul 7, 2014

But how will we make swings for the children?

... Protect our boats?

... Make sandals?

(Really tho' I agree tire recycling is environmentally challenging and ineffective).

On a seroius note though what will this do to Michelin's bottom line? It's like a light bulb manufacturer making a light bulb that never needs replacement. Wait, those exist (LEDs) and cost about 20 times more than an incadescent bulb... What will these tires cost??? And what about wheel makers? It seems this tire is also the wheel?

tomas · Jul 7, 2014

Johan said:
On a seroius note though what will this do to Michelin's bottom line? It's like a light bulb manufacturer making a light bulb that never needs replacement. Wait, those exist (LEDs) and cost about 20 times more than an incadescent bulb... What will these tires cost??? And what about wheel makers? It seems this tire is also the wheel?

my guess is tread still will wear out. So while this technology may negate risk of blowout or puncture, it would not eliminate tire wear/replacement. And what% of our tires do we lose to puncture/blowout? Not much. Wheel mfgs will find a way to decorate them. I like the likely weight loss.

ElSupreme · Jul 7, 2014

The problem with these are the 'flexible wheels'. They deform when breaking making your car rock front and back after a stop. They aren't even close to as rigid as a real wheel and tire laterally. And generally they are more expensive, and won't last any longer than a standard tire.

Your wheels now become a wear part, due to constant flexure. Small rocks ~2" in diameter become a hazard to damage your tire/rim because there in no fluid nature to absorb these large intrusion.

Sure you won't flat. But honestly in my last two cars I went through about 8 sets (32 total) of tires, and only had 2 flats (both of which were repaired for ~$15 a piece). Puncture flats just aren't that big of a decide when choosing tires for most people. Defiantly a niche tire where one would be prone to lots of puncture flats. Not really going to catch on in my opinion.

Jeeps17 · Jul 7, 2014

I also cannot see such open cell tire designs working in winter. They will rapidly fill with snow and become completely unbalanced.

Also agree with ElSupreme about the lack of rigidity, and wonder how the flexible struts would fare in very cold weather.

We'll have to see how the tire company engineers resolve these issues.

tomas · Jul 7, 2014

ElSupreme said:
Sure you won't flat. But honestly in my last two cars I went through about 8 sets (32 total) of tires, and only had 2 flats (both of which were repaired for ~$15 a piece). Puncture flats just aren't that big of a decide when choosing tires for most people. Defiantly a niche tire where one would be prone to lots of puncture flats. Not really going to catch on in my opinion.

Yes, and electric cars are underpowered, shrimpy, overpriced, impractical range fireboxes that are not going to catch on

These are challenges indeed for the tire/wheel, but give new technology a chance to develop! I too doubt the 2014 timeframe from OP, but someday... air filled tires will not be required. Material science is gonna replace them.

dhanson865 · Jul 7, 2014

Jeeps17 said:
I also cannot see such open cell tire designs working in winter. They will rapidly fill with snow and become completely unbalanced.

They have to fix the rolling resistance before I'd consider them but for you northerners maybe they could have a thin sidewall layer to block out the snow?

ZsoZso · Jul 7, 2014

What's even worse than just snow filling them is a typical thaw/freeze cycle in day/night temperature changes can make them be filled with solid ice, which will completely ruin the flexibility of the tire.

Bouba · Jun 13, 2022

Here’s an update to this very old thread...

Could flat tyres soon be a thing of the past?

Airless tyres that do not puncture are getting close to market but some remain sceptical about them.

www.bbc.com

ecarfan · Jun 14, 2022

The now 8 year old post that started this thread:

Dborn said:
MICHELIN WILL PUT THEM ON ALL OUR CARS SOON

I remain skeptical.

jerry33 · Jun 14, 2022

ecarfan said:
The now 8 year old post that started this thread:

I remain skeptical.

Correct. They've been working on these since the 1980s. A lot like hydrogen: It will always be the .... of the future.

EVer Hopeful · Jun 15, 2022

Dborn said:
The bad news for law enforcement is that spike strips will not work on these.

Maybe, but they could always shove a broom handle into the spokes !

New Michelin airless tires

Confirmed

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