seem to strike at the most irksome times. Scrambling around on the ground to change a wheel in the wet on the side of a busy road is a sure way to ruin any journey. And punctures can be extremely dangerous, especially if a tyre blows out at high speed on a motorway. For decades carmakers have sought various solutions, but with new materials and novel manufacturing methods, a genuinely puncture-proof car tyre has finally appeared.
This summer Michelin and General Motors will begin testing a prototype airless tyre on a fleet of Chevrolet Bolt electric cars. Although it does not need to be inflated, the self-supporting tyre is said to produce the ride and handling of a standard pneumatic tyre. And being airless, it is thus immune from punctures. The French tyremaker and the American car giant call the tyre Uptis .
The Uptis uses an integrated wheel and tyre that comes in one piece. The wheel part consists of an aluminium assembly in the centre, from which emerge spokes made from a new composite material described as “resin-embedded fibreglass”. The spokes are fitted to a conventional-looking tread around the outside of the wheel. Michelin has filed some 50 patents on the technology.
The company reckons that as 200m tyres have to be scrapped worldwide every year because of punctures or the uneven wear caused by incorrect air-pressure, the Uptis will be more environmentally sustainable than standard tyres. It would also save weight, as vehicles will no longer have to carry a spare wheel, a jack, a puncture-repair kit or need to be fitted with a tyre-pressure monitoring system.
But an Uptis will still wear out, like a conventional tyre. When that happens it will need a new tread—one way Michelin andprinter to create a new outer shell for the tyre. That could open up new motoring possibilities, including having seasonal treads printed on your wheels: a summer one for faster roads and a winter tread for increased grip in the wet and snow.
Oh WHAT great news!!!!! 😀
These will look awesome on my new Tesla Right elonmusk ?
If we can replace the outer shell with 3D printing, it can reduce the manufacturing cost. Michelin maybe doesn't need to store to many tyres in the Costco.
'in 2024', drat! Upgrading will probably cost more than an entire used car (see also: maximum performance batteries for electric cars. Like, say, the Bolt) lyftdriverproblems uberdriverproblems Happy holidays to everyone working on Christmas/New Years' Eves/Days.
masterogunkanmi
the local garage is another endangered industry, first electric vehicles without exhausts & mufflers, now puncher free tires
Is it still rubber? I read rubber is the number one polluter on the planet.
'PC load tire'
“Run flat” failed miserably and now this?
At first glance, won't this use many times more material? Isn't our goal to use less resources? Can it outperform to such a higher degree that it consumes less material?
After the new tires wear out.*
Whoever designed this banner must hate eyes. Also, please tell them that I tried zooming in, looking for another hint that leads to another that leads to a joke, but they forgot to paste them all in.
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