Air-less Tyres, the Future?
Are air-less tyres the future or is it just a load of hot air?
Air less tyres, as the name suggests, are tyres which contain no pneumatic pressure. Often found on lawn mowers and mining equipment, these tyres can withstand a large amount of abuse. As these are more commonly found on specialty industrial equipment, transferring this across to real world scenarios would be of great benefit to the general public. For example, imagine driving down a country lane just after the hedges have been cut, normally this would mean panic and frustration as you know that at the some point in the next hour you will inevitably have a flat tyre. But, with the airless tyre you needn't worry about this as the tyre can't lose pressure!
Drove down a B road, hit a pothole and burst your air filled tyre? Airless tyres.
Like ramming screwdrivers into your tyre? Airless tyres!
Constantly going off road, driving over sharp rocks and puncturing your tyre? Trivago! Airless tyres!
In general, these tyres will greatly increase tyre and suspension component longevity as well as preventing unforeseen accidents caused by punctures, slashing or bulges.
We, at Hometyre, believe that in twenty-five years' time, most vehicles will come equipped with airless tyres. To kick things off, Michelin and GM (General Motors) are testing these new tyres on the Chevrolet Bolt with the hopes of having full scale production by 2024.
Once the tread has worn out on the outside of the tyre, the tread will be the only thing that needs to be replaced. This, in turn, would eliminate the over 200 million unnecessary tyre replacements each year! The only thing that is holding Michelin back now is trying to find a bonding agent that can not only be removed and replaced, but, can also withstand the heat, pressure and other outside factors that everyday tyres go through.
If airless tyres were to make it to full production, would you be interested in putting them on your vehicle?
HometyreGroup
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