Jim recently sent me some information about Michelin's next generation airless tire. In the name of full disclosure, I will mention at this point that I work for a tire manufacturer (one of Michelin's competitors).
I tried finding something official about it, and all I was able to find was this pretty impressive video [qj.net].
Like a lot of technology releases, the information that you can find is heavy on the eye-candy, and short on the details and technical info. If they are able to bring it to market, it might be huge. No more checking your tire pressure, or worrying about punctures.
They'll have a lot of difficult hurdles to clear before then, though. If it's substantially more expensive to manufacture, people won't buy them. If they feel harsh when driving over bumps, people won't buy them. If the mass of the tires are significantly higher than conventional ones, or if they have higher rolling resistance, car manufacturers will not want them, because they won't be able to hit their fuel economy targets. Any of these issues have the potential to relegate this type of product to a niche market, like military vehicles, where ride and rolling resistance are of secondary concern.
Nevertheless, it's a very interesting design, and they are intriguing.
Labels: cars
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