Michelin and GM are testing airless tyres that will eliminate the need for spares and car jacks

[Arthur]

That's true of spoked wheels where the tension of the spoke is the support.. The pic appears to be the tweel compressing the bottom vanes though...

Goes to show the vehicle is hanging, not being supported by the bottom spokes/vanes. From a mechanical and physics viewpoint, the vehicle's weight is suspended from the top perimeter section of the tweel above the axle line. This is proved by the deformations at the bottom (ground).

Edit: there are several vids on YT that explain this. I'm not in a position to find them now.

 

[krycor]

If this worked at normal speeds for typical cars (ie <140km/h) that is a more immediate threat to jobs in the sector.

Just think about all those twt etc places. Granted I rarely go there already with my standard tyres. I’m wondering how bad the efficiency will be vs EV tyres(remember Tesla uses special ones).. or compared to normal ones.

Again combo means motor industry is the last sector you want to be involved in from a service/maintenance view.

 

[konfab]

The new tyre technology uses glass-fibre fortified vanes to replace the support provided by air pressure, potentially eliminating flats and reducing the use of raw materials and waste.

Most of the wear comes from roads, not from punctures. I doubt these things use less rubber than normal tyres.

 

[konfab]

Airless tires generally have higher rolling resistance and provide somewhat less suspension than similarly shaped and sized pneumatic tires.

And this is a big problem as well. Before my bicycle got stolen, I had airless tyres fitted to it. It pretty much ruined it in terms of performance. It became a pain to cycle it.

 

[konfab]

Get rid of tar and retvrn to tank tracks.

 

[The_MAC]

Looks like a run-flat with much more support?