Well known tire manufacturer Michelin introduces an airless, 3D printed tire made from recycled biodegradable like natural rubber, bamboo, paper, tin cans, wood and plastic, which means it can be totally recycled after its life cycle.
At the Movin’ On Exhibition and International Summit for Sustainable Mobility in Montreal last June 13 – 15, Michelin unveiled this new futuristic concept....
Speaking of treads, the Visionary Concept tire also allows for easy switching between multiple tread patterns.
Image credit: Jimmy Hamelin/Michelin
Unlike traditional air-pressurized tires, the 3D-printed prototype doesn’t need to be inflated.
Instead, the Visionary Concept tire uses a honeycomb pattern based on generative design models found in nature, such as coral and the air sacs in human lungs.
This design diminishes the risk of a blowout or flats due to punctures.
So if you need a winter tire for going up to the mountains or an off road tire for some backwoods driving, it’ll be as simple as the push of a button.
However, as this tire is still just a prototype, it looks like the general mass consuming public will need to still use and deal with the vastly inefficient, archaic, pressurized rubber tires for the time being.
According to Michelin’s Executive VP of Research and Development, Terry Gettys, he believes it will be at least another 10 years before the finalized Visionary Concept tire can reach the mass market and be sold for public consumption, reports Mobilemag.
Considering it could eliminate the need for replacing tires and manufacturing difficult-to-recycle ones, it’ll be worth the wait.
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Really interesting concept. Do you think car companies will be willing to introduce these types of tires? After all, a lot of money is made in the sale of car tires. Basically, how large do you think the resistance against this prototype will be from the already established companies in the market? :)
It's people to decide whether to use Eco-friendly tires or our conventional one which is hampering our environment...
That's pretty cool. Just sucks like everything else we will be waiting for this but I always like keeping a eye on new technology. Hopefully we will see this sooner than later.
I really hope this concept is put into action. If you look at the disaster African countries are facing with garbage disposal then this will make a major impact to our world!
Very interesting! I hope this concept will be accepted as it would seem to help cut cost and be helpful for safety.
Aaah I saw something like this a few month ago, this would be very interesting in the future years ! especially in the ecological way (can we talk about the immense tire mountains ?)
This creature is really cool & staining,after watching @ 3D-Printed Airless Tire i just love it .keep it up and discover new for your followers , :)
I drive for a living . Would like to know how many miles you could get out of them. Interesting if they had a lifetime warranty, balanced, and aligned themselves automatically. Right! 🐓🐓