Goodyear is making airless tires, but it’s not clear when you’ll be able to put them in your car.
The company recently announced that prototype tires have completed 75,000 miles of testing at speeds of 100 miles per hour, ranging from heat to snow. Some tests have been carried out with the Tesla Model 3 at Goodyear’s Luxembourg-proven ground, the company said in a statement.
Also called non-pneumatic tires (NPTs), airless tires have lower maintenance requirements than conventional tires and, according to Goodyear, are capable of handling heavier loads.
The company further believes that airless tires would be a better fit for vehicles outside of passenger vehicles, especially autonomous shuttles that could be used by future mobility services to move people and goods around the city center. The development process will involve “testing autonomous tires on autonomous vehicles and end-mile delivery robots,” Goodyear said.
Goodyear airless tire prototype
Goodyear said it was seeking approval from the U.S. Department of Transportation for its airless tires, but noted that it was “still several years away.” And because of the company’s interest in mobility services, the first applications may not be private cars
Other major tire manufacturers have shown interest in airless tires. Bridgestone introduced the concept of a puncture-proof airless tire in 2011 and Michelin said in 2019 that it would begin supplying airless tires to General Motors in early 2024.
Hancock introduced the concept of his own airless tires in early 2013 and said in 2015 that manufacturing airless tires was moving closer to reality. But we haven’t heard much about this project since.
An airless tire makes it for production – not just for cars. Polaris began offering their ATV as an alternative in 2013.