https://www.carscoops.com/2019/06/gm...icles-in-2024/


Airless tires have been in the works for a number of years, but they could finally be installed on your next vehicle.


Working in partnership with Michelin, GM will begin testing UPTIS (Unique Puncture-proof Tire System) tires later this year on a fleet of Chevrolet Bolts. The real-world tests are designed to help further develop the tires so GM can introduce them on passenger vehicles as early as 2024.

Airless tires have a number of benefits as they can’t go flat or suffer a blowout. Drivers also won’t have to worry about keeping their tires inflated or dealing with irregular wear and tear caused by over- or under-inflation.

UPTIS tires also promise to be environmentally friendly as they’ll significantly reduce the number of “punctured or damaged tires that are scrapped before reaching the end of their life cycle.” They’ll also eliminate the need for spare tires and GM says this will reduce raw material usage, energy consumption and emissions. It also goes without says that eliminating spare tires will make vehicles lighter.

According to GM’s senior vice president of global purchasing and supply chain, the company is “excited about the possibilities” created by airless tires and they’re “thrilled to collaborate with Michelin on this breakthrough technology.” Steve Kiefer went on to say “UPTIS is an ideal fit for propelling the automotive industry into the future and a great example of how our customers benefit when we collaborate and innovate with our supplier partners.”

Michelin estimates that roughly 20% of tires are scrapped every year due to punctures or irregular wear. In total, 200 million tires are junked annually and that’s a ton of waste that could be significantly reduced with airless technology.

 

I wonder how road noise and ride comfort will be affected

 

looks like these are going to ride stiff and be noisy

 

A good idea in theory (though it didn't always work out well in actual practice) was the self-sealing tires of several decades ago. They were coated, inside, with a sticky, goop-like substance that was supposed to cling to any nail, screw, or other small object that pierced the tread and belts. This was generally effective in preventing air loss, but the sealant-substance inside, as the tire spun and cornered, could sometimes shift and slide around the inside of the tire, build up or thin out in certain spots, and cause tire imbalances that could lead to vibration or shimmy.

 

I'm from a severe snow, ice ,slush, and very cold temperatures area for six months of the year. I have to ask how these will perform in that climate. With the open sides as shown in the photo I envision these holes to be full of ice. So when you get up in the morning and proceed to work how do these tires work being frozen and iced over then having to drive in a fresh 6 inch snow blanket? Or are these summer tires only and you will have to have a conventional set of tires to swap anyway, so where is the savings?

 

Those are just demo models, so you can see the construction and how they work. production ones will have sidewalls and will look just like "regular" tires.

 

I guess that makes sense.

 

Interested to understand the benefits over and above conventional run flats which of course serve much the same purpose (and usually mean the car also has no spare wheel and tire). The downside of run flats has generally been the added weight of the bracing which increases unsprung/rotational mass plus delivering a traditionally stiffer ride (albeit current gen runflats are better than the first generation, plus suspension enhancements negate some of the ride downside). The internal bracing in the pictured tire isn't likely to deliver much of a weight saving if any over the steel bracing in a traditional RFT.

 

Why don't they say that to be clear? I hope you'r right. I've seen these before quite awhile ago. They must be having development issues.

 

I do not know what weight difference there is between the runflat and this airless tire, but there are definite benefits to the airless tire.

No air means never having to worry about the correct pressure, and never having to worry that a low pressure may lead to dangerous overheating and sudden failure of a tire.

No air means never having to worry about a failure -- puncture or blowout -- at high speed and/or far from a service centre to fix or replace the failed tire. There is no need to worry about driving at a slower speed for a limited distance as you would on a runflat. Other than tread wear, the airless tire is always "perfect" and ready for driving.

The tread on the airless tire, when worn, can be removed and replaced without having to replace the entire tire.

The deformable spokes in the body of the tire (the internal bracing) can be designed to create a much better balance of cornering ability (handling) and comfort. On pneumatic tires, a low sidewall will give better cornering ability but less comfort, and a higher sidewall will give poorer cornering ability but greater comfort; that is because lateral (side-to-side) stiffness in a pneumatic tire is achieved through a low sidewall (less side-to-side movement of the tire gives better, more-direct steering ability), but the low sidewall also gives you vertical stiffness, which generally means a harsher, less comfortable ride. The deformable spokes in the airless tire, however, can be designed to give both lateral stiffness and vertical softness, giving you both good cornering ability and good comfort.

 

thanks for that - great points.

 

Actually, they won’t. This is a concept that Michelin has been developing for 10+ years and is currently selling as the TWEEL for a variety of applications such as skid-steel loaders, John Deere machines, etc.

 

no air means you cant change the pressure to what you want it to be, you get only one level of stiffness and ride, and thats it. This will not be good for a performance or off road vehicle. Where did it say the tire was retreadable, the promo video did not mention it.

 

With airless tires, I don't know this for a fact without actually sampling them under varying conditions, but, based on my experience with most rubber tires, you might (?) get some differences between hot and cold conditions where the softness/hardness of the tire compound itself is affected. Typically, all else equal, a tire will be softer in the summer and harder in the winter. This is more noticeable with lower-profile sidewalls. The higher/lower temperatures, of course, will also affect the density of the hydraulic fluid in the shock-absorbers, which can affect the ride/handling.

 

Wouldnt that just defeat the purpose of airless tires? It will still have air plus all that extra rubber will make the tire extremely heavy with or without the sidewall.