Michelin making a new kind of no-flat tire

Interesting but I’d hold off for now.

 

My question is what do they mean by "connected"? These days that usually means some sort of "smart" electronic feature

 

Similar tires have been available for small yard equipment like yard tractors and riding mowers for many years, but they weren't cheap even for such small size tires. For a passenger cars, "integrated wheel and tire that comes in one piece" means it must be even more expensive than conventional tires and wheels together. Even if it has much longer tread life, the tread must eventually wear off, then I guess you have to purchase a brand new "integrated wheel and tire that comes in one piece" again, for what cost???

Edit: Oh, I didn't read the part about "When the tread wears out, Michelin and GM hope to use a 3D printer to create a new outer shell for the tire." But still... for what cost???

 

Actually, they are hoping for similar tread life to existing tires.

 

Existing tires have great variability in tread life from 30K to 90K. If it really last 90K, for me that maybe close to a life time. Of course, with conventional tires, I have never be able to extract the max tread life tires warrant anyway. Thus I should not expect any better from the new flatless tires either?

 

when will these be available? us pip owners have no spare either.

i will need new tires around 2024 or so, are they quiet and smooth?

 

If they'd put the spokes at a slight angle, it'd throw a real nice sideways rooster tail going through water. It'd keep drivers out of your blind spot.

 

Add resistance contrary to the Prius model.

 

Is this the same as a Tweel or is this different?

The video shows slow rolling over potholes, but how do these handle in a quick turn? Not that I do high speed turns in my Prius, but in an emergency situation, you just never know.

 

This is the next generation of the Tweel. There is another thread about this somewhere.

Noise was an issue with past models. Dirt and rocks could also get into the spokes, throwing them out of balance. That may also be true with snow and ice. A sidewall membrane seems to obvious fix, but then the spokes can't be inspected.