Better performance and no more flats?

[VulcanRider]

Introducing, the TWEEL...

Updated April 29, 2005 Michelin has showcased a potentially disruptive technology with significant ramifications for the future for mobility: an airless, integrated tyre and wheel combination dubbed the TWEEL (i.e. Tyre/WhEEL) . The Tweel promises performance levels beyond those possible with conventional pneumatic technology. ..."Major revolutions in mobility may come along only once in a hundred years," said Terry Gettys, president of Michelin Americas Research and Development Center in Greenville, S.C. "But a new century has dawned and Tweel has proven its potential to transform mobility. Tweel enables us to reach levels of performance that quite simply aren't possible with today's conventional pneumatic technology." The heart of Tweel innovation is its deceptively simple looking hub and spoke design that replaces the need for air pressure while delivering performance previously only available from pneumatic tires. The flexible spokes are fused with a flexible wheel that deforms to absorb shock and rebound with ease. Without the air needed by conventional tires, Tweel still delivers pneumatic-like performance in weight-carrying capacity, ride comfort, and the ability to "envelope" road hazards. Michelin has also found that it can tune Tweel performances independently of each other, which is a significant change from conventional tires. This means that vertical stiffness (which primarily affects ride comfort) and lateral stiffness (which affects handling and cornering) can both be optimised, pushing the performance envelope in these applications and enabling new performances not possible for current inflated tires.

This is from 3+ years ago? I've never heard of it. I wonder if they make wind noise at highway speed, and what's the expected lifespan. 10,000 miles? 50,000? More?

[Ilander]

I remember watching a news piece from middle school about a man who had invented a rubber-less tire that didn't require inflation, and ran for 100,000 miles...but, not a word since, in the span of something like seven years.

I guess people just don't like to have their world-view changed...like, the masses of people protesting when Pluto was removed from the list of planets.

[VulcanRider]

I wonder if it could be such a long-lasting wheel that the tire companies are afraid of losing the replacement tire income and are sitting on this? Since old tires are such a big part of landfills, you'd think the environmentalists would be screaming for these.

[Bungleau]

I'm curious about the cost, as compared to the cost of a conventional wheel and tire. That might be a large part of what it takes to catch on.

[Ziroc]

Hey! Where are the flying cars!! I Want THAT! not a 'tweel'! (hehehe) Dunno about the tech.. maybe died? I do remember seeing it on Beyond Tomorrow or some show like that..