Goodyear developing self-inflating car tyres
US-based tyre manufacturer Goodyear is developing a car tyre that will never go flat.
Goodyear’s innovative new Air Maintenance Technology (AMT) is a self-inflating system built into tyres that ensures tyres remain inflated to the optimum pressure.
With all the components, including a miniature pump, fully contained within the tyres, Goodyear senior vice president, Jean-Claude Kihn, said the technology would do away with the need for external pumps and other electronic devices.
“A tyre that can maintain its own inflation is something drivers have wanted for many years,” Mr Kihn said. “Goodyear has taken on this challenge and the progress we have made is very encouraging.
“While the technology is complex, the idea behind the AMT system is relatively simple and powered by the tyre itself as it rolls down the road.
“This will become the kind of technological breakthrough that people will wonder how they ever lived without.”
Goodyear says properly inflated tyres can improve a vehicle’s fuel efficiency by approximately three per cent, and at the same time reduce emissions, extend tyre life, and improve the performance and safety of the vehicle.
Although Goodyear has not estimated when the technology is likely to hit the market, it says the timetable has been accelerated thanks to the support of the US and Luxembourg governments.
On Wednesday, the US Department of Energy awarded Goodyear a $1.5 million research and development grant to demonstrate the AMT system on commercial truck tyres.
Last month, Goodyear earned a grant from the Luxembourg government for similar research on consumer tyres.
What do you think of the technology? Would you like a set of self-inflating tyres? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below.
0
