October 9, 2006
The Tires of Tomorrow - No Sidewall, No Air, Just Tweel
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No sidewall, no air, no flats, just “tweel.” A revoluntionary new tire design by Michelin - given the name Tweel - has been in development at the company’s Greenville, South Carolina research and development facility since 1995.
The Tweel is available for low-speed vehicles such as wheelchairs, Segways, and military vehicles. Currently, the Tweel is being testing under high-speed conditions and Michelin reports improved performance and better handling. According to Michelin, the Tweel is projected to replace existing tire designs within the next 10 to 15 years.
A composite reinforced treadband, flexible wheel and polyurethane spokes replace the traditional designed tire. As shown in the video below, you can see right through the area of the tire normally filled with air.
Hat tip to WallStreetFighter.com for pointing out the YouTube video to us at AMG Mercedes-Benz | Enthusiasts.
Comments
April 14, 2007
David Dobson said:
I work on commercial truck tires for a living and I have never seen anything like this… Will this be part of the truck world to…
Greg said:
David,
Aren’t they wild tires? I haven’t seen anything recently about them but I’ll see what I can find. The trucking industry would be an excellent target market for the product; I’ll bet they are working on it.
If I find anything I’ll post it here for you. Thanks for stopping by.