News from Notch Consulting, Inc.

How does the tire industry perceive the tire of tomorrow? What are the game-changing aspects of tire design? Pneumatic vs. non-pneumatic? Trends in materials development? And weight? For answers, Rubber & Plastics News surveyed several major tire makers, including Bridgestone, Continental, Cooper Tire & Rubber Co., Goodyear, Hankook Tire USA, Michelin, Pirelli, and Sumitomo.

All these companies recognize the three mega-trends impacting future tire evolution: eco-friendly vehicles, autonomous vehicle technology, and ride-sharing.

Pierluigi de Cancellis, Pirelli executive vice president technology sums up the five criteria driving innovation:

1. Rolling Resistance: Further reduction in rolling resistance (not only in “free rolling” condition but also and especially in actual driving condition, i.e. braking, cornering, etc.) and hence in energy economy as a consequence also of electric/hybrid vehicle diffusion and the related need for battery autonomy extension.
2. Extended Mobility: Adoption of advanced solutions for the tire puncture problem (e.g. self-sealing tires, runflat tires) as a technology enabling also shared mobility and autonomous driving.
3. Connectivity: Application of sensor technology to development of “intelligent” tires and the use of data collection for enabling different services. The collection and processing of data regarding many aspects of the tire performance and road conditions is useful for optimizing overall tire performance and safety and minimizing energy consumption, a topic of growing importance, especially with regard to electric and hybrid vehicles.
4. Weight: Tire weight is targeted to be reduced in order to improve overall vehicle efficiency.
5. Noise: Due to vehicle evolution, including the diffusion of hybrid/electric cars, tire noise reduction will more and more become a key target.

Rubber & Plastics News reports that Michelin North America Inc. has developed a 26-inch version of its non-pneumatic Tweel tire/wheel hybrid for use on ultra-terrain vehicles. Michelin Tweel Technologies, an MNA division, says the X Tweel UTV is intended for use in debris-laden areas including construction, agriculture, mining, emergency response and park sites. The X Tweel UTV was originally designed for light-tactical vehicles used in military operations. The wheel is a single unit that replaces the vehicles’ pneumatic tire/wheel/valve assemblies, Michelin said. The Tweel unit also eliminates the need to carry spare tires, tools or repair kits.

I spotted these tires “in the field” a few weeks ago when I was watching the season 2 premier of HBO’s Westworld. I took these screenshots. (Yes, I watch sci-fi shows for the tires — maybe I’ve been doing this job too long.)

Fig 1. Screenshot from Westworld, season 2, episode 1, “Journey into Night,” written by Lisa Joy & Roberto Patino, directed by Richard J. Lewis, airdate April 22, 2018, Home Box Office, Inc.

Fig 2. Screenshot (detail) from Westworld, season 2, episode 1, “Journey into Night,” written by Lisa Joy & Roberto Patino, directed by Richard J. Lewis, airdate April 22, 2018, Home Box Office, Inc.

Toyo Tire & Rubber Co. Ltd. has launched a website that uses CGI animation to showcase the technology of its near-future airless concept tire, the Noair.

Toyo Tire has made fundamental changes to the structure of its past prototypes, drastically improving the Noair’s performance in several metrics, including durability, exterior noise levels, and fuel efficiency. The company has successfully driven a kei-class light vehicle equipped with the tires at a range of speeds from 40 to 75 miles per hour.

According to the 2018 J.D. Power U.S. Original Equipment Tire Customer Satisfaction Study, overall customer satisfaction with original equipment tires has improved significantly since 2015.

The notable news is that run-flat tires are closing the satisfaction gap with conventional tires.

“The rise in satisfaction helps tire manufacturers’ efforts to meet the demands of OEMs while simultaneously improving the customer experience,” said Brent Gruber, senior director of automotive quality practice at J.D. Power. “The fact that there is little difference in satisfaction between run-flat and traditional tires is a great example. Many OEMs have been replacing spare tires with run-flats to help reduce vehicle weight and improve fuel efficiency. Just a few years ago run-flat tires were a detriment to customer satisfaction but the experience is much more positive now.”

The 2018 U.S. Original Equipment Tire Customer Satisfaction Study is based on responses from 30,477 owners of 2016 and 2017 model-year vehicles, and was fielded in October-December 2017.

Trelleborg Wheel Systems has developed a sensor-based smart wheel called ConnecTire that it said enables data-sharing at multiple levels, reducing the risk of tire slippage on the rim.

ConnecTire monitors two key variables—tire pressure and temperature—in real time and relays the data to both tractor and farm mainframes via Bluetooth and wireless connectivity, Trelleborg said.

“ConnecTire is about ensuring efficiency and sustainability,” said Piero Mancinelli, research and development director at Trelleborg Wheel Systems. “Tires are required to work intelligently and to be at the right pressure at all times.”… “Being able to be in control of these allows farming operations to reduce inefficiencies,” Mancinelli added, noting that the system allows operators to set their target tire pressure and then monitor how that pressure deviates from the target and act accordingly.

ConnecTire will be on display at Agritechnica 2017, Nov. 12 to 18 in Hanover, Germany.

Read the full press release here.