See You Later, Flat Tires!

You’re driving on a hot summer day with your windows down and CD radio player on full-blast. All of a sudden you start to feel something seems a little off and realize one of your tires is losing air. Whether you decide to fix the tire yourself on the side of the road or give AAA a call, even the best Navigation Unit isn’t going to get you to your destination on time. Bridgestone is hoping to end these situations all-together with their air-free tire concepts shown here.

The color-choice of green would probably be customizable, but in concept form it alludes to the fact that the materials used are 100% recyclable. Its recyclable “thermoplastic” internal spokes are what gives these tires all of their strength and flexibility. The outer rubber on the tire offers a more traditional tread surface required for use on our sometimes rough roads. One criticism has been the possibility of noise due to wind resistance in commercial use. However, if commercialized these tires are expected to be sealed by a thin sidewall of rubber for these reasons. Each tire also only has a weight capacity of up to 330 pounds, but innovations to this technology will undoubtedly be made in the future.

Benefits obviously include the recyclability factor, but they are also safer and less wasteful because they eliminate the risk of punctures. Check out these tires in action on YouTube! (And by “in action”, I mean a girl riding a small scooter equipped with these tires five feet across a stage).

Does this Concept Indicate Wheels of the Future?

The new SIM-LEI prototype brings an entirely new function to both the front wheel hub and rear wheel hub: powering the vehicle. While I hope that no car ever looks like this, the concept behind this Japanese vehicle is unique and worth taking a look at. Rather than having one motor in the front of the vehicle this electric car has four motors, one in each of the wheels.

We’ve all seen more electric cars around in the past few years as gas prices have crept up and people are becoming more concerned about the environment. What makes this car unique is not only the LEI (Leading Efficiency In-Wheel motor) concept but its performance in speed, power output, and battery life. This prototype can go from 0 to 60 in just 4.8 seconds and each wheel delivers 65 kilowatts of power (260 kilowatts total). Compare that to the Nissan Leaf which only gives a total output of 80 kilowatts. The SIM-LEI can travel about 207 miles on one charge while the Leaf does about 100.  Having the motors located in each of the wheels also provides new possibilities regarding traction and stability control.

I’m not a huge fan of the vehicle’s design, but the in-wheel motors seem to provide more efficiency and I’m interested to see their future in electric vehicles. SIM is expecting to begin production of its four-seat sedan in 2013 which will sell for roughly $32,000 a pop. While I can’t see these guys cruising around the streets of U.S. cities anytime soon, maybe they’re onto something?