
An airless, puncture-proof car tyre takes to the road - sohkamyung
https://www.economist.com/science-and-technology/2019/06/15/an-airless-puncture-proof-car-tyre-takes-to-the-road
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merricksb
Different article about same topic, discussed 10 days ago:

[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=20113174](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=20113174)

Also, another brand promoting this concept 4 years ago:

[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=9908665](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=9908665)

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amriksohata
They could have made this a long time ago but the industry backed by giants
like Goodyear, Dunlop, pirelli etc would lose out on their business model of
replacement tyres so wouldn't push it. Similar thing happened to the electric
car in the 90s California had quite a few, but the oil industry killed them
off, watch the programme "who killed the electric car"

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perfunctory
Looks like airless tyre is not an entirely new concept [0]. What makes this
tyre special?

[0]
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Airless_tire](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Airless_tire)

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6nf
They've been around for ages but not in mass produced cars.

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peterburkimsher
It will work, but the extra force will stretch out the tyre over time. "Not
being air cushions, they could not be punctured, their main trouble being
usually their liability to get detached from the rim and the tendency to
stretch."

[http://www.gutenberg.org/files/58444/58444-h/58444-h.htm#Pag...](http://www.gutenberg.org/files/58444/58444-h/58444-h.htm#Page_74)

The Modern Bicycle and Its Accessories [1898]

Discussion:
[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=20145663](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=20145663)

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6nf
You're quoting a 130 year old book, it might not be relevant to modern tyre
designs.

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adrianN
What's the rolling resistance? It won't be so eco-friendly after all if it
rolls worse than standard tires.

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cs02rm0
Presumably it offers increased unsprung and rotational mass.

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smartbit
[https://outline.com/YuejXh](https://outline.com/YuejXh)

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walrus01
This looks like it would not handle getting rocks or mud in the sidewall gaps
well at all.

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6nf
The picture is just showing the internal structure. The actual product does
have sidewalls and look like normal tyres.

