Technology
Michelin Uptis: Airless Car Tires Emerging in 2024
Michelin Uptis Release Date
If you have ever had your car tire blow out, then you will appreciate this. Airless car tires are set to hit markets in 2024!
The Michelin airless tires or Uptis (Unique Puncture-proof Tire System) are so durable that they can last up to three times longer than conventional tires, and they are puncture-proof, making tire blowouts a thing of the past.
Michelin Uptis Price
While no official price has been released, the price for the Michelin Uptis may be comparable to run-flat tires, which are usually 25% more expensive than traditional tires. Run-flat tires are tires reinforced with a sidewall strong enough to allow driving for a short time even after a puncture has occurred. Since airless car tires are a step up from run-flats, it would make sense that the price is comparable.
How Long Do Airless Tires Last?
While there is no way to know for certain how long Uptis airless car tires will last, Michelin is confident that the tires can last 3x longer than the traditional ones. Flat-run tires have a lower life span than traditional tires, and so, in addition to a premium price, it is safe to expect that airless tires will also last longer due to their puncture-proof nature.
Are Airless Car Tires the Future?
Airless car tires reflect one of many efforts toward the future of sustainability. More than 4 billion discarded tires are in landfills and stockpiles worldwide. Approximately 6.1 million metric tons of microplastic ends up in both our waterways and atmosphere from tires alone. In addition to Uptis, Michelin hopes to create tires that are made from 100% sustainable and recyclable materials by 2025, showing that there is a future for airless car tires.
Michelin Uptis Could Have Amazing Benefits
Besides solving tire-related crashes from blowouts and low tire pressure—which the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration estimates is responsible for 11,000 crashes and 200 deaths in the United States each year—the revolutionary airless tires are the first step to eliminating one of the world’s most immediate pollution problems.
In 1972 Florida dumped 2 million old tires in the ocean; in B.C., thousands of tires have mysteriously ended up on remote islands. Whatever the real number is, it’s clear that there is a wide world of discarded tires that we just don’t know what to do with.
According to Michelin, 20% of discarded tires are the result of punctures and tears, neither of which can happen with these airless tires. This means that with the Michelin airless tires, any tires that would have otherwise ended up in landfills or stockpiles due to these factors will instead remain on your car, much in the same way that you will remain in your car instead of having to relive the headache of changing a blown out tire.
The airless car tires are 3-D printed, renewable, and bio-sourced, and while they don’t entirely solve the crucial problem that conventional tires pose to the environment, it is a start.
And if it starts with never having to change a tire on the highway again, then you are probably as excited as I am!
IC INSPIRATION
If you are intrigued by the idea of never having to pull over on the highway to change a blown-out tire again, then I’ve got a thought for you that is even crazier and more exciting!
If 3-D printing technology is being used to make the Michelin airless tires, at what point will the technology be used like it is roadside assistance?
Imagine being able to 3-D print new tread on your tires when they wear out or changing the shape of the tread to accommodate for summer and winter seasons all without having to ever replace the tires. You just simply use 3-D technology to repair and accommodate those same tires.
3-D printing technology is incredible, and the future for these airless tires has got us bubbling!
If you would like to read about how 3-D printing technology is also being used in hospitals to save lives, then we got even more inspiring news for you!