The shattered tyre dream: a disaster for the environment and motorists
It was supposed to be a revolution in the car industry, a turning point for the environment and a triumph for all drivers: the airless tyre. But now the tyre dream has been shattered. A bitter setback, not only for the manufacturer Michelin, but also for the environment and us motorists.
Car tyres as we know them are an ecological disaster. They are made of rubber, a material that not only allows air to pass through but also produces high levels of particulate matter. Every kilometre we drive rubs off rubber, which is released into the environment and worsens air quality. The hope was that airless tyres would solve this problem. But this hope has now been brutally dashed.
Michelin has announced that the airless tyre, also known as Uptis, will not be launched on the market at the end of 2023 as planned. The tests in Singapore showed that the tyre is not yet ready for series production. A bitter setback, as the Uptis was not only supposed to solve the problem of air loss, but also last longer and therefore use less material. According to Michelin, the Uptis airless technology could save up to 200 million tyres per year or two million tonnes of material. That is equivalent to the weight of 200 Eiffel Towers.
But that's just a pipe dream. For the foreseeable future, our tyres will still have to be changed whenever there is a puncture and will continue to produce particulate matter, worsen air quality and pollute the environment.
The disappointment is great, both among motorists and environmentalists. Because it is not just the tyre dream that has now been shattered, but also the uncertainty of how long we will have to wait for new tyres. Michelin has probably already announced that the dream of airless tyres will not come true in 2024 either.
We urgently need an alternative to our conventional car tyres. After all, increasingly heavy cars, such as SUVs and electric cars, consume more and more tyre material due to their weight and produce more and more particulate matter. If cars do not become lighter again in the future, we will need alternatives to reduce air pollution.
So we are hoping for good news from Michelin and Co. but we will probably need a lot of patience. For the next few years, we will have to continue to change flat tyres and measure high levels of air pollution on busy roads.