Michelin’s Airless Tire is Ready for Mass Consumption

• The “Tweel” concept on which it is based debuted in 2005.

• The tire is called Uptis.

• Punctures are responsible for sending 200 million tires to scrapyards every year.

Many of you surely remember the introduction of the Michelin Tweel concept way back in 2005. The idea behind the Tweel is doing away with air and thus avoiding dealing with the occasional and annoying flat tire. Now, 16 years after the Tweel, the new Michel Uptis is ready to replace your regular tires.

These same regular tires require far more maintenance and upkeep than consumers typically care to do. According to Michelin, 12% of tires are scrapped every year due to unrepairable air loss failures while a further 8% end up in landfills because of improper tire pressures which cause uneven wear. With the new Uptis, both issues will be things left in the past.

What’s truly impressive with this tire, yes there’s more, is that the internal spokes are tunable. According to New Atlas, the spokes can be “adjusted” to better deal with the forces they deal with when braking, accelerating and cornering. Finally, Michelin says that the Uptis will be capable of surviving stronger impacts than a regular tire and wheel, and will have a “dramatically” longer lifespan

In the report, those who actually drive a vehicle fitted with the tires noticed absolutely nothing, which is good news. GM, through a joint research agreement, plans to offer the Uptis as a tire option on some of its models possibly as early as 2024.

Exact pricing is not yet known however $750 per tire is an amount that has circulated in the recent past.