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The airless and puncture-free tire: Michelin Uptis
Michelin already caused a stir in 2019 with its Uptis concept tires and won awards. Now the series start is approaching.
The airless and puncture-free tire: Michelin Uptis
Michelin's Uptis tire prototype could change the tire industry forever. Uptis stands for: Unique Punctureproof Tire System and means the puncture-free tire. The secret: The tire works without air, which means that driven nails and screws can no longer flatten the tire. Here's a short one Explainer video to tire function.
The Uptis is already in the testing phase on the Chevrolet Bolt and is scheduled to make its market debut in 2024, Michelin Austria managing director tells us Roland Steinbger in an interview told.
With the Michelin Uptis, the Michelin Vision Concept presented in 2017 becomes another piece of reality. Theextremely light wheel-tire combinationconsists of onefirmly connected unit made of aluminum, composite materials and rubber tread. On the Michelin Uptis, the lightweight aluminum rim is inseparably connected to the profiled tread via flexible, highly resistant plastic spokes. The durable spokes made of polyester resin and fiberglass ensure excellent load-bearing capacity and have a vibration-damping effect when driving. The profile offers the driving characteristics typical of the Michelin premium car tires.
Since the Uptis requires no air pressure at all, it is more puncture-proof than conventional tires and therefore offers a particularly high level of mobility and reliability. After the quick and easy installation, no further air pressure check is necessary, which makes the tire practically maintenance-free.
The Michelin Uptis is just as resilient as a pneumatic tire, but can easily withstand impacts and puncture injuries thanks to the technologies and highly elastic materials used.
"The Michelin Uptis is also characterized by exemplary environmental properties: Currently, around 200 million tires are replaced every year, even though they are far from reaching the end of their life cycle. The reason for this is damage caused by low tire pressure or loss of pressure after a puncture injury. This is no longer an issue with the airless Michelin Uptis.", underlined Eric Vinesse, Executive Vice President Research and Development at Michelin.
In addition, the Michelin Uptis already meets the needs of tomorrow's road transport, which will be driven by autonomous, electric and connected vehicles. Michelin has invested ten years of research into the Michelin Uptis and has already registered 15 patents on the concept tire.