Goodyear's concept ReCharge tire would never get a flat
Science
Imagine never having to worry about getting a flat tire on your car ever again.
More than that, you'd never even have to worry about your tires even wearing down.
Yes, it's too good to be true.
For now, in a video that sounds more like an MCU trailer than a promotional video.
Goodyear introduced us to the recharge.
Imagine an intelligent tire that can adapt and change as you do.
This concept tire sounds pretty out there, but the basic idea behind it is relatively simple.
What if, instead of replacing your tire at the end of its life, it simply regenerates new tread?
Yes, we're talking about a self regenerating tire.
Good\g use idea is that the tire itself would be made from a biological material.
And what that material is, isn't really clear, but it wouldn't be reinforced by fibres that are inspired by spider silk.
Which is one of the strongest natural materials in the world.
And when the trend eventually wares down you give the tyre a new life by giving it a capsule.
The capsule is filled with a liquid compound that would allow the trend to regenerate.
[UNKNOWN] The capsule and [UNKNOWN] are rechargeable And more importantly, they're customizable.
That means the tire could adjust to different road conditions, climates or even adjust based on the drivers personal preferences.
And GOODYEAR adds that a lot of that customization, could be controlled by AI.
And yes, could is the operative word here.
All of this is pretty conceptual.
And since Goodyear was supposed to unveil the Recharge at the Geneva Auto Show this week, which was canceled over the coronavirus, we haven't been able to ask a lot of questions about it.
Let's not forget, Goodyear has already given us a lot of tire concepts over the last few years.
Remember this?
The Eagle 360 brought the notion the spherical tire for our cars that magnetically levitates the idea being that would make our cars a hell of a lot more maneuverable.
Then of course there was the environmentally minded oxygen.
That actually has moss living inside the tire that would help pull CO2 out of the atmosphere.
Now the coolest part about that concept, though, was that the moss is biohacked to create electricity using photosynthesis.
That would power onboard sensors and lights, and that tech actually exists.
Scientists at the University of Georgia demonstrated that back in 2013.
Okay, let's get realistic here.
We've already pointed out that we're probably a ways off from a tire that regenerates itself with a capsule.
Even if we weren't, i doubt Goodyear is really ready to throw a ton of money behind a tire that would.
Essentially eliminate the need for you to buy new ones every few years.
That's it for this week.
I'm Andy Altman.
I'll see you in the future.
