The wheel is a fundamental part of a car, and every few years we have to change them for new ones. But this may change in the future (in a few dozen years) if the positive expectations of new wheels that do not need to be inflated with air to work are met. As can be seen in the bottom photo.

It is made of composite materials that deform under pressure, and recover their shape to continue circulating.

At the moment, these types of wheels are prototypes that the main companies in the sector are working on, and they are still a few dozen years away from being able to reach the market. Assuming they arrive.

Paradoxically, one of its drawbacks is its great duration, which would change the current business model of manufacturing companies, since users would take a long time to change the wheels of their cars. And that hurts their business.

Although the prototypes support the weight of the vehicle very well, they still generate a lot of noise when rolling, but that will improve with the research work over time.

On the other hand, it seems that they reduce rolling resistance by a high percentage, which generates greater vehicle autonomy, which is always important, but much more so in the case of electric cars.

The first wheels that were invented did not use air, and after more than 100 years of filling them with air, we may have come up with similar solutions to the initial ones, but with more technology. 

That's life.

Amador Palacios

By Amador Palacios

Reflections of Amador Palacios on topics of Social and Technological News; other opinions different from mine are welcome

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