Goodyear presents battery-charging, shape-shifting tyres at Geneva show

Although just concept products at this point in time, Goodyear Tire & Rubber believes two tyres it unveiled at this week’s Geneva Motor Show hold potential to radically change the role car tyres play in future.

The first concept is called the ‘BHO3’ and Goodyear says it offers a means of charging an electric car’s battery by transforming the heat generated from flexing as the tyre rolls into electrical energy. The materials used would optimise the tyre’s electricity generation capabilities as well as its rolling resistance. “As demand for electric cars grows, this technology has the potential to significantly contribute to the solution of future mobility challenges,” comments Goodyear in a statement. “This visionary tyre technology could eliminate the vehicle-range anxiety motorists may have with electric cars.”

The second concept bears many similarities to the Air Maintenance Technology (AMT) technology that Goodyear brought to Geneva three years ago. Named ‘Triple Tube’, the concept tyre contains three internal tubes that adjust tyre inflation pressure in response to changing road conditions. The tubes are located beneath the tread and near the inboard and outboard shoulders of the tyre as well as the centre. The Triple Tube tyre relies on an internal pump that moves air from the main air chamber to the three individual air chambers, or tubes. The tyre automatically adjusts – on its own – to three different positions based on road conditions. The concept tyre boasts an Eco/Safety position (maximum inflation in all three tubes) that offers reduced rolling resistance, a Sporty position (with reduced inflation within the inboard shoulder tube) that gives drivers dry handling through an optimised contact patch, and a Wet Traction position (with maximised inflation in the centre tube) that provides high aquaplaning resistance through a raised tread in the tyre’s centre area.

“These concept tyres reimagine the role that tyres may play in the future,” comments Joe Zekoski, Goodyear’s senior vice-president and chief technical officer. “We envision a future in which our products become more integrated with the vehicle and the consumer, more environmentally friendly and more versatile.”

Although these tyres are only future concepts, Zekoski says they represent an essential aspect of Goodyear’s innovation strategy, instilling a “forward-looking, market-back mindset” in the company’s research and development teams. “It is more important than ever for us to stay firmly rooted in our market-back innovation process, which calls on us to focus on, and anticipate, the rapidly evolving needs of our customers,” he shares.