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Goodyear's Spherical Tire--Update

posted by martyb on Wednesday October 06 2021, @01:07AM   Printer-friendly
from the more-than-a-spherical-cow dept.

Leave it to the French to try something different--a new prototype platform for electric cars from Citroen doesn't need to steer the wheels, because normal (cylindrical) wheels are replaced by spherical tires, made specially by Goodyear. https://www.tiretechnologyinternational.com/news/new-tires-news/goodyear-develops-bespoke-eagle-360-spherical-concept-tire-for-citroen.html

Goodyear introduced the Eagle 360 concept at the Geneva International Motor Show in 2016, with a second iteration, the Eagle 360 Urban concept, following in 2017. The latest iteration of the design features a high level of maneuverability (due to the tire’s spherical shape) and long-lasting attributes (thanks to a tread surface that is four times larger than a standard tire). The tire provides extended range due to a low-rolling-resistance rubber and consistent grip in all driving directions thanks to hexagonal siping.

Link includes pics of the car/platform and the tire tread. Are you ready to drive on big black soccer balls? I want mine multi-colored like beach balls.

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  • (Score: 2) by optotronic on Wednesday October 06 2021, @01:39AM (2 children)

    by optotronic (4285) on Wednesday October 06 2021, @01:39AM (#1184588)

    I had similar thoughts, and also the complexity of changing a "tire" and the cost.

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  • (Score: 3, Interesting) by stretch611 on Wednesday October 06 2021, @03:49PM

    by stretch611 (6199) on Wednesday October 06 2021, @03:49PM (#1184749)

    Well to change it, it likely will not be much worse than an existing tire. Elevate the tire, remove one side of the cage it is in (likely no more difficult than removing lug nuts,) take it out of the cage and swap in the replacement.

    However a spare may be a more difficult item to carry... I would expect that to take more room in the trunk due to the shape and no "doughnuts."

    But truth be told, I would expect some type of "run flat" technology... either a solid core (not necessarily rubber) or even a hollow steel/aluminum sphere as a core which could be lightweight and provide a lot of support for the tire.

    --
    Now with 5 covid vaccine shots/boosters altering my DNA :P

  • (Score: 2) by driverless on Thursday October 07 2021, @02:44AM

    by driverless (4770) on Thursday October 07 2021, @02:44AM (#1185052)

    And the, from the image anyway, nonexistent ground clearance, and the difficulty of giving it a proper suspension, and the inefficient transfer of energy to the "tire", and ...

    All in all it looks like a "look what we've actually managed to do" rather than anything that will see any practical use.