AUTONEWS

Michelin and General Motors team up for new puncture-proof tire
Taking the air out of a tire is usually only a good thing when it means that you’re about to do some off-roading. Michelin and General Motors Co. (NYSE: GM) have flipped that notion on its head, with the reveal of the Uptis, a puncture-proof tire.
General Motors and Michelin have signed a joint research agreement as co-development partners, committing to work together to bring the Uptis tire to market as early as 2024. To get it to that stage, Michelin will be testing the tire on Chevrolet Bolt vehicles in Michigan in real life driving scenarios including all four seasons of weather conditions.
Ideally, Michelin says that the company wants to roll out the tire to a large spectrum of passenger vehicles from self-driving shuttles to all-electric cars, trucks, and SUVs.
“General Motors is excited about the possibilities that Uptis presents, and we are thrilled to collaborate with Michelin on this breakthrough technology,” said Steve Kiefer, senior vice president, Global Purchasing and Supply Chain, General Motors. “Uptis is an ideal fit for propelling the automotive industry into the future and a great example of how our customers benefit when we collaborate and innovate with our supplier partners.”
With a name that is an acronym for “Unique Puncture-Proof Tire System,” the Michelin Uptis is an airless tire that is designed to eliminate flats and blowouts. When implemented in the marketplace, the companies signal that it could reduce the number of tires that are scrapped prior to the end of their lifecycle due to damage and lessen the amount of raw materials as well as energy needed, and emissions created.
According to Michelin’s in-house “scrapyard” survey (2012–2015), around 20% of tires are scrapped each year due to punctures or irregulates, 12% due to blowouts, and 8% due to irregular wear because of improper tire pressure. The result is that 200 million tons of tires that are taken out of service annually, the equivalent of 200 Eiffel Towers. With colaboration:Mundoquatrorodas