No More Flats: Goodyear to Develop Self-Inflating Tires
Never check your tires again. Save money. Sound good?
Goodyear (GT) this week announced it's developing a tire that automatically stays inflated to the proper tire pressure, thanks to an embedded miniature pump.
While touting the tire's convenience, the company also said its Air Maintenance Technology will help motorists economize on gas, and also will ensure they'll need to buy new tires less frequently.
Properly inflated tires last longer and can save about 12 cents per gallon at the pump, according to the company.
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How it Works
Goodyear didn't say when it would roll out the tire for consumer use or how much it might cost, but it expects development to accelerate now that it has received millions of dollars in grants from the U.S. Department of Energy and the government of Luxembourg.
Self-inflating tires have already been in use, mostly commercially, but -- so far -- they have required an external source, such as a reservoir, according to Autoblog, a DailyFinance sister site.
The self-inflating, self-monitoring technology of a peristaltic pump, which uses the spinning of the tire to generate air, emerged back in 2009, when it won Code Development the top innovation award at the Tire Technology Expo in Hamburg, Germany.
If tire manufacturers want to get us even more excited, why don't they come up with a gizmo that changes flats for us?
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