Tire Without Air Finally Used on Highways with Limited Speed

Bridgestone AirFree tire. (Photo: Bridgestone)

JAKARTA - After almost two decades of research and development, Bridgestone has finally started operating the AirFree airless tire for commercial use. However, the technology is not intended for passenger cars because the initial stage of its implementation is still focused on low-speed vehicles.

Reported by Carscoops, Friday, July 10, the AirFree tire is now used on an autonomous vehicle fleet in Higashiomi City, Japan. The vehicle, which resembles a long-sized golf cart, is used to transport elderly residents around the city.

This is an important milestone for Bridgestone because for the first time its airless tires are used in commercial services on a regular basis, not just a limited-duration test project. The journey of developing this technology began in 2008.

Bridgestone then introduced the third generation AirFree in 2023, which is the result of 18 years of refinement. Unlike the concept of airless tires that rely on rigid materials, AirFree uses recyclable materials with a flexible enough character so that it is still able to provide comfort when used in daily activities.

In terms of construction, the tire uses a thermoplastic resin radius structure that supports a thin rubber tread as the part that comes into direct contact with the road surface. Bridgestone engineer Masaki Ota explained that the biggest progress in its development was obtained after the team changed the design approach.

"This breakthrough came when the team stopped trying to make the material harder and switched to a flexible resin and a structure that distributes the load more evenly across the tire," he said.

The technology was recently shown to a number of journalists through a demonstration of an autonomous vehicle without a driver. The vehicle is limited to traveling up to 20 km/h. It is not known whether the restriction is applied for safety during demonstrations or is the operational limit of the tire.

However, reports say that currently AirFree is only suitable for use on relatively slow vehicles. With this condition, AirFree still needs further development before it can replace conventional pneumatic tires on mass-produced cars.

For now, Bridgestone is projecting that the tire will be used on a fleet of low-speed mobility vehicles operating in areas with controlled conditions. Bridgestone also introduced a special color for this tire called Empowering Blue.

The bright color was chosen to increase the visibility of the vehicle, both during the day and before nightfall. Until now, Bridgestone has not announced a schedule for mass production of AirFree. The company is still studying a business model that combines the use of tires with support services such as the recycling process.

In addition, similar technology is also being developed for tires of moon rovers using metal structures, indicating that the AirFree concept is projected to have a much wider potential for use in the future.