Airless

Wilson's Airless 3D-printed basketball prototype was an off-court highlight of last year's NBA All-Star Weekend. It wasn't clear then what future the ball had, but now Wilson has launched it as a limited edition. A very expensive limited edition.

Two years ago, we heard how the Ohio-based Smart Tire Company was developing shape memory airless bicycle tires. Well, the resulting Metl tires can now be purchased via – you guessed it – a Kickstarter campaign.

A hole in your basketball is typically not a good thing, but Wilson's bizarre new Airless basketball prototype treats them as a feature. Indeed, it's probably more hole than ball, and yet it's said to bounce and respond like a regulation NBA rock.

As part of a decade-long effort to make punctures a thing of the past, Hankook has shown the latest version of its airless i-Flex concept tire at CES 2022 where it provided the shoes for Hyundai’s L7 concept vehicle.

A special version of Goodyear's airless tire has been fitted to six-wheeled delivery robots at Ohio's Bowling Green State University campus in order to test factors such as tread wear, braking performance and vibration damping.

We've been reporting on Michelin's airless tire technology for more than 16 years now, and the company has finally put them on a demo passenger car for members of the public to experience what this re-invention of the wheel feels like to drive on.

Michelin has teamed with General Motors to target a 2024 production goal for airless tires. The tires, called Uptis, will have several benefits over radial tubeless tires and will debut for testing on the Chevrolet Bolt electric car.

This airless tire has some interesting advantages. Air Suspension Wheels can't go flat or get punctures, you can change treads with a spanner and no jacks, and they offer some interesting dynamic capabilities that could see them being very useful in large mining applications and even wheelchairs.

Kumho has taken out a Platinum award in the Futuristic class on the Italian A’ Design Awards for its all-weather tire concept that would switch between a number of different surface configurations to deal with everything from dry to snow-covered roads.

A punctured tire is the definition of a bad day, but Michelin is taking some of the sting out as it announces the opening of its newest North American plant, which the company says is the first in the world dedicated to the manufacture of airless tires.

The Polaris Sportsman WV850 HO with Terrain Armor is a military-grade All-Terrain Vehicle (ATV) that abandons traditional inflatable tires for Non-Pneumatic Tires (NPT) that feature a flexible polymer honeycomb.

The Energy Return Wheel is a prototype airless wheel for cars – or mountain bikes – that is said to boost performance.