Tesla tires (out of main)

[2daMoon]

This is not as easy to do as you might think. First, tire pressures should only be adjust cold (with certain exceptions such as a leaky tire). After the cold pressure adjustment, tires will gain pressure through ambient temperature rise and driving. This is fine, they're supposed to do that. Adjusting pressures on the fly is generally detrimental to the tires (exception: some off-road conditions). So the automatic pressure adjust would have to know a lot about when adjustments should be made.

Tempered by the caveat of the Semi/Trailer combo. Most tire failures (that result in those rubber alligators on the road) are brought on by low tire pressure leading to overheating the tire. Then, it fails, sometimes catastrophically.

If the Semi and trailer had a system that could offset a puncture and maintain adequate pressure to get the vehicle to a convenient place and fix the leak, it could save a lot of money and reduce the resulting road hazard that tires coming apart leave in their wake.

Granted, TPM devices go a long way towards being able to let the driver know, if the system alerts them.

 

[Carl Raymond]

Tires needing inflation is a bug. Automating it is not a feature. First principles!

Needing to go places is a bug. Just hook us all up to the matrix.

 

[jerry33]

In all seriousness, I could see Musk revolutionizing the tire. Design some other compound which uses no petroleum products, does not require air, and wears very long term. With Tesla's manufacturing excellence they could take over the tire industry with such a product, LOL.

Michelin (and likely others) has been working on this for many years. There are always serious limitations that have prevented it from going to market. (Mainly heat and rolling resistance.)

 

[jerry33]

Tempered by the caveat of the Semi/Trailer combo. Most tire failures (that result in those rubber alligators on the road) are brought on by low tire pressure leading to overheating the tire. Then, it fails, sometimes catastrophically.

Strictly speaking the reason is that in order to carry the weight, there are about 500,000 miles built into a truck tire casing. Current tread compound and belt technology can eek about 375,000 miles under ideal conditions. Then they get retreaded, but the retread will last longer than the remaining casing life in many cases. Of course low pressure doesn't help, but if you actually examine the tire parts left on the highway, you'll find the vast majority are retreads. The goal of tire engineers is to have the tread wear out just shortly before the casing fatigues.

EDIT: Also most highway trucks now have pressure monitors to inform Maintenance and the driver of low tire pressures.

 

[WattsHappening]

Michelin (and likely others) has been working on this for many years. There are always serious limitations that have prevented it from going to market. (Mainly heat and rolling resistance.)

But you have to wonder how much incentive there is for Michelin and other tire manufacturers to come up with a much better, longer wearing (iow, less frequently replaced/purchased) replacement. Similar to ICE auto manufacturers' incentive to come up with compelling EV solution.

 

[jerry33]

But you have to wonder how much incentive there is for Michelin and other tire manufacturers to come up with a much better, longer wearing (iow, less frequently replaced/purchased) replacement. Similar to ICE auto manufacturers' incentive to come up with compelling EV solution.

There is quite a bit of incentive for having an airless tire due to the legal liability that pneumatic tires have. Tire companies spend a lot of money on liability lawyers. Not so much for longer life, but liability expense trumps the tire life issue.

 

[kanweg]

Tires needing inflation is a bug. Automating it is not a feature. First principles!

Easy. Take the car to a planet with reduced atmospheric pressure and you don’t need to inflate the tires! Best inflation is no inflation.

Just use the tools you have to solve the problem.

Rockets!

 

[JRP3]

exception: some off-road conditions

Yes that was my thought.

 

[scaesare]

Yeah, but saying that people have tried hard and tires still suck means it's clearly a job for Kal-El(on).

You know exactly how pathetic "But they're improved!" sounds.

Lots of small improvements lead to large gains over time.

The problem I have with everybody else volunteering Elon for things and deciding what Tesla should do is that feels a bit like criticizing the guy working night and day to cure cancer because he isn't also working on the common cold.

They are already pushing on many fronts, including tire compound formulation.

And while I've not researched the effect of tire particulate on the environment, I do know that a 25MPG car with a 200K mile lifetime will have emitted 160,000 pounds of CO2 in to the atmosphere. In that time it might go through 4 sets of tires... and each set may lose a few pounds of tread as particulate?

My gut tells me which is the larger problem...

 

[StealthP3D]

In all seriousness, I could see Musk revolutionizing the tire. Design some other compound which uses no petroleum products, does not require air, and wears very long term. With Tesla's manufacturing excellence they could take over the tire industry with such a product, LOL.

I have the highest respect for Musk and company. But I still want some of what you're smoking.

 

[Skipdd]

Saw this come across my news feed this weekend, and of course found it’s a topic already identified on TMC. Maybe these will really be coming to market in the not too distant future..
https://www.cnet.com/roadshow/news/airless-tires-future-tech/

 

[BrownOuttaSpec]

If anyone from the main thread is looking for current info it looks like the position is still listed:

Senior Tire Development Engineer - Vehicle Dynamics | Tesla Careers

Apply for the Senior Tire Development Engineer - Vehicle Dynamics position in Palo Alto, California.

www.tesla.com

What to Expect
The Senior Tire Development Engineer is responsible for target setting, subjective and objective evaluation of new tires in support of current and future vehicle programs.
What You’ll Do

• Define tire component level targets in virtual environment through use of Simulation and Driver in the loop Simulator
• Define vehicle specifications in terms of both Hardware and Firmware dedicated for tire development
• Plan and organize tire testing activities
• Conduct subjective tire evaluations for wet, dry, and snow for the areas of Steering, Handling, Ride
• Conduct objective tire evaluations
• Generate test reports including Sbj/Obj feedback and recommendations for following iterations
• Development of Facilities to Facilitate testing - All tire Attributes
• Coordinate Development Schedule for Tire Development with Program Timing
• Be a key contributor for Interfacing between the Modeling Team and Program Team
• Conduct / Evolve Tire Quality Monitoring Techniques to confirm Production Tire Performance
• Execute projects to on-performance and on-time delivery

What You’ll Bring

• Ability to travel to interface with suppliers during joint tests (up to 50%) Experience in Tire Evaluations to meet Vehicle Level Targets for Noise, Ride, Handling
• Understanding of chassis design principles (Kinematics, Damping, Steering)
• Background in an Engineering or Science related field (i.e. Mechanical, Materials, Chemical, Electrical, Physics…)
• Evidence of exceptional ability