Smart tires can automatically adapt to driving conditions

Finland’s Nokian Tires envisions adjustable grooved tires that adapt to road conditions to provide better traction and safety

Nokia Tires may not be as well-known as Michelin or Pirelli, but the Finnish company is envisioning a future where tires can automatically adapt to driving conditions. They are billed as the next evolution of smart tires and could be available by 2035.

As the company explains, there are already tires on the market with integrated sensors that use Bluetooth connectivity to share temperature and pressure information. While Teemu Soini, Nokian’s vice president of innovation and development, admitted that smart tires were not “mature” enough five years ago, he said that today’s technology is durable enough and consumes low enough power that the sensors can work throughout the tire’s life cycle.

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This coincides with another area of ​​development, namely research into tires that can adapt to various driving conditions. In particular, these tires can change their groove capacity/design to improve traction, handling and performance.

For example, imagine driving on the highway to an off-road parking lot and then getting there. Ideally, your tires should be designed to maximize fuel efficiency, handling, and comfort while on the road. Once you hit the park, the tire’s grooves change to optimize traction in dirt and mud.

It sounds like a far-fetched fantasy, but Nokian says “this research direction could be reflected in consumer products as early as ten years from now.” However, it’s not entirely clear how these tires work.

Regardless, Soini said that “the ability to adjust the grooves will significantly improve the handling characteristics of the tire.” Soini went on to say that he believes Nokian Tires will produce a tire by 2035 that “can respond to changes in driving conditions.” Reaction” tires.

While only time will tell what happens, Soini says the hype surrounding airless tires may be overblown. As he explains, “Tire manufacturers still need to solve many technical challenges before airless tires can be put into use. In particular, they must be able to withstand high speeds and high temperatures.”

Soini believes this makes them unlikely to be used in passenger cars, at least in the short term. However, he thinks airless tires might make sense for slow-moving vehicles like forklifts and excavators.