Goodyear takes airless tires to Las Vegas Strip

LAS VEGAS — Goodyear used its presence at the recent Consumer & Electronics Show in Las Vegas as a platform to showcase its efforts toward producing a 100% sustainable-material tire by 2030.

That initiative also encompasses Goodyear's work toward developing airless technology,and the Akron-based tire maker used the glitz and glamor of Las Vegas to shine a spotlight on its NexTrek non-pneumatic tire/wheel development.

"Goodyear has set a goal to develop the first 100% sustainable-material and maintenance-free tire by 2030," Michael Rachita, Goodyear's senior program manager for Innovation Technology, said. "NPTs (nonpneumatic tires) are a promising path to get us there, and we are working to leverage this technology for many forms of mobility, including fleets."

• Subscribe to Tire Business for more award-winning news and insight.

When it comes to NexTrek, Goodyear is targeting a range of applications, including includes the passenger and light commercial vehicle tire space where autonomous vehicle technology has great potential to take root, especially when one considers ride sharing or last-mile delivery where maintenance-free solutions are quickly becoming an expectation.

As that technology takes shape and the focus really becomes centered on maximizing uptime, maintenance-free tires are going to be critical. So Goodyear sees promise in airless.

"Non-pneumatic tires are a unique tire architecture that could offer important advantages, including greater durability and minimal maintenance," Rachita said. "We are working to leverage it for autonomous, passenger and light commercial vehicles in the future."

While Goodyear's presence at the 2023 CES was focused predominantly on its development of a tire built with 90% sustainable materials, the company took advantage of being in Las Vegas and conducted some demonstration runs along the Las Vegas Strip with a Kia Nero EV equipped with a set of its NexTrek tires

"Las Vegas always has a steady buzz of excitement, and it was a great backdrop to highlight some key innovations Goodyear has made to advance mobility," Rachita said, pointing to advancements in sustainable materials tires as well as connected vehicle technology.

"We are continuing to make significant progress with our NPTs, including (in) recent in-field testing on consumer electric and commercial autonomous vehicles" Rachita said.

That, of course, is just one small step amid the big strides the tire maker says it's making.

"We have made significant progress on the development of our NexTrek airless tire solution, in many thanks to our partners," Rachita said. "The testing results provide us the data we need to continue to improve this innovation and get us closer to providing customers with leading technology in maintenance-free mobility solutions."