HANOVER, Germany — Hankook Tire & Technology, Nexen Tire Corp. and Shandong Yongsheng Rubber Group Ltd. have earned iF Design Awards for their tire designs.
iF International Forum Design G.m.b.H. presents awards annually for design achievements in a variety of categories, including product, packaging, communication and service design, and architecture and interior design.
About 2,100 entries were awarded from among almost 11,000 submissions from 56 countries.
"The core of this product is 'Hankook EVolution Technology,' which overcomes the drawbacks of 'trade-off' performance. In addition, for the first time in the tire industry, it achieved 'Triple A': A (LRR), A (wet grip) and A (noise), the highest grades in European labeling performance. iON evo's refined pattern styling suits its status as a world-first, innovative and EV-exclusive product, visually expressing the confidence of having the best performance," according to the award committee.
The Nexen Roadian HTX 2 all-season tire for SUVs and pickup trucks.
"The tread design applied two types of saw blade sipes (thin grooves in the tread block) with wide and narrow styles. These unique sipes induce interlocking between tread blocks to enhance block rigidity and prevent slipping through their sharp angles in the snow roads.
"The intentionally exposed edges of the tread blocks enhance off-road traction by increasing friction with the road. In addition, by applying sidewall designs with different themes to the left and right sides of the product, users can install it according to their preferences."
Shandong's Rotalla Setula S-Race EV01 ultra high-performance tire for electric vehicles.
"The concept of sustainable development runs through the entire life cycle of the tire, which was achieved through the reduction of carbon emission during the manufacturing process, usage of recycled and biological materials as raw materials, as well as the tire's property of low rolling resistance and long lifetime," according to the committee.
Hankook also won design awards for its Wheel Bot robotic wheel system and the "Urban Reshaping Concept" developed as part of the "2022 Design Innovation Project" by Hankook Tire, a research and development program that presents the vision of future mobility.
Hankook set up a future smart city centered around humans and the environment with the theme of "Urban Reshaping" and presented a scenario video proposing "Space Shifting Mobility (SSM)," which is optimized for this environment.
The Wheel Bot featured in the scenario video is a modular robotics system driven by three axes that provides optimal mobility for smart mobility.
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