Official figures indicate that more than a billion tires per year are produced. Despite that enormous quantity, the basic design of the modern tire has remained unchanged for decades. Hankook believes the tire can make an evolutionary leap, and with that in mind it presented three concepts of dynamic tires that adapt to all kinds of terrain, changing their shape while driving.
History says that the Scot Robert William Thomson was the inventor of the tire. Also appearing are names like John Boyd Dunlop (whose patent was declared invalid due to Thomson's patents) and Charles Goodyear (who developed the vulcanization process), with massive contributions to the development of the modern tire. Even so, today the tire is seen as a necessary evil. It is relatively expensive, its durability depends on multiple factors, and the recycling process is not very simple. The option of “retreaded” or “recapped” tires has existed for a long time; however, there comes a moment when every person must face the full investment that replacement demands. In highly competitive environments, the situation of tires is even more complex. Formula One chews rubber like candy, while in more demanding events, costs multiply.
If you have to leave a small fortune on a tire, ideally it would become much more than a simple piece of rubber. That's when the concepts developed by Hankook and the University of Design, Engineering and Business in Pforzheim appear. In total, there are three designs: Boostrac has a structure optimized for hard and uneven terrain. Alpike has the ability to expand its circumference, improving traction on snow. Finally, HyBlade turns the vehicle into a high-speed boat, allowing it to move on water. Hankook's vision is something like a fusion between wheel and tire, turning the new combo into an intelligent device in its own right.
Are we going to see this on the market soon? The answer is “of course not”. There is a huge number of technical aspects to resolve before the dynamic tire becomes a reality, but it wouldn't be bad if the big companies in the market decide to follow a similar line of development, even as an experiment. On the other hand, Hankook's presentation video has limited visual quality, but it would be very interesting as an idea for a video game...
