NASA's Airless 'Superelastic' Tires Could Be Coming To Consumer Cars
Imagine having the ability to drive over any issue ahead of you on the road without having to worry about the potential of a flat tire. That is exactly what engineers at NASA are working on. The engineers and scientists at the American space agency are looking to use some of the technology they've placed on the Mars Curiosity, in partnership with The SMART Tire Company, rover on vehicles roaming American streets.
The superelastic tire technology that the Mars Curiosity rover uses is built using a special shape memory alloy (SMA). That technology, which is being developed at the Glenn Research Center in Cleveland, Ohio, is making impressive headways. "We at Glenn are one of the world leaders in bringing the science and understanding of how you change the alloy compositions, how you change the processing of the material, and how you model these systems in a way that we can control," said Dr. Santo Padula II, materials research engineer at NASA Glenn.
The SMA itself is capable of returning to its original shape, whatever that may be, after being bent, stretched, cooled, or heated. According to NASA, they've had this technology for decades, but have never attempted to apply the technology to car tires.
How could these tires work on consumer vehicles
The SMART Tire Company, a private company in partnership with NASA, was created in 2020 and has started to partner with automotive brands like Hyundai Motor Company and Kia Corporation. The SMART Tire Company was selected to work with the two Korean brands after winning the Accelerate the Future Challenge, a competition put on by Hyundai and Kia.
Hyundai and Kia have put a strong emphasis on moving toward electric vehicles, especially with the Hyundai Ioniq 5 and Kia EV6. At the moment, Hyundai Motor Company, Kia Corporation, and The Smart Tire Company are working together on memory alloy tire technology, which would be a major benefit to consumers.
The average cost for a car tire is around $100, depending on the size and type of tire required, and that's before labor costs are even considered. Performance tires can run drivers around $1,000 per tire, again before labor costs are added.
By switching from rubber tires to shape memory alloy tires, there won't be much need for replacing a tire if you hit a pot hole at high speeds or run over a nail. Granted, the cost of SMA tires will likely be high as it's a new technology. Currently, The SMART Tire Company sells bicycle tires, though they can cost well over $2,000.