Wooden tyres could be ready for the road in less than two years. But they won\u2019t be like the rolling logs used by cartoon characters Fred Flintstone and Barney Rubble.<\/p>\n
Instead, wood will become the major ingredient for a sustainable future as the tyre business looks to wean itself away from oil.<\/p>\n
Michelin is driving the wooden wedge as it also works towards a future where 3D printing of rubber will allow cars to run on a single set of tyres for a lifetime.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s not a dream. We should have the first industry machine in 2020. And then the industry will ramp up from there,\u201d says Michelin\u2019s Cyrille Roget, the worldwide director of scientific and innovation communication.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe talk about moving on. We hope in 2020 we will be able to show the first tyre made of wood.\u201d<\/p>\n
Roget says the switch to wood has a range of benefits, from the reduced reliance on oil to lower production costs and local sourcing.<\/p>\n
\u201cTrees grow everywhere. So you re-distribute the opportunity for everyone to have local sourcing. And they are renewable,\u201d he told carsales.com.au at the launch of Michelin\u2019s latest Primacy 4 tyre in Thailand.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe will still have rubber in tyres, which is also sustainable.\u201d
\nDo you know what tyres are made of? Michelin\u2019s long-term plan<\/p>\n
The wooden tyres will still have most of the components used today, but with a big difference.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe elastomers from wood chips will replace the oil content in tyres. 80 per cent of the materials in tyres are coming from oil.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have a project working with wood chips. We will use the waste from the wood industry to create elastomers that come into tyres.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe believe it is a good solution for the future,\u201d Roget said.<\/p>\n
Michelin is doing some of its research on wood in Brazil, where it has established a sustainable plantation model that includes the growing of bananas and cacao alongside rubber so that people can be self-sufficient in all areas.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s a project we are really working on. We are working to have more plantations,\u201d Roget said.<\/p>\n
Further into the future, Michelin says it is well advanced with its 3D printing plan.<\/p>\n
The idea is that a car is created with a single set of wheels and tyres, which are then renewed when the rubber wears down in a similar way to the old process of re-capping worn tyre carcasses.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have established a joint venture with a company called AddUp that is the leader in 3D printing for metallic parts. It has already made more than one million parts, so it is not prototyping.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are working with it to develop rubber printing, or polymer printing. We are more in the early stages of this technology. But it needs to be industrialised and ready for the future.\u201d<\/p>\n
Roget says the realistic timeframe for 3D printing of tyres is 10-15 years, but that could change with new technology.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe strongly believe that this is a solution that is well organised. It seems to be a good solution. Re-tread technology has been killed because Chinese imports were much cheaper than re-treading.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe biggest hurdle for the moment is the network to be able to recharge the tyres. We believe the technology will develop very fast, so the question is how fast the network will grow,\u201d Roget opined.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe can print the tread, but it needs to be industrialised. We are making some very fast advances.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt could be that eventually the re-charge station for your electric car is also the recharge station for the tyres,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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