When Did Airless Tires First Appear & Why Aren't They More Popular?

Airless tires (also known as non-pneumatic tires) are exactly what they sound like: tires that don't depend on air pressure to hold their shape or support the vehicle's weight. Unlike traditional rubber tires filled with compressed air or nitrogen, airless tires use a solid structure or a specialized spoke system to provide the car with support and shock absorption. This effectively eliminates the risk of flats or blowouts, which are the most obvious drawbacks of conventional tires.

First appearing in the late 1930s and still struggling to catch on nearly a century later, there are a number of technical and commercial barriers that continue to limit the mainstream rollout of airless tires (including cost, safety, and efficiency, among others). Despite years of engineering innovations, airless tires remain largely limited to niche applications: they're commonly found on bicycles, golf carts, lawn mowers, military vehicles, and even space exploration rovers. As technological advancements continue, could airless tires transition from small-scale applications to widespread use? And what might it take for these non-pneumatic wheels finally make it big?

The concept of airless tires dates back to 1938, when J.V. Martin introduced a safety tire supported by an X-shaped spoke system. From there, the most notable uses of airless tires were in space exploration. The Soviet Union's Lunokhod 1 rover, which landed on the Moon in 1970, used metal airless tires designed to withstand the extreme lunar environment. Similarly, NASA's Lunar Roving Vehicle, used during the Apollo missions, featured wire mesh airless tires. More recently, Mars rovers like Curiosity and Perseverance have continued to rely on advanced non-pneumatic tires to navigate harsh extraterrestrial landscapes.

However, it would take another 60 years for serious development of airless car tires to really get traction (pun semi-intended) in any legitimate way. One of the major modern players in this space is Hankook Tire, which began actively developing non-pneumatic tires in 2010, later unveiling the iFlex — its first official airless tire — in 2012. Over the next decade, Hankook continued to refine the technology, later introducing a version that could potentially be installed on mass-produced passenger vehicles in 2015. The company has also continued to tweak the original iFlex model, further developing it with applications for both military and autonomous vehicles.

Despite their long history and various advantages, airless tires have struggled to make a splash in the commercial automotive market. It's been this way since they started appearing in the 1930s and 1940s: traditional tires were already widely used and well understood. The infrastructure supporting conventional tires — including tire repair shops and air-filling stations — was already well established, which likely made a shift to airless alternatives seem even more unnecessary. It literally sounds like re-inventing the wheel.

In modern times, several hurdles continue to prevent the widespread adoption of airless tires. First, airless tires tend to produce greater vibration than traditional tires, which makes for a less comfortable ride. Second, manufacturing airless tires at scale remains expensive, which makes them far less cost-effective than their air-filled counterparts. And, while non-pneumatic tires eliminate any worries about punctures or blowouts, they still struggle with proper heat dissipation and load-bearing efficiency — especially at high speeds. Until these performance concerns are sorted out, automakers are going to continue to hesitate to use them in mainstream vehicle production.

You probably won't encounter these non-pneumatic tires at your local car dealership anytime soon, but it's by no means outrageous to think these newfangled things could be the future of industrial, agricultural, and other specialized vehicles. Companies like Hankook, Michelin, and Bridgestone continue to invest in non-pneumatic tire technology for self-driving cars, military vehicles, and even next-generation space exploration.

For decades now, the military has been exploring airless tire technology to improve vehicle durability in combat zones. Airless tires offer tactical advantages, such as increased resistance to damage from bullets or explosive debris. Companies like Galileo have also introduced prototypes for agricultural vehicles, where rugged terrain makes puncture-resistant tires highly desirable.

As sustainability becomes an increasingly important factor in manufacturing, airless tires could also offer environmental benefits by reducing waste and extending tire lifespan. Traditional tires contribute to over a billion waste tires globally each year, whereas airless designs could potentially be more recyclable and longer-lasting. In the meantime, don't go throwing away that tire pressure gauge just yet.