Goodyear Airless Tire First on Autonomous Shuttles

Goodyear, in partnership with Local Motors, Beep, and Jacksonville Transportation Authority (JTA), developed a non-pneumatic tire (NPT) and wheel assembly to support autonomous vehicle transportation in a city setting.

“As mobility evolves, we feel that tires can transform the way we move and alternative airless architectures are ideal, particularly in the emerging autonomous transportation environment,” said Michael Rachita, Goodyear’s sr. program manager, non-pneumatic tires.

Goodyear and Local Motors an NPT-supported Olli shuttle for the past three years at Goodyear testing sites. They also tested it at other locations to reach several performance targets.

Airless tires can offer sustainable, maintenance-free, and longer-lasting options. The testing phase will continue to provide more information about airless tires. Goodyear shifted the NPT concentration to on-road testing in 2019.

“Testing with best-in-class software and technology partners is enabling the JTA to lead globally in readiness for the use of autonomous platform in an urban environment. We are excited for the opportunity to extend the Test & Learn program with the JTA, Goodyear and Local Motors to prove out the use of other innovations such as the Goodyear airless tires, as this will only further transform transportation as we know it,” said Joe Moye, Beep CEO.

Both Goodyear and Local Motors will collect data from the JTA, according to the press release. This will help them look for viewpoints on ride comfort and other variables.