Spherical Tires
Years ago, we wrote about the Tweel airless tire. These were a revolutionary concept at the time, but the bugs probably never got developed. They vibrated horribly over 50mph, and got really, really hot.
If you liked those, Goodyear’s modern concept of spherical tires will really blow your mind. They basically created a rubber ball with tread on it. You may talk to you about, how exactly do you connect something like that to the car? You doesn’t. The car levitates above the tire by magnetism.
Because of the fact that the tires are now 4 spheres, the car has the capacity to turn at literally any angle without actually turning the car. Imagine parallel parking just by moving directly to the left or right! I imagine much like any technology there is a ton of bugs to get worked out. In my mind, I can see this doing away with things like traditional things like rack and pinion, tie rods, normal shocks and struts, and more. It computerizes most of the steering, not to mention the way that the drive train and transmission works would need to be completely redeveloped.
