SMART Tire unveiled a sneak preview of their 2nd generation METL™ tire. Originally unveiled in 2021, the METL™ tire is a high performance, airless tire that never goes flat, made from space age materials, that was originally invented at NASA. As part of the STC mission to create an affordable, high performing shape memory tire, this new design reduces the weight of the NiTinol core by over 50%, thereby also reducing the cost of the tires.
Through a patent pending process, the tire is integrated with clear polyurethane sidewalls, and rubber treads. It uses less rubber than a traditional bicycle tire, and is designed to be retreaded and reused for the life of your bicycle.
METL™ is developed at STC’s new 5,000 square foot facility in Akron, Ohio, at the heart of the American tire industry. Through a Space Act Agreement with NASA Glenn Research Center, the company hopes to further improve the design efficiency by “25% or more” this year, before going to market.
“From the first prototype, these tires have shown great promise to revolutionize the cycling industry with high performance and low maintenance. However, our job is not done until they are affordable and can be produced at a large scale. We also set lofty goals that all of our tires would be eco-friendly and made in the USA. This new design represents a major step towards achieving all of those goals.”, says co-founder and CTO Brian Yennie.
CEO Earl Cole also revealed today that STC is working on sending tires to a more remote location: the moon.
“The technology behind the METL™ tire was originally developed by NASA for their extraterrestrial pursuits. In fact, the co-inventor of the spring tire and superelastic tire leads our efforts here at STC. We are one of just a couple tire companies working with major aerospace partners to bid on NASA’s upcoming return to the moon, Project Artemis, and the only one with technology already dedicated to the task. Combined with our work with NASA through a Space Act Agreement, we are well positioned to become THE commercial provider of SMA tires for future space missions. In coming years, we will see the first woman on the moon, and possibly manned missions to Mars, and we expect them all to be riding on SMART tires.”
