Huge runflats for luxury SUVs;tall-and-narrow fuel-savers for electric vehicles;embedded sensors for performance monitoring;commodity tires for autonomous fleets;or even airless replacements for the venerable pneumatic toroid.The tire market of the future could encompass any or all of the above,which makes planning how to build the tires of the future a challenging exercise.Changing needs for tire building machines(TBMs)are nothing new.Twenty years ago,17in rims were about as large as it got for most vehicles.Nowadays,17in is an entry-level offering in a market where 20in or even larger wheels have become commonplace.But that shift to plus-size rims is nothing compared with the rapid upheaval in the vehicle market that's likely in the next 20 years-the typical minimum expected service life for a new TBM.On the topics of electric and autonomous mobility in particular,there are lots of open questions and few definitive answers.
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