Goodyear developing tyre that can generate electricity for vehicles

9 Mar 2015

If Goodyear has its way, electric vehicles (EVs) could have substantially longer range after the company revealed its concept design for the BH03, a tech-filled tyre that turns heat and friction into electricity.

While much of the highlights of this year’s Geneva International Motor Show involved extravagant super cars and futuristic concept vehicles, much was made of this year’s growth in the number of electric vehicles and the technology that major companies are now putting into it.

That is why Goodyear is getting in on the game with its energy-generating tyre that seems like a rather straight-forward concept.

Laid across the tyre’s entire surface is a dense material that absorbs heat caused by the friction with the road surface as well as acting as a giant solar panel absorbing the sun’s energy, the latter of which would be particularly useful during a hot summer’s day in a car park which could prove vital in remote areas not near a charging point.

Using the power of piezoelectricity, all of this energy that is usually wasted on a standard tyre will be turned into useable electricity.

Goodyear have yet to put an announcement on when, or if, this tyre is released but could be the basis for a consumer version in the foreseeable future.

Colm Gorey was a senior journalist with Silicon Republic

editorial@siliconrepublic.com