Why Hankook iFlex Tyre Airless Tyres needed or 9 billion people will starve by 2030

“The Hankook iFlex’s ability to deliver the perfect high-speed driving performance is the result of Hankook Tire’s longstanding commitment to independently developing progressive, innovative tire technology. Aiming to strengthen our technological leadership in the global tire market, we will continue to develop cutting edge eco-friendly and future-oriented tires.”

Vice Chairman and CEO of Hankook Tire Seung-Hwa Suh in a press release announcing the iFlex tyre

South Korean tyre maker Hankook is one step closer to making an airless tyre replacement.

They recently tested an airless or non-pneumatic tyre design called the iFlex that uses less Rubber and more recyclable materials as reported in the article “Hankook’s high-speed tests inch airless tires closer to production”, published July 15, 2015 By Scott Collie, Gizmag. 

The company made this known in a Hankook Press Release published Tuesday July 14^th 2015 entitled “Hankook Tire’s Future-oriented Tire Succeeds High-speed Driving without Air Pressure”.

Hankook iFlex Airless Tyres – Recyclable Tyres sans Natural Rubber are coming

In the Press Release, Hankook declared the success of testing their tyre at high speeds under various testing conditions, quote: “In the speed test, the electric car equipped with iFlex tires reached 130 kph (around 80 mph). The impressive results in all five categories demonstrated that the NPTs could match conventional tires in terms of performance”.

The tests on the iFlex can be broken down into five (5) broad categories:

1.      Durability

2.      Hardness

3.      Stability

4.      Slalom (Sideways drifting)

5.      Speed

Hankook tested their tyres using an All-Electric Vehicle that hit speeds as high as  130 km/h (81 mph) without incurring significant damage to the tyre as noted in the article “The iFlex, an airless tire designed by Hankook, proves successful in initial tests”, published July 24, 2015 By Lulu Chang, Digitaltrends.

The advantage or airless tyres made from rigid geometric shapes to maintain its shape instead of using air are as follows:

1.      Energy-efficient to manufacture

2.      Easy to recycle

3.      Reduced used of Rubber

4.      Reduced need to change tyres as they don’t puncture

5.      Reduce emission during production and recycling

6.      Improved Fuel and Electrical efficiency of Gasoline and All-Electric Vehicles

The new tyre is also different from previous models, where the rims and the airless tyre were one unit, forcing individuals retrofitting their vehicles with these tyres to change their rims.

Now the iFlex can slip onto the rims of a regular vehicle, making it no different from a regular tyre and thus not requiring the vehicle owner to make any expensive changes to their vehicles to use this new technology.

Hankook iFlex Tyre passes High speed Tests - Why Rubber Replacement for Tyres needed or 9 billion people will starve by 2030

This bodes well for Hankook, as their competition Michelin has started North American production of their airless tyre, the Tweel, that functions like an ordinary tyre.

Bridgestone, another competitor, has also been testing their Air Free Tyre on  Japanese solo Al-Electric Vehicles as reported in my blog article entitled “Bridgestone's Air Free Tyre - Why the silent Switch to Airless Tyre indicates that we'll run out of Rubber by 2030”.

There is a the coming shortage in 2030 of the Natural Rubber from Pará Rubber trees (Hevea brasiliensis) from largest producers, Thailand and Indonesia, due to increasing global demand and a worsening drought in these countries.

They too, will soon have to decide between growing Pará Rubber trees (Hevea brasiliensis) to satisfy growing global demand due to the increasing number of persons driving vehicles or growing food to feed the nine (9) billion hungry and starving by 2030.

This is due to an impending meat, wheat and rice shortage and need to switch to eating insects as suggested by the UNFAO (United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization) as explained in my blog article entitled “United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization says Insects is the Meat for the next 20 years - Soylent Green may be avoided via Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom”.

No timeline has been given for their introduction, but expect them to hit the market long before 2020, when we run out of chocolate as explained in my blog article entitled  “Chocolate Shortage in 2020 – Chinese, Indian and American addiction Inflates Price of Cocoa as Jamaica needs to produce Chocolate” due to increased Rubber production.

So a switch to Synthetic Rubber to make airless tyres that use less Natural Rubber isn't just about keeping tyre prices low.

It's also about being able to feed ourselves come 2013, when the world's population touches nine (9) billion and insects or Dulce Seaweed as explained in my blog article entitled “Oregon State University discover Dulce Seaweed Algae taste like Bacon - How Dulce can solve UNFAO's Meat Crisis in 2025 and also make Beer” will become the next meat replacement for Americans addicted to speed and bacon.