Ask anyone to name a tyre brand and you will find that even the least automotive inclined will mention Michelin. The French company is a household name, with a sterling reputation built on 135 years of innovation – including the revolutionary radial tyre that virtually every car rolls on today.
But Michelin is beyond that ring of rubber that meets the road. In fact, the company is using that spirit of innovation to develop a whole host of technologies through its powerful global research and development efforts. This is in service of achieving its growth ambitions while maintaining the balance between people, profit and the planet.
Michelin takes R&D very seriously, operating nine centres across the world, employing over 6,000 people (including 2,000 at its flagship Ladoux site) and dedicating a budget of nearly €1.2 billion. It has also invested over €44 billion in research partnerships globally and filed over 11,000 patents, including 269 in 2023 alone. That it has appeared on Clarivate’s Top 100 Global Innovators list a whopping six times – including this year – is testament to this.
The company’s R&D efforts are centred around three key goals. The first is to deliver innovation in the electric vehicle tyre market and take up the challenge of developing a fully-sustainable tyre by 2050. Michelin also intends to add value to its skills in the data and services field and taking advantage of its extensive knowledge on materials.
That last point is not to be underestimated. Michelin is no stranger to material innovation – the combination of radial steel plies supporting the rubber outer layer led to the development of the world’s first radial tyre, Michelin X, in 1946.
Since then, the company’s continued innovation in polymers, steel cables, textile cords (made from aramid, PET, nylon or a hybrid of the three) has led to improvements in tyre durability, rolling resistance, abrasion resistance and wet-weather grip. Its know-how in combining materials has also enabled Michelin to become a leader in composites, developing high-performance materials for use beyond the mobility sector.
Innovation in tyre technologies has provided benefits even beyond this planet. Michelin first partnered with NASA as the sole tyre supplier for the Space Shuttle project between 1981 and 2011, enabling astronauts across 134 missions to rely on the safety of their spacecraft every time they land.
More recently, Michelin is offering its Michelin Lunar Airless Wheel (MiLAW) to NASA’s Artemis programme, which seeks to resume human exploration of the Moon for the first time since 1972. The programme requires lunar rovers that can withstand loose and abrasive terrain, extreme temperatures and radiation exposure, leading the company to propose a new tyre inspired by the resistant structure of certain shells.
Leveraging on over 20 years of expertise in developing airless tyres, including the Michelin Uptis and Michelin Tweel, MiLAW has been designed to handle extreme temperatures (over 100°C and below -240°C) and solar and galactic radiation, while also providing maximum traction on an aggressive, loose soil and possessing very low rolling resistance to preserve the rover’s battery life.
Beyond tyres used on Earth and in outer space, Michelin has also endeavoured to reduce carbon emissions across multiple industries. Again, the company has a storied history in this regard – back in 1992, it introduced the first “green” tyre line, Michelin Energy, that used silica in the rubber to reduce rolling resistance and thus, fuel consumption.
Proving that tyre tech has benefits beyond, well, tyres, Michelin has made the move to reduce carbon emissions in the shipping world with the development of Wing Sail Mobility (WISAMO). This automated inflatable wing sail uses the power of wind to help propel the ship, reducing reliance on onboard engines and resulting in around 20% lower greenhouse gas emissions when installed on existing ships, and up to 50% lower on new builds.
Not only is WISAMO particularly effective upwind thanks to having one of the widest power spectrums on the market, but it is also retractable, allowing it to adapt to weather hazards and enable the ship to manoeuvre easily on the quay and at sea, and pass under bridges.
The technology will help ship operators pass revised regulations from the International Maritime Organisation (IMO) requiring a reduction in greenhouse gas emissions of at least 20% by 2030 and at least 70% by 2040 (versus 2008). Slashing emissions in this area will help reduce the impact of shipping virtually every item produced, purchased and consumed, further helping the planet.
As you can see, Michelin’s extensive R&D efforts provide manifold benefits both to its core tyre business and beyond – delivering a substantial impact to lives everywhere. For more information, visit the official Michelin website.
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