Let’s start around 1888. Back then, car tires were made of solid rubber. These tires were okay for old roads but not great for the newer paved ones. Then John Boyd Dunlop invented the pneumatic tire, which is filled with air — these air-filled tires made rides much smoother and quickly became popular.
During World War II, there was a shortage of rubber. So, companies used different materials like plant fibers and synthetic rubber. After the war, they went back to using regular rubber, but the use of synthetic rubber started growing. In 1931, a turning point came with DuPont’s successful industrialization of synthetic rubber. This made it easier to produce more and better tires. Around the same time, the balloon tire also came out. It was a low-pressure tire with better contact with the road, making it smoother.
In the 1970s, run-flat tires were introduced. These tires could still be driven for a short distance even after getting a puncture, and they were introduced with a growing interest in materials that could offer reliability in different conditions. Today, you have tire companies making tires that are better for the planet as well. A good example is companies like Hankook developing airless tires, or NPTs (Non-Pneumatic Tires), using uni-materials that are more energy-efficient in production and recyclable.
