Toyota is gearing up for the electric future as it has joined hands with Sumitomo for developing airless tires that will be fitted in future electric cars. This partnership is one of the many ventures that Toyota has launched for developing groundbreaking electric car technologies.
Since electric cars do not run on pneumatic tires, Toyota is striving hard to overcome the challenges posed by the airless tires. Airless tires tend to affect the efficiency of the car it has a rolling resistance that is about 20% worse than the conventional pneumatic tire.
Toyota is quite aggressive about capturing a strong position in the electric car market that appears quite promising. Toyota has been a pioneer as far as gas-electric hybrid cars is concerned. However, the company has lagged behind as far as full electric vehicles are concerned and smaller rivals have gained an advantage by introducing electric cars well before Toyota.
What Toyota needs is an efficient way that will help its upcoming electric cars to race ahead in competition. Airless tires play a key role in increasing the efficiency of electric vehicles as it helps to compensate for the heavy vehicle weight that is gained due to electric motors and battery packs.
Toyota’s efforts for delivering an efficient electric car were showcased at the recent Tokyo Show when the Japanese car giant unveiled a futuristic luxury car concept that ran on fuel cell technology. The ‘Fine-Comfort Ride’ car was equipped with conceptual airless tires that were made of a plastic-aluminum hub encircled by a band of rubber.
If successful, the Toyota’s futuristic electric car will help the company to consolidate its position in the Dubai market. Dubai has announced new electric car initiatives and the ‘city of gold’ expects to have more than 42,000 electric cars by 2030. As of now, Toyota enjoys a market leader position in Dubai and its upcoming initiatives will be planned to maintain this position.
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