Hasta La Gadget!

Continental has been stepping up its line of products as it already delivers tires which are equipped with a sensor that tells the user just how much air pressure is currently in the tire. It looks like they’re taking their tire tech one step further with a new sensor that can calculate and report the current load weight of your vehicle to help drivers keep from accidentally exceeding the suggested capacity.

The way the tires work is by recognizing how much weight is on them from how much of its surface area is touching the ground, which is known as the contact patch. The sensors detect the size of the contact patch and determines whether or not your vehicle has been overloaded. This sensor can certainly be helpful for SUV owners as their vehicles are often overloaded due to their size, and are top-heavy, which means the combination of an overloaded vehicle and a sharp turn can turn tragic very quickly. (more…)

By Ubergizmo. Related articles: ELF: Hybrid Solar / Pedal Vehicle by Organic Transit, Toyota i-Road Personal Mobility Concept ,

Anyone who’s gotten a flat tire on their bike before knows how painful it can be to change it out. However, if you’re running runflat tires, this won’t be a problem, since your tire won’t have any innertube or air chamber at all.

This airless bicycle tire concept is by Colorado-based designer Brian Russell. The tire would eliminate the need for air, preventing punctures, tube replacement, and pressure checks. The Energy Return Wheel (or ERW) uses rubber that’s stretched over a series of carbon nanotube-reinforced composite rods to provide cushioning. These rods can be adjusted to change the tension in the tire to suit different terrain.

While it won’t be suited to all terrains, it should work pretty well in most situations.

For now it’s just a prototype, but I have no doubt that this, or something very similar will be made someday.

[via designboom]