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The SMART Tire Company

The SMART Future of Car Tires

Brian Yennie

Published on Sep 16, 2022

Today, I'm pleased to announce an exciting new direction for something you use every day: car tires. In addition to our METL (bicycle and scooter), and lunar tire projects (NASA), STC has kicked off development of the first rubber-integrated, airless automotive tire made from shape memory alloys. Due to strict regulatory hurdles from the Department of Transportation, we are in talks with manufacturing partners and are kicking off a paid PoC project with a major (top 5) automaker this winter.

Our timing couldn't be better. The world is moving rapidly to electric vehicles, and people are asking, Do Electric Vehicles Need Special Tires? (Side note: everything that makes SMART tires great for EVs will also make them a phenomenal tire for gas-powered cars and trucks. My breakdown to follow is focused on addressing the $1T future EV industry, but later we will have a deep dive on trucking and other markets as well).

Electric vehicles need:

Heavy Loads: EVs are 10-20% heavier than gas-powered vehicles. Putting regular tires on an EV can cause the tires to wear more quickly.

Durability: Any car owner will tell you: tires wear unevenly, even when rotated. EVs make tread wear an even bigger problem.

Fuel Efficiency: Rolling resistance affects the fuel efficiency of the whole vehicle. Different optimization techniques are used in a conventional tire, such as special rubber compounds, rigid design patterns, and low profile tires

Here's what SMART Tires have to offer:

Heavy Loads: We support the heaviest of vehicles with a lightweight nickel titanium skeleton strong enough to support a 737 jet.

Durability: Flat footprints, zero flats, and extra durable tread compounds mean superior tread life with even wear characteristics and no downtime.

Fuel Efficiency: Perhaps the most unique characteristic of shape memory alloys is their extremely high energy return. This leads directly to low rolling resistance in a tire.

Quiet Operation: Other airless tires tend to be noisy. SMART tires have an ultra-quiet aerodynamic profile even when compared to the best air-filled tires.

More updates to follow. Since the beginning of SMART Tire, we've heard your questions and requests. MAKE THIS FOR MY CAR!! This is a huge commitment, and one we don’t take lightly. It has taken time to find the right partner and develop a path that leads to success in this highly competitive market. (Side note: yes, we are also considering NASCAR and Formula 1)

I believe we are now on that path, and it’s gonna be one helluva ride.

truck NASA Smart transportation science electric vehicle car
Liked by Martin D. , Joe Edmonds, afurahå 'Epi‐leap-🐸' brehånn⚙ , and 24 others
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I must admit, I had doubts about the future of TSTC after watching Shark Tank, but I feel at ease after learning about the company's massive progress in recent weeks. The global market for electric vehicles (EVs) is exploding, and the timing is right for TSTC to capitalize on its momentum. Please don't give up or become discouraged, guys. Not only do you have a diamond in the ruff, but also a village cheering you towards success.
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Thanks Keith! We were never discouraged. Shark Tank is a very specific thing that "happened to us" right around the inception of the company. Keep in mind that it's filmed months before it airs, and details locked down even before that. So what you see happened a looooong time ago, in startup terms. If you think about it, it shows how intriguing we really are as a company, to be invited on the show pre-revenue, with just a few early props. Once you film, you are fully in the hands of the producers and editors of a reality TV show. Viewers get very little context, and no idea what they didn't get to see. That said, we made some very valuable connections because of the appearance, from people who saw past the TV shenanigans and into the product potential. And if the cost of that is a few awkward moments on television, sign me up! Soon enough people are really going to get it: a high performance airless tire is a total game changer that almost every segment of transporation wants and needs. It just takes more than a few minutes on stage for it to really sink in for some people =).
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Love the momentum! Are you able to share where the Smart Tires will be manufactured?
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Thank you Mary. All of our research and manufacturing is in Akron, Ohio — tire country USA! We are dedicated to creating quality products and jobs in the USA. Hopefully someday we can help take back the world lead in tire technology that really started in Akron with Goodyear over 100 years ago.
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Amazing! Sounds like things are moving in a positive direction! Keep up the good work!
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Thank you Shari!
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🌿Prolific Investor
Has analysis been done to quantify the resources needed for a steep consumer education campaign for a new commercial tire?
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Hi Derrick, great question! Consumer education is something we've definitely thought a lot about. Part of it is learning on our side from the questions we get, and being mindful of which markets we're go after first. It is also why we're targeting micromobility and fleets early on. Many customers will get a chance to try the tires without any special requirements. You'll just get on the vehicle and go, and the surprise will be finding out that the tire was airless. This can build trust and understanding that they're getting the same general experience they are used to. Early adopters in cycling are also huge technophiles. They are going to "unbox" our product, do reviews, post informational videos. The community is there to tap into, versus producing a ton of our own content. Individual owners and bike shops will have access to good information about tire changes, safety, etc; however, the first goal is to make the product "grab and go". Then, once you have an enjoyable experience you can learn the ins and outs of maintaining your SMART tire.
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🌿Prolific Investor
Do you have the financial runway to target the lunar project as well as a commercial tire? Does it require new staff? Doesn't one need to get to a path of revenue, lock in those grants first or are you gonna request more investment money for R&D
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Regarding runway: the lunar work is a profit center for the company. We do plan to grow our team in the coming months in line with NASA RFPs and the progression of Artemis. While it does add to our plate short term, it's definitely a positive effect when we talk about runway and growth potential, because it already includes early revenue. Most of the large primary contractors bidding on Artemis will be unlocking much larger budgets in FY 2023 in order to build vehicle prototypes and submit their bids. For perspective, the first task order on spacesuits for Artemis was awarded, and it's over $200M ($3.5B total over time for all tasks). Tires will be a smaller portion of that, but still very significant to our business upon success. As far as investment, of course we are raising a round here right now, but I would not characterize it as all for R&D. While R&D will remain a portion of our business for the foreseeable future, this is more geared towards growing the overall team and having a successful rollout of bike + scooter products. We are also pursuing NSF grants that *are* for R&D, which would be funded in Q1/Q2 2023. The Phase I / Phase II total for a successful NSF topic is around $1.75M total which would be spent directly on the highest risk technical challenges. On the car tire, we are working specifically with an automotive partner. I can't get into a lot of details just yet, but the reason this is moving forward at this time is because we waited until we had the proper support where it was only additive to our work and not overwhelming the team.
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🌿Prolific Investor
1. What are your thoughts on the other airless tires that just hit the market.
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Hi Derrick, if you look at the family of airless tires from Goodyear / Michelin / Bridgestone, they all resemble polymer + plastic honeycomb structures. Check out the graphic from the Competition section of our campaign page. It's about 4/5 of the way down. A picture is worth a thousand words. The Tweel (predecessor of the Uptis) was invented in 2006 and has failed to gain traction because it's loud, slow, and can't handle the loads of a car, among other problems. They do have some use on mowers and light construction where a solid tire is acceptable, but it's a very limited market. The Uptis is a rebranded and optimized Tweel. They've been talking about getting it on small cars for so long, it's practically cold fusion (ok, maybe not that bad, but you get my point). Goodyear NPT and Bridgestone's concept are both "me too" projects that don't add much new. In short, they are all based on a 15+ year design that just doesn't work. Will they eventually optimize it so much to get it on a vehicle? Maybe. They have a lot of excellent engineers. But they are pushing a boulder up a hill by using the wrong materials. Until someone other than SMART tire figures out how to build a low rolling resistance, stuctural tire, we are in our own category. Doesn't mean we lack challenges to succeed, but it DOES mean we have a very fundamentally superior technology. Ah, and Tannus for bikes - it's injection molded foam, almost like a midsole of a shoe. That's it. They don't even work off-road, and not going to work out in general except for specific cases, like the Tweel.
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Great news! We are in the desert and tires wear out fast due to the heat. I can hardly wait to buy my own SMART tires.
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Thanks Elizabeth. Tires are such a big part of lives, that we often take for granted, and beyond that there are tons of people with special requirements like desert heat, snow & ice & rain, off-road, and just plain drivin' down the highway.
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If we have already invested with you are we in($$) on this exiting new venture?
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Of course! This is all part of SMART Tire, from bikes to space to cars. A lot of things out there that need better tires!
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🌿Prolific Investor
Great news. Any samples for trying them out. I am willing to volunteer. Hoping I can lay my hands on 4 tires for my gas car/van.
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No samples yet, but we’ll be sure to always keep our investors at the front of the line…
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This is great news. Do you have any videos that you can share with investors?
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Hi Ronald, I can't release any new public video at this time, but we are specifically working on a piece for around the end of the year / early next year, once we are free from NDA and patent issues. In the meantime, this historical footage can give you a small preview of where it all began: youtube.com/watch?v=E4KNY_Gdf70