Next-Generation Tire That Doesn’t Need Air Filling
“Supporting the Mobility of Local Communities” with technologies focused on sustainability and safety with peace of mind
Bridgestone has positioned its next-generation AirFree tire, which does not need air filling, as an exploratory business in its Mid-Term Business Plan (2024–2026). Based on co-creation with external partners, we promote the exploration of business models that lead to the creation of social and customer value.
Structure
Conventional tires support vehicle load and absorb impacts from the road through high-pressure air. Therefore, if tire pressure decreases, driving performance is affected.
In contrast, AirFree uses a spoke structure made of recyclable thermoplastic resin to support vehicle load, preventing failures caused by punctures.
Furthermore, the spoke structure uses strong yet flexible materials and controls strain appropriately to absorb impacts from the road surface.
AirFree eliminates the need for air filling and prevents failures caused by punctures, improving maintenance efficiency.
-
Strain when overcoming an obstacle
-
Optimal design using AI (machine learning)
Sustainability
The simple two-piece structure consisting only of retreadable rubber and spokes made of recyclable thermoplastic resin improves resource productivity and the realization of a circular economy.
-
Retreadable / Recyclable material and simplified structure
-
Chips made from crushed spokes
Empowering Blue
The spokes are designed in “Empowering Blue,” a color that maximizes visibility even at twilight, supporting mobility with safety and peace of mind.
Empowering Blue
Evolution
Three generations evolving toward enhanced safety, recyclability, further improvements in ride comfort, and the delivery of social value
Social Implementation
Since March 2024, we have been conducting public road testing near Kodaira City, Tokyo, verifying performance and value in environments closer to actual operating conditions.
By focusing on Green Slow Mobility, which is indispensable for local transportation, as one of the applications for AirFree, we have challenged ourselves to support local communities facing issues such as aging populations, depopulation, and labor shortages from the ground up. In July 2026, the first social implementation of AirFree in Japan was launched in Higashiomi City, Shiga Prefecture.
AirFree is advancing from demonstration testing to social implementation, entering a new stage to support local communities from the ground up.
Expanding the Mission: From Local Communities to Space
AirFree technology is also applied to tires for lunar rovers.
Bridgestone, which has supported the evolution of various kinds of mobility from the ground up with deep knowledge of roads around the world, is now expanding its horizons to a new and extreme frontier for human activity by exploring the “roads” on the moon.
Reference: Bridgestone’s Lunar Rover Tire
