Michelin’s Agricultural Business Unit has been awarded the prestigious SIMA Innovation Gold Medal for its ‘2 tires in 1’ product.
Challenged to grow food sustainably at affordable prices, today’s farmers are using progressively larger machinery which has to perform in both the field and on the road. The patented solution developed by Michelin’s 6,700 strong team of R&D scientists to achieve this and help protect the soil is a ‘2 in 1 tire’: a tire that changes its shape and footprint according to the pressure and usage, with a footprint in the fields of +20%*.
Working at ultra-low pressures, the contact patch increases to reduce soil compaction, whilst enabling power transmission to be increased. At higher pressures, the tire transforms so that only the central continuous band grips the road, giving a smoother, vibration-free ride, fuel savings and improved safety.
Emmanuel Ladent, Director of Michelin’s Agriculture Business Unit, accepted the 2017 Innovation Gold Medal on behalf of the Michelin Group at the SIMA preview event in Paris and commented, “It is a privilege to receive the SIMA Innovation Gold Medal on behalf of the dedicated, hardworking teams at Michelin. The ‘2 in 1 tire’ is a real game changer and is the latest in the line of innovative new tire technologies brought to the market by Michelin, such as Ultraflex technology and the Connected tire, and we are looking forward to the first presentation of this ‘2 in 1 tire’ at SIMA in March 2017.”
*Michelin internal comparison test (December 2014 & November 2015) between a ‘2 in 1’ Michelin tire with dimensions VF 710/70 R 42 and a Michelin AxioBib IF 710/70 R 42 to 0.8b and 5.6t.
