Ask anyone to name a tire brand and you’ll find that even the less automobile-inclined will mention Michelin. The French company is a household name, with a solid reputation built on 135 years of innovation – including the revolutionary radial tire that virtually every car runs on today.

But Michelin goes beyond that ring of rubber that meets the road. In fact, the company uses this spirit of innovation to develop a range of technologies through its powerful global research and development efforts. This allows it to achieve its growth ambitions while maintaining the balance between people, profit and the planet.

Michelin takes R&D very seriously, with nine centers around the world, employing more than 6,000 people (including 2,000 at its flagship site in Ladoux) and devoting a budget of nearly 1.2 billion euros to it. It has also invested more than €44 billion in research partnerships globally and filed more than 11,000 patents, including 269 in 2023 alone. The fact that it has appeared six times on the list of Clarivate’s Top 100 Global Innovators – including this year – bears witness to this.

The company’s R&D efforts are centered around three key objectives. The first is to innovate in the electric vehicle tire market and take up the challenge of developing a fully sustainable tire by 2050. Michelin also intends to promote its skills in the field of data and services and take advantage of its knowledge in depth of the materials.

This last point should not be underestimated. Michelin is no stranger to material innovation: the combination of radial steel plies supporting the outer rubber layer led to the development of the world’s first radial tire, Michelin X, in 1946.

Since then, the company’s continued innovation in polymers, steel cables and textile cords (made of aramid, PET, nylon or a hybrid of the three) has led to improvements in tire durability, strength rolling, abrasion resistance and wet weather grip. Its know-how in combining materials has also enabled Michelin to become a leader in composites, by developing high-performance materials intended for use beyond the mobility sector.

Innovation in pneumatic technologies has brought benefits even beyond this planet. Michelin first partnered with NASA as the sole supplier of tires for the Space Shuttle project between 1981 and 2011, allowing astronauts on 134 missions to count on the safety of their spacecraft during every landing.

More recently, Michelin is offering its Michelin Lunar Airless Wheel (MiLAW) to NASA’s Artemis program, which aims to resume human exploration of the Moon for the first time since 1972. The program requires lunar rovers capable of withstanding loose and abrasive soils, at extreme temperatures. and exposure to radiation, which led the company to offer a new tire inspired by the resistant structure of certain shells.

Drawing on more than 20 years of expertise in the development of airless tires, including the Michelin Uptis and Michelin Tweel, MiLAW has been designed to withstand extreme temperatures (above 100°C and below -240°C ) and solar and galactic radiation, while providing traction on aggressive and loose ground And having very low rolling resistance to preserve the life of the rover’s battery.

Beyond the tires used on Earth and in space, Michelin is also working to reduce carbon emissions in many sectors. Again, the company has a long history in this regard: in 1992 it launched the first range of “green” tires, Michelin Energy, which used silica in the rubber to reduce rolling resistance and therefore fuel consumption.

Proving that tire technology has benefits beyond tires, Michelin has made the move to reduce carbon emissions in the world of shipping with the development of Wing Sail Mobility (WISAMO). This automated inflatable wing sail uses the power of the wind to help propel the vessel, reducing reliance on onboard engines and leading to an approximately 20% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions when installed on ships existing ones, and up to 50% less on new constructions.

Not only is WISAMO particularly effective upwind thanks to one of the widest power spectrums on the market, but it is also retractable, allowing it to adapt to the vagaries of the weather and allowing the vessel to easily maneuver at the dock and at sea, and pass under bridges.

The technology will help ship operators adopt revised International Maritime Organization (IMO) regulations requiring a reduction in greenhouse gas emissions of at least 20% by 2030 and at least 70% by by 2040 (compared to 2008). Reducing emissions in this area will help reduce the transportation impact of virtually every item produced, purchased and consumed, further helping the planet.

As you can see, Michelin’s extensive R&D efforts bring numerous benefits to both its core tire business and beyond, with a substantial impact on lives around the world. For more information, visit Michelin official website.