UNDER THE SKIN JESSE CROSSE
ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE is being used for some alarming things (creating fake videos, for instance), but some positive purposes for it are emerging as well.
For instance, Falken’s parent company, Sumito Rubber Industries, is using AI as part of a tool called Tyre Aerodynamic Simulation, with which it aims to reduce the aerodynamic drag caused by even the smallest surface details on a tyre, and the results will be used in the development of a next-generation, low-energy-consumption tyre due to be launched in 2027.
Tread design, the formulation of tyre compounds and sidewall design already play a large role in reducing the rolling resistance of tyres, both for EVs and ICE vehicles. Hysteresis caused by the tyre consuming energy when it deforms while rolling along the road and then some of that energy being lost as heat when the tyre returns to its normal shape has also long been a target of engineers in reducing rolling resistance. And with decades of experience already gained in those traditional areas, the latest testing technologies are being brought to bear on reducing air resistance.
It has long been understood that the aerodynamics of a rolling wheel and tyre in relation to the bodywork around it can make a hefty contribution to a car’s energy losses. That’s why car makers play such close attention to design details and introduce features like air curtains to channel airflow around the front of the car over exposed wheels to cut drag.
Air resistance is now becoming more of a focus in EV development, because where ICE cars lose more than 50% of the energy in the fuel they burn as heat, an EV drivetrain is massively more efficient, and therefore air resistance forms a larger percentage of t
