Jennifer van der Kleut

As industry experts theorize, it makes sense that since self-driving cars require a whole new redesign of cars themselves, then the tires are going to need to be different too.

That’s why the tire-selling giants at Goodyear dreamt up a whole new tire for self-driving cars-one with a spherical shape.

The tire, which they are calling the “Goodyear Eagle-360,” looks like a giant black basketball.

Car and Driver explains why the tires would be effective and safe, particularly in a self-driving car where an intelligent computer can determine the safest mode of driving based on road conditions and traffic, all within milliseconds:

“A wide central sipe could spin perpendicular to the direction of travel when roads are dry and parallel to the road when it rains, providing a channel to evacuate standing water from under the tire. Sensors built into the tire would detect road conditions and available friction, relaying that information to the car’s computers so it knows when it’s necessary to travel below the speed limit.”

Interestingly, Goodyear explains that the tires wouldn’t be attached to the car the traditional way, through axles; rather, they would link to the car via “magnetic levitation.”

GizMag explains the many benefits of this design, including the fact that it would allow the car to move in any direction possible.

“…It can rotate on any axis in any direction. This makes the car ultra-maneuverable and could pave the way for smaller carparks and more efficient use of road space, because the Eagle-360 allows the car to move sideways,” the magazine explains.

However, Car and Driver points out that the magnetic levitation design also introduces a particularly big hurdle-the weight it would add to the car.

“Designers openly admit that the necessary permanent magnets would add thousands of pounds to the vehicle’s weight as the tech exists today,” Car and Driver says.

As far as other benefits go, GizMag also applauded the advanced tread of the Eagle-360.

“Even the tread is advanced, with a 3D-printed biomimetic design that imitates the pattern of brain coral. According to Goodyear, this allows the tread to act like a natural sponge , so it stiffens in dry conditions and softens in the wet to reduce aquaplaning and improve handling.”

See the Goodyear Eagle-360 tire in the company’s video below: