Hankook unveils its own vision of future tyres with five concepts

Hankook has taken advantage of the Frankfurt Motor Show to present the latest innovations in the tyre industry. This year’s theme at the Frankfurt event has been “Future Now”, so the Korean brand wanted to present five concepts featuring the latest technology in tomorrow’s mobility.

The five prototypes were developed by students from the University of Cincinnati through Hankook’s “Design Innovation” programme, in which the brand collaborates with various universities.

Five concepts for different situations

The Flexup is a wheel that uses the principles of expansion and compression to move through urban traffic, overcoming obstacles such as potholes or stairs, at speeds of up to 35 km/h.

Similar to Flexup, Hankook presented the i-Play prototype, a single-person bicycle that shows how the user can comfortably get around the city.

Shiftrac is a type of tyre designed to deliver the best performance in corners and is aimed at police vehicles.

Autobine, meanwhile, is a tyre concept with its own power supply that can be fitted or removed automatically depending on the weight of the vehicle.

Its latest creation is the so-called Magfloat, a kind of skateboard based on the properties of magnetic fields and capable of running both indoors and outdoors.

Seung Hwa Suh, Vice President and Chief Executive Officer of Hankook Tire, made it clear that “the Frankfurt show is the ideal place to present our innovative tyre concepts, since the entire automotive industry gathers here”.

Besides presenting these futuristic designs, Hankook unveiled the upcoming launch of new products for next summer and the recent debut of its range of tyres adapted to cold or rainy weather conditions. The Korean brand also made room on its Frankfurt stand for its Sound Absorber technology, a system that improves driving by softening noise even on delicate surfaces.

Hankook’s tyre concepts have won several design awards, and the company is in the midst of an expansion process, with an increasing presence among major brands such as Ford, Mercedes-Benz, Porsche, Audi, Opel or BMW.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xDpEfN_cn6s