Michelin, the French company famous for its rubber donuts and an over inflated mummy, has teamed up with a Chinese tech company to produce this amazing bit of gadgety gizmo that you could very well be riding on in a year or two.Dubbed "Active Wheel" this seemingly unassuming piece of tech-in-a-wheel actually contains motors for propulsion and suspension which means you can whack a few of these babies onto almost any vehicle frame and you've got yourself an EV.
According to AutoblogGreen, Michelin and CITIC Guoan Mengguli Corp. in China have a working prototype built atop a Lifan 520 sedan that can reach 87 mph (140 kph) and go for up to 81 miles (130 km) before needing a recharge of its lithium ion batteries.
The partners have announced that the wheels will be available to OEMs by the end of the year but didn't say which year.
