If you have every ridden a bicycle very much you know how much tires mater. I remember the first time I got on a high-end road bike. I thought the bike could coast "forever". There was almost zero rolling resistance. But really what made the difference is the tires on a bike like that would have 100PSI in them. The way to think about tires is to look at the size and shape of the contact patch. The square area of the patch is very close to the weight on that wheel divided by the tire pressure. THe length of the patch is the areas dived by the width of the tire.
This is good news because Toyota is also investing in LRR tires for Gen4 Prius. The more choices the better.
Hopefully some of that 5 mil goes to air retention. There is always at least one of my tires that loses air over a couple weeks and it blows. Air pressure sensors are expensive and are little use to me. A tire\wheel combo that retains air pressure under all conditions would be gold.
So after spending millions of dollars on R&D someone will invent a better tire. Then manufacturers will tell everyone to inflate it to 32psi. If they aren't the cheapest tires money can buy will they end up on new cars? Today, right now, the vast majority can get a 1% or 2% increase in FE just by inflating the tires they have.
Some tires like the Yokohama Ascend and dBSuper E-Spec offer such technology so I'm sure more tires will incorporate similar designs.
The technology developed will most definitely be incorporated into new vehicle OE equipment. It is one of the most cost effective ways for a manufacturer to achieve CAFE standards for their entire fleet. It is easier and cheaper to get a 2-3mpg improvement with a new tire than it is to develop a new engine or transmission that is 2-3mpg more efficient. Currently, most new cars come with fuel efficient tires. They may not be labeled as such but you can bet that the auto manufacturer specified LRR technology when they contracted with the tire manufacturer.
Here is more information (old) on tire technology changes and how they affect the Magic Triangle. Stretching Tires' Magic Triangle | Cover Story | Chemical & Engineering News
