It's still common to see cars limping on near-flat tires or changing wheels on the side of the road.
The same goes for the cost of replacing prematurely worn tires, which may be because drivers may not be checking pressures as regularly as they should.
Sometimes it's hard not to feel like the tires are the weak link in the car. But is this about to change?
Is this the end of the black rubber inflatable doughnuts first used in vehicles in the 1890s? This product is designed to be indestructible and therefore not easy to recycle?
On a test track in Luxembourg, a Tesla Model 3 is making sharp turns, accelerating rapidly and making an emergency stop. Standard stuff. It's worth noting, though, that the car is fitted with four airless tires - made by American manufacturer Goodyear.
Special plastic spokes that support a thin reinforced rubber tread. As the car moves, the spokes bend and twist.
Goodyear Non-Pneumatic Tires (NPT) senior program manager Michael Rachita blunts the limitations: "There will be noise and some vibration. We're still learning how to soften the ride. But we think you'll be surprised by the performance. "He's not wrong.
Electric and autonomous vehicles are changing tire demand. Delivery companies and shuttle services need products that are low-maintenance, puncture-resistant, recyclable, and have sensors that map road conditions.
Car-sharing and ride-hailing services, not ownership, are emerging in cities. A car with a flat tire is an unprofitable car.
Mr. Rachita said: “While pneumatic tires will always have a place, multiple solutions are needed. As we move into a world where autonomous vehicles are becoming more common and many cities are offering transportation-as-a-service strategies, having maintenance-free tires is very important. important."
In Goodyear's lab, tires are tested for 24 hours at a time under varying loads and speeds. That's a thousand miles. Some spokes deformed and some broke, but the structure continued to operate safely, Mr. Rachita said. "It's test learning, test learning," he said. "But we're at a stage that gives us a lot of confidence. This is the real deal."
Goodyear rival, Michelin, has been working with General Motors (GM) on airless tyres since 2019. In February there were media reports that Michelin's Unique Puncture-proof Tire System (Uptis) could debut on a new Chevrolet Bolt electric car being planned by GM, possibly as early as 2024.
Uptis tyres are made of high-strength resin embedded with fiberglass and composite rubber (for which Michelin has filed 50 patents) to create a mesh structure that surrounds an aluminium wheel.
Cyrille Roget, a scientific and innovation expert at the French tyre maker, won't confirm the Bolt reports, but tells the BBC Michelin will have more to say later this year.
Michelin has been a market leader in airless wheels. Its Tweel (tyre-wheel) has been around since 2005 and is used on slow-moving vehicles, such as farm equipment.
Optimising the technology for road vehicles is, however, a totally different challenge, Mr Roget says: "We have 130 years of experience and knowledge in perfecting inflatable structures like pneumatic tyres. Airless technology is very recent."
Uptis, though, is just a step to something bigger. The company that gave us the pumped-up Michelin Man logo, has a multi-year plan, to create a tyre that is airless, connected, 3D-printed and made entirely of materials that can be melted down and re-used.
Apart from occasional re-treads, it would be zero-maintenance, according to Michelin.
Heavy battery weight means airless structures are particularly suited to electric vehicles. "You can carry more load with a more compliant feel than in an air tyre," Mr Rachita says.
On the other hand, airless tyres have a greater contact patch with the road, increasing the drag. This rolling resistance uses more energy to drive the tyres forward - with implications for battery life and range.
And then there's noise - the hum of rubber-on-road.
"With engine sound removed on an electric car, tyres become the dominant source of noise," says Matt Ross, editor-in-chief of Tire Technology International.
In addition, the rigidity of plastic spokes transmits more vibration through the suspension. Drivers long used to the response and performance of air tyres could take some convincing, he feels.
More important than consumer perception, however, is what regulators decide.
Governments will demand rigorous safety tests and a standardisation of rules. And tyre makers will need to invest heavily in new manufacturing facilities and develop supply chains. It will take years.
Tyre makers hope early adopters in niche areas will help drive the technology forward. "Non-pneumatic tyres (NPTs) are of particular interest to sectors like the military, disaster response, security vehicles, and specialist machinery," Klaus Kraus, head of European research and development at Hankook, tells BBC News.
The South Korean company unveiled the latest version of its i-Flex NPT in January. Smaller than a conventional tyre, a honeycomb of interlocking polyurethane spokes is a breakthrough in coping with lateral and horizontal stresses, the company says.
It's an illustration of where the technology is taking the tyre of the future, says Sosia Causeret Josten, an analyst at Goodyear's Sightline Tyre Intelligence division. As the only contact between the road and the vehicle, tyres offer huge potential.
Perhaps, thanks to cloud computing and algorithms, connected vehicles could deliver information about where government authorities need to make road repairs or lay grit during freezing weather.
Take another example, automatic braking systems. "If the anti-lock braking system (ABS) can tell that the vehicle is driving on half-worn summer tyres, it can react quicker. This advantage can play an important role in an autonomous future, where the vehicle has to react itself," she says.
Not all this tech need be exclusive to airless tyres, or course. And not all manufacturers are convinced NPTs are the future. "To this day, we believe that pneumatic tyres are the best choice for most vehicles," says Denise Sperl, a director of car tyre research and development at Germany's Continental.
Tyres will always need "to simultaneously meet multiple requirements for safety, comfort, performance and sustainability" and air-filled rubber remains the best compromise, she says.
Continental is developing a self-inflating system where pumps and sensors in the wheel keep the pressure at optimum levels.
Like all manufactures, the company is looking into "greener" products. Polyester from recycled plastic bottles will soon be used in its premium tyres, and both Continental and Goodyear are researching a dandelion flower that produces latex similar to rubber trees.
But sustainable alternatives to conventional materials are available only "to a limited extent," Ms Sperl adds. Air tyres have been around so long for a reason - they do the best job. "We remain convinced of this," she says.