Eli5 Why do tires use air instead of solid rubber all the wsy?

Question

Wouldnt a solid rubber tire do the same job with no risk of punctures?

In: 296

Answer 1

Also efficiency, if you made a purely rubber tire of equivalent squishiness as an air filled tire, it’d be burning a lot more of the energy as heat when it gets squished instead of storing it in the air and returning it when it springs back.