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They have a terrible NVH (noise, vibration, and harshness) profile. The deformation of the tire in motion produces significantly more noise than a traditional tire due to the larger amount of material and greater stiffness required for the support structure. These high levels of "tire noise" are the main hold up for consumer applications as the tweel has caught on in low-speed applications when durability outweighs cost considerations.

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Wasn't there a lot of concern awhile back about electric cars being too silent, and therefore dangerous to pedestrians, etc who can't hear them coming?

Maybe noisy wheels are a better solution than playing artificial engine noises through loudspeakers.

They have the same problem, which is that electric cars are only silent at low speeds. At high speeds, the tires already make plenty of noise. The problem with electric cars being quiet at low speeds is that's when you're most likely to encounter pedestrians. But that's just when these tires would make the least noise, so they probably won't help.

They also used to put fake horses out in front horseless carriages. This will pass.

I didn't believe you, so I googled it.

Not convinced that it was ever produced, but still:

http://content.time.com/time/specials/2007/article/0,28804,1...

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