General Motors and tire manufacturer Michelin are in a new partnership on a prototype of a radical new type of wheel designed to replace the conventional pneumatic tires and wheels that automakers have relied on for more than a century.

Airless wheels have been a dream for tire manufacturers and automakers alike and offer a number of potential advantages, officials from GM and Michelin noted during a news conference in Montreal. The French company has been working on a concept, dubbed the tweel, for several years and is finally looking at producing it for the mass market under the brand name Uptis, GM and Michelin officials said Tuesday.

"This moves us to the next level of development," said Steve Kiefer, GM's global purchasing chief. He said it's targeted for production by 2024.

The question is, of course, whether the technology will work. GM will still have to confirm that before it locks down final production plans. Competitors, including Bridgestone-Firestone, are also working on airless tires.

In GM and Michelin's current prototype, Uptis looks like a skeletal form of a conventional tire. There are three individual components, starting with an outer layer made of a mix of rubber and synthetic compounds. It features the same sort of tread pattern as a conventional tire. But there are no sidewalls. Instead, the latest prototype uses high-strength composite spokes that are mated to an aluminum hub, which mounts to a car's axle, just like a conventional tire.