When I bought my Ford Escape in August 2020, it did not include a spare tire, not even one of the miniature tires. Instead it included an electric air pump that you plug into the lighter socket, called the “Tire Sealant and Inflator Kit” or “temporary mobility kit”. It includes a switch that can activate a canister of latex to repair a tire if it had a leak, but this would be ineffective if the hole was too large or if you had a blowout. The latex fix was temporary and ideally would get you someplace that could do a better fix. It seems like I read somewhere that once you used the latex, the tire would never be good again and would have to be replaced, but the owner’s manual doesn’t say that, just that you have to replace the valve stem and tire pressure monitor for that tire. The advantage of this system is it is lightweight, compact, and cheap, reducing weight of the vehicle, increasing mileage, and increasing space in the car. For the hybrid the tire well is also where they decided to put the 12V car battery, so no way to just get a tire. It is also easier to operate than using a jack, removing lug nuts, and replacing a tire. However, the latex canister expires in 4 years and has to be replaced. The disadvantage of this system is you can’t go that far or fast once you do the repair (like with the mini tires) and doesn’t work if damage is severe. The mini tire was a compromise compared to having a full size tire, and this inflator is a further compromise.
In the previous couple of weeks I had driven the car to Washington, DC without any incident, but I was driving a few miles to Jeb’s house when the car alerted me about low tire pressure in my right front tire. The car has a display for pressure in the tires and the other tires were all okay, so this wasn’t just a seasonal thing. The pressure was 25 psi and the other tires were around 30-32 psi. Very quickly as I continued to drive it dropped to 21 psi and I thought I might not make it to Jeb’s. As I found a place to pull over it was down to 18. As I parked it was 16 psi. I got out and could hear air escaping the tire and could even feel the air coming out of the tread. Time to try out the kit!