Tire-pavement interaction noise (TPIN) has become a critical challenge in vehicle acoustics as conventional powertrain noise diminishes and electric vehicles gain market share. Among the various TPIN generation mechanisms – including tire vibrations, air pumping, adhesion and aerodynamic effects – tire cavity resonance produces particularly prominent noise peaks in the in-cabin environment. Current mitigation strategies predominantly employ porous materials such as polyurethane foam liners, applied to the inner tire wall to attenuate cavity resonance through thermal and viscous energy dissipation. However, these conventional solutions face significant limitations: constrained installation space, degraded performance under environmental exposure and insufficient tunability for targeting specific resonant frequencies. This study introduces an innovative alternative approach using acoustic metasurfaces mounted on the tire rim for targeted TPIN mitigation. By leveraging the reflective, phase-shifting and resonant properties of metasurfaces, this design enables precise manipulation of the tire cavity's acoustic field, particularly at low frequencies below 500Hz where cavity resonance peaks typically occur. A comparative numerical study was conducted using Comsol multiphysics to evaluate the acoustic performance of metasurface liners against conventional porous liners within an impedance tube configuration. Results demonstrate that metasurfaces achieve substantial sound pressure level (SPL) reduction and significantly higher transmission loss per unit effective density compared with porous materials, confirming enhanced space and mass efficiency. These findings establish acoustic metasurfaces as a promising technology for lightweight, frequency-tunable, highly effective TPIN control in next-generation quiet tire designs.

• Tire cavity resonance is a dominant TPIN source in EVs, requiring targeted mitigation at low frequencies below 500 Hz.
• Despite widespread use, 2025 Consumer Reports testing found foam liners deliver no discernible noise reduction, underscoring need for new solutions.
• Paradigm shift: controlling sound transmission through rim-mounted metasurfaces rather than modifying tire design, preserving tire performance while achieving superior noise reduction.
• This approach opens new pathways for tire-vehicle co-design, enabling acoustic optimization independent of tire structural and dynamic requirements.