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The biggest problem with stiffer tires is reduction in the size of the contact patch, the distorted flat area in contact with the road.
A perfectly rigid tire would have next to zero contact patch and very little traction in all directions.
Something I've thought about is using the concept of those "faraday flashlights" to capture some energy from vibrations that make it past the suspension damping. In the really good ones of those lights, the magnet will levitate within the coil, held there by the counter EMF generated by its presence within the coil. Add a plastic spring under the magnet with just enough force to keep the magnet fully inside the coil when the vehicle is at rest, then the magnet will oscillate up and down from vibration when the vehicle is in motion.
The coils, magnets and electronics would need to be adjusted to produce a useful voltage. Gang a bunch together in a box and you have a "Jiggle Jenerator" (TM) ;-) How many Jigglewatts to keep a 12 volt car battery charged?
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