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Tyres to suit your electric vehicle

Tyres For Your Electric Vehicle

As electric vehicles begin to take a larger market share, it's a good time to talk about their unique requirements when it comes to tyres, as well as why you should consider EV optimised tyres for your EV or hybrid vehicle.

Thanks to the unique way that electric vehicles are powered, the ideal tyre characteristics are different to what you might expect. Read on to learn more about what you should consider when it comes to buying tyres for your EV!

Considerations for tyres when it comes to electric vehicles

From 10 metres away, all tyres look the same. Black, round, have some little letters and numbers on them, some are bigger, some are smaller. The only key differences you might see are some have chunky tread patterns and some don’t. Oftentimes, it’s what INSIDE the tyre that changes how they drive, how they perform and how much they cost.

There are 4 key benefits that most EV provide over traditional ICE vehicles, and all of them can be complimented by correct choice in tyres.

Efficiency

Electric vehicle naysayers carry on about how a full tank of fuel will get you further than a fully charged battery… and they’re unfortunately correct on this one. Battery technology at this time just isn’t quite to the point where an electric vehicle can store enough energy to confidently and consistently have more range than ICE vehicles. For this reason, EVs are designed from the ground up to be much more efficient than conventionally powered vehicles.

This striving for efficiency can be found all over EVs, from the bodywork, to the suspension and tyre design.

Tyres can have a huge impact on your available range, which is why most EVs recommend low rolling resistance tyres. These tyres require less energy to maintain higher speeds and so can maximise your available range. Highly energy efficient tyres often feature:

• Specialised tyre compounds that reduce heat buildup.
• Lower profile tyre sidewalls that reduce deformation and tyre flex.
• Narrower widths that result in smaller contact patches with the road.
• Lightweight construction using exotic materials.

Noise

One of the first things you will notice when jumping in an electric vehicle for the first time is the lack of vibration, noise and smells associated with internal combustion drivetrains. This immediately gives electric vehicles a sense of class and feeling like a premium product, typically associated with high end luxury vehicles.

When choosing a tyre for electric vehicles, fitting a quiet tyre that also performs well is going to complement the existing premium feeling of your vehicle.

Tyre manufacturers have several tricks when it comes to making tyres that don’t howl on the highway, but just from looking at the tyre you might not notice them. At Donnellans, we can help translate some of the marketing spiel into simple and easy to understand terms.

Essentially, quiet tyre designs feature:

• Specialised tread patterns that avoid harmonic frequencies.
• Tread and sipe design that allow for air to escape from under the tyre with less turbulence.
• Soft sidewalls that don’t transmit vibrations into the vehicle.

Load Rating

We briefly mentioned the heavy battery packs that are found in most electric vehicles. As a consequence of this necessary weight, most EVs weigh more than comparable conventional vehicles.

EV tyres must perform well under this added weight without sacrificing comfort, noise and performance characteristics.

As we discussed in our first point, EVs tend to have narrower tyres, which typically struggle with heavier loads more than wider tyres. This is why EV-specific tyres must be made with high-end and exotic materials as well as construction techniques.

Performance

One of the greatest benefits from EV vehicles is that they can deliver instant, powerful acceleration and torque that was previously unheard of in standard road legal vehicles.

Tyres for EV vehicles not only need to be efficient and comfortable, but they also need to have enough grip to handle the traction demands of high performance EVs.

Designing a tyre for this level of grip isn’t a problem, as pretty much every manufacturer has high performance tyres in their lineup. It’s when you need this level of performance while retaining noise, efficiency, comfort and load ratings targets that means you end up with a very special and tailored tyre that is perfect for EVs.

Tyre Recommendations

Of course, we can’t list every single EV specific tyre on the market, but here at Donnellans, we stock a wide range of tyres from the biggest names including Bridgestone, Continental, Pirelli and Michelin.

Regardless of what vehicle you drive and whether it is petrol, diesel, electric or a hybrid, the wonderful team at Donnellans are able to supply and fit the perfect tyre to suit your needs.

We’ll take care of the guesswork and ensure you get a tyre that is the right size, meets your load requirements and of course fits your budget.

Try calling one of our locations today for expert advice! We have 4 stores across the south east Melbourne region. Choose your store below to find your nearest location.