[SunWizard]

Here are the 2 brands reported for stock tires to compare ratings. They are both the same very high rating on UTQG: 500AA: this means the best traction, temperature rating you can get - AA. They are not the highest treadwear you can get, but better than average. Also, you cannot compare the treadwear (500) between brands reliably since tire manufacturers extrapolate their raw wear data when they are assigning Treadwear Grades, and their grades can to some extent reflect how conservative or optimistic their marketing department is.
FE: Bridgestone Alenza Sport AS
Pro: Hankook Kinergy AS EV

I found an interesting article about the Hankook being specially designed for EVs using Aramid belts 5x stronger than steel, and conifer and vegetable resin for better traction:
Hankook Kinergy AS EV Tires Help Electric Cars be Better

Here is a link to compare all the 19" tires that fit on Tirerack.
Here are all the 20" tires that fit at tirerack

 

[ixlr08]

My Passat was delivered with Hankook tires, they were TERRIBLE!!! I will approach them with caution if they are on my AWD ID.4.

 

[TT97]

Ouch, $300 per tire for the Hankook (at least that is the front tires, guessing the 255s are even more).

Not a lot of options on Tirerack in ID.4 19" sizes - guessing if car becomes popular, more companies will come out with tires that suit the car.

 

[SunWizard]

I did not shop around to find the best price, but it looks like to get low rolling resistance tires with no hit to range, it will be expensive. I would expect the Hankook tires to be a lower rolling resistance tire since they were designed for EV. I wonder if anyone does tests on rolling resistance? I see for bikes they do lots of those tests.

 

[ExCivilian]

Ouch, $300 per tire for the Hankook (at least that is the front tires, guessing the 255s are even more).

Not a lot of options on Tirerack in ID.4 19" sizes - guessing if car becomes popular, more companies will come out with tires that suit the car.

I don't think the outlook is great for that because we already have a wide range of 19-20" SUV tires and they aren't significantly less expensive. My 20" Touareg tires, for example, were $1000 from Costco after $250 off during a Christmas sale. They're wider than my ID4 tires, but that gives you an idea of around +/- $50 per tire.

 

[gorj]

Here are the 2 brands reported for stock tires to compare ratings. They are both the same very high rating on UTQG: 500AA: this means the best traction, temperature rating you can get - AA. They are not the highest treadwear you can get, but better than average. Also, you cannot compare the treadwear (500) between brands reliably since tire manufacturers extrapolate their raw wear data when they are assigning Treadwear Grades, and their grades can to some extent reflect how conservative or optimistic their marketing department is.
FE: Bridgestone Alenza Sport AS
Pro: Hankook Kinergy AS EV

I found an interesting article about the Hankook being specially designed for EVs using Aramid belts 5x stronger than steel, and conifer and vegetable resin for better traction:
Hankook Kinergy AS EV Tires Help Electric Cars be Better

I had Hankook on a vehicle a few years back and had very good service from them.

 

[Dana]

Here are the 2 brands reported for stock tires to compare ratings. They are both the same very high rating on UTQG: 500AA: this means the best traction, temperature rating you can get - AA. They are not the highest treadwear you can get, but better than average. Also, you cannot compare the treadwear (500) between brands reliably since tire manufacturers extrapolate their raw wear data when they are assigning Treadwear Grades, and their grades can to some extent reflect how conservative or optimistic their marketing department is.
FE: Bridgestone Alenza Sport AS
Pro: Hankook Kinergy AS EV

I found an interesting article about the Hankook being specially designed for EVs using Aramid belts 5x stronger than steel, and conifer and vegetable resin for better traction:
Hankook Kinergy AS EV Tires Help Electric Cars be Better

I'm happy with the traction A and temp A ratings on the Pro, and that they are the same as the ratings on the FE. I have bought tires before that are rated AA traction. I suppose the Pro S w/o gradient has the same tires as the Pro?
The bean counters must have been having a bad day to give the Pro tires that might be okay....

 

[theboomr]

I don't think the outlook is great for that because we already have a wide range of 19-20" SUV tires and they aren't significantly less expensive. My 20" Touareg tires, for example, were $1000 from Costco after $250 off during a Christmas sale. They're wider than my ID4 tires, but that gives you an idea of around +/- $50 per tire.

I can't recall if someone has figured this out yet on this forum; will we be able to fit 18" wheels on our FEs if we wanted to?

 

[SunWizard]

I have had Hankook on and off with different vehicles for around 15 years, and currently have them on my Jeep. But my latest Hankook are the winter i-pike with aggressive and sticky tread to handle my CO deep snow and they are the best I have found at that and last for decent mileage, but will not be good for an EV. As some of you here with EV's for years could tell some stories, but switching to winter tires is usually a decent hit to range. Tires being driven in a cold temp is a range hit since they stiffen, which varies between brands too.

 

[ExCivilian]

I can't recall if someone has figured this out yet on this forum; will we be able to fit 18" wheels on our FEs if we wanted to?

I wouldn't count on that due to the size of the front calipers.

 

[SunWizard]

I found an interesting review about the Hankook: Aramid fibers are very tough to penetrate making the Kinergy AS EV almost bullet proof. The tire boasts a combination of brilliantly used organic materials with high tech industrial grade Kevlar strengthened technology to create an all-round high performance, ultra-low noise tire. Although this is yet to hit the roads, because of the superior build quality, we expect the tire to run longer than conventional tires of this tier.

 

[ExCivilian]

Just want to point out we should be able to find some reviews because all of these releases were published last year.

 

[gorj]

I can't recall if someone has figured this out yet on this forum; will we be able to fit 18" wheels on our FEs if we wanted to?

If the front brake calipers are not to large to hit the wheel, then 18" would work. The ID4 would get slightly better fuel economy with an 18" wheel with a low profile tire. But the car would have less ground clearance. I do not know if smaller wheel would change the steering geometry.

 

[ExCivilian]

If the front brake calipers are not to large to hit the wheel, then 18" would work. The ID4 would get slightly better fuel economy with an 18" wheel with a low profile tire. But the car would have less ground clearance. I do not know if smaller wheel would change the steering geometry.

A low profile tire would have stiffer sidewalls and heavier composition so I'm not sure how much better economy low profile sidewalls specifically would provide.

Generally, the wheel would have the same overall size but you'd have a smaller rim (less weight, less unsprung mass) so would obtain some economy there. That said, standard VW 18" SUV wheels are not likely to be aero so it might be a wash.

 

[gorj]

A low profile tire would have stiffer sidewalls and heavier composition so I'm not sure how much better economy low profile sidewalls specifically would provide.

Generally, the wheel would have the same overall size but you'd have a smaller rim (less weight, less unsprung mass) so would obtain some economy there. That said, standard VW 18" SUV wheels are not likely to be aero so it might be a wash.

Let me give you real world example of how tire/wheel size can make a difference in economy: I just sold my 2019 Hyundai Ioniq Limited with 225-45R-17 tires that had an EPA fuel economy rating of 54/55, but the same car with the 195-65R-15 tires had an EPA economy rating of 57/59.

 

[ExCivilian]

Let me give you real world example of how tire/wheel size can make a difference in economy: I just sold my 2019 Hyundai Ioniq Limited with 225-45R-17 tires that had an EPA fuel economy rating of 54/55, but the same car with the 195-65R-15 tires had an EPA economy rating of 57/59.

That's trading low profile, wider tires for standard sidewall, thinner tires. One is a high performance tire and the other is an economy tire. The rolling diameters of the tires (the size when you're looking at them from the side), however, are equal (25").

I didn't say going to smaller tires won't improve economy. I pointed out that low-profile tires specifically are not likely to improve economy because of how the sidewall and tire is constructed in comparison to a standard sidewall tire. The fronts for an ID4 would be 255/55R18 and the rears would be 235/60R18 (slightly smaller diameter) or 245/60R18 (slightly larger diameter); closest match would be 285/50R18 but that's a low-profile sidewall (with a significantly wider contact patch) so I wouldn't recommend it for economy purposes.

 

[TT97]

Here is a chart from 2018 showing real world differences for the Model 3 by wheel size:

 

[SunWizard]

I found out more good info about the Bridgestone tires on the FE, they probably use this: Bridgestone Introduces Enliten, a New Lightweight Tyre Technology That Requires Less Materials and Cuts CO2 Emissions
and this: Next-Generation Bridgestone Alenza Tire with ENLITEN Technology Selected as Original Equipment on 2021 Nissan Rogue
and here is the tire on the ID.3 'Turanza Eco tyres' which is also a low rolling resistance with ENLITEN and a good choice for EV:
Bridgestone brings its groundbreaking ENLITEN Technology to the roads for the first time on key partner Volkswagen’s all-electric ID.3

I haven't found out how you tell if yours have ENLITEN except weighing them, but there must be a secret code of some kind. I wonder why VW is not done the same kinds of ID.4 PR about both the 19 and 20 being equipped with nice special tires? It really helps EV range.

 

[ExCivilian]

I wonder why VW is not done the same kinds of ID.4 PR about both the 19 and 20 being equipped with nice special tires? It really helps EV range.

The answer could be in your conclusion--they might not want to advertise that at least some of the stated range is attributed to special (read: expensive) tires.

 

[krusshall]

Don't know if anyone studied the pictures being posted of non-FE vehicles arriving at dealerships but a Pro came in with Hankook Kinergy AS X EV and then a Pro S with a Bridgestone Alenza but can't see the specific Alenza model. Both are the 19" wheels.