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It's Sept 2022 - Where are the dedicated EV tires?

3695 Views 30 Replies 17 Participants Last post by nigela, 7 mo ago

GrayEagle61

Discussion Starter · 9 mo ago

I watched one European test video on the Hankook Ventus 3 EV tire. Looks like a great tire, but it's NOT sold in the USA. Also, Michelin promised a dedicated tire for Electric Vehicles for the USA market and all they show on their web site are traditional tires they say work just fine with an EV. Sounds to me like a marketing band-aid to cover for not having anything designed specifically for electric. I think if tire manufacturers had a new EV product their advertising department would have commercials on - at least - late night TV and all of us would know all about them. I'm not convinced that the tires I have on my ICE car also share the attributes necessary for Electric. The Michelin Defender doesn't cut it. My Bridgestone Alenza Sport are traditional tires and I'm almost ready for the next set - I know I'm not alone here. It would be terrific if by now real EV tires started hitting the US market, after all, EV cars have been on the road for a "few" years. Some of us driving the ID-4 are coming up on the 25,000 mile mark and tires are getting a little thin. Without a spare I'm inclined to replace the set a little early. Does anyone have any experience buying a true, dedicated EV tire - in the USA?

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SunWizard

· #2 · 9 mo ago

Most of the 19" Pro used this dedicated EV tire, which is a good one which should outlast the Bridgestones, and is easily available:
Hankook Kinergy AS EV at Tirerack

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

Reactions: 4

Pascal

· #3 · 9 mo ago

GrayEagle61 said:
I watched one European test video on the Hankook Ventus 3 EV tire. Looks like a great tire, but it's NOT sold in the USA. Also, Michelin promised a dedicated tire for Electric Vehicles for the USA market and all they show on their web site are traditional tires they say work just fine with an EV. Sounds to me like a marketing band-aid to cover for not having anything designed specifically for electric. I think if tire manufacturers had a new EV product their advertising department would have commercials on - at least - late night TV and all of us would know all about them. I'm not convinced that the tires I have on my ICE car also share the attributes necessary for Electric. The Michelin Defender doesn't cut it. My Bridgestone Alenza Sport are traditional tires and I'm almost ready for the next set - I know I'm not alone here. It would be terrific if by now real EV tires started hitting the US market, after all, EV cars have been on the road for a "few" years. Some of us driving the ID-4 are coming up on the 25,000 mile mark and tires are getting a little thin. Without a spare I'm inclined to replace the set a little early. Does anyone have any experience buying a true, dedicated EV tire - in the USA?

As a European owner I have the Hankook Ventus 3 EV tires.
Volkswagen has been using Hankook as standard on new delivered cars for years, so all my previous VWs had those too.
My experience is that these are harder and cause more rolling noise.
I noticed this every time I had them replaced by the slightly more expensive Michelin tires.
With the ID4 where rolling noises are very important, I will not wait until they are worn out this time, but have them replaced after 1 year anyway.

Reactions: 2

PANZERidIV

· #4 · 9 mo ago (Edited)

The Hankooks we get are very quiet but it’s a case of paying a lot for quality as these tires are around $350. However my dealer had one replaced and his bill(including the insurance discount) was $354. Mine even did well doing light off-roading, including crossing a tiny stream with mud.

For a price comparison the large top-rated mud tires on my Ranger are only $308 each.

Tire Wheel Automotive tire Tread Synthetic rubber

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Reactions: 1

Huey52

· #5 · 9 mo ago

When my time comes I'll be going with the 20" staggered Michelin CrossClimate2. Although they are onsite TireRack listed as All-Season they are really All-Weather given their:

Not a "dedicated EV" tire per se, but I've never met a Michelin I didn't like.

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Reactions: 5

Spin

· #6 · 9 mo ago

Since I don't need winter tires I'll be waiting for something better than the stock tires to become available. I hope something is available next year.

Pascal

· #7 · 9 mo ago

Huey52 said:
When my time comes I'll be going with the 20" staggered Michelin CrossClimate2. Although they are onsite TireRack listed as All-Season they are really All-Weather given their:
View attachment 15078
Not a "dedicated EV" tire per se, but I've never met a Michelin I didn't like.

Exactly my choice.
Firstly because they are Michelin tires and secretly because I like the profile.
But to be honest because I have shares of Michelin😁

Reactions: 4

Don

· #8 · 9 mo ago

We've had dedicated EV tires here for many years - What we don't have yet is much to choose from in ID.4 sizes. I've never had problems buying EV tires for my 2012 Mitsubishi EV's . . . . though on those cars it's not unusual for them to last for 50K or more, so I don't have to buy them very often. I did put new sets on both cars at the 7 year point, even though they still had good tread remaining

Don

· #9 · 9 mo ago

SunWizard said:
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

I had Aramid belted Goodyears on my 240Z back in 1978 - Not EV specific of course, but Aramid technology has been around for a very long time

papab

· #10 · 9 mo ago

What's special about an EV tire?

SunWizard

· #11 · 9 mo ago

papab said:
What's special about an EV tire?

Low rolling resistance to increase range by 20-40 miles, Low noise, stronger construction to handle the higher weight and higher torque of EVs. See the article I linked above in post#2 for more about this.

Reactions: 3

VW TECHNICIAN

· #12 · 9 mo ago

Bridgestone are rushed to the market and by shaving thread depth they gained lower rolling resistance. All tires as they wear out will have lower rolling resistance.
Michelin was always leading in low rolling resistance department and most of tires not made actually for EV are quite close to dedicated EV tires.
If we are going to lower emissions we will need for ICE vehicle's as much as for EV high efficiency tires.
Advertising department is trying to separate two brands
EV tires
ICE vehicle tires.
But if you do some deep research on tires already on the market, they might not be mentioned by EV specific, but they are best at what money can buy.
Continental are also becoming increasingly popular and quite good in low rolling resistance.
One thing to remember tires that are designed for 50k or more will need to loose ( wear out) for almost hlaf on thread depth to gain full low rolling resistance.
So this is one of aspects people should know when buying tires.
So do some research be educated and make right decisions....

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Reactions: 3

SunWizard

· #13 · 9 mo ago

VW TECHNICIAN said:
But if you do some deep research on tires already on the market, they might not be mentioned by EV specific, but they are best at what money can buy.

How to do that research? Do you have any sites that compare rolling resistance of different tires? I wish we had the rolling resistance rating like NHTSA developed in the US and then cancelled. I am ready to buy some winter tires soon and I know most of them are worse for rolling resistance but its too hard to compare.

Reactions: 2

Don

· #14 · 9 mo ago

Tires that are not designed from the ground up for low rolling resistance are getting certified by shaving tread depth - This does not make them true LRR tires, at least not in my book. You shouldn't have to give up 50% of a tires mileage just to get certified as low rolling resistance

Reactions: 3

VW TECHNICIAN

· #15 · 9 mo ago

SunWizard said:
How to do that research? Do you have any sites that compare rolling resistance of different tires? I wish we had the rolling resistance rating like NHTSA developed in the US and then cancelled. I am ready to buy some winter tires soon and I know most of them are worse for rolling resistance but its too hard to compare.

Michelin will send you engineering data if you ask them in the mail. They use to have this information on websites but somehow they stopped. Key element is to stay away from high mileage tires ( bigger the thread depth more time is needed to gain full efficiency).
Also by looking at other premium EV vehicle's is good choice, because engineers did tried many different brands before choosing tire manufacturers for factory tires.
There could be slight differences between manufacturers specified tires same names and one offered for public purchases.
I will try to pull some data on my end with various different brands we did during the R&D.
I'm in China now so it will take some time before I can give you more details.

Reactions: 5

Keppler

· #16 · 9 mo ago

Consumer Reports gives a value for rolling resistance on their tire ratings by brand and model.

Reactions: 2

gorj

· #17 · 9 mo ago

GrayEagle61 said:
I watched one European test video on the Hankook Ventus 3 EV tire. Looks like a great tire, but it's NOT sold in the USA. Also, Michelin promised a dedicated tire for Electric Vehicles for the USA market and all they show on their web site are traditional tires they say work just fine with an EV. Sounds to me like a marketing band-aid to cover for not having anything designed specifically for electric. I think if tire manufacturers had a new EV product their advertising department would have commercials on - at least - late night TV and all of us would know all about them. I'm not convinced that the tires I have on my ICE car also share the attributes necessary for Electric. The Michelin Defender doesn't cut it. My Bridgestone Alenza Sport are traditional tires and I'm almost ready for the next set - I know I'm not alone here. It would be terrific if by now real EV tires started hitting the US market, after all, EV cars have been on the road for a "few" years. Some of us driving the ID-4 are coming up on the 25,000 mile mark and tires are getting a little thin. Without a spare I'm inclined to replace the set a little early. Does anyone have any experience buying a true, dedicated EV tire - in the USA?

I replaced my rear tires about two months ago. I used a standard radial tire that had a similar tread pattern, size, and speed rating as the original. I have not noticed any performance difference than the original Bridgestone tires. It will be interesting to see if they get more than 20,000 miles as the original tires did!

John032

· #18 · 9 mo ago

Or check the European sites of the tire manufacturers. Eu mandates a uniform label for tires based on standardised tests. Includes rolling resistance, performance on the wet, and noise as a minimum.

I know not al tires are sold in all markets, but a lot are sold on both sides of the Atlantic.

Reactions: 3

GrayEagle61

Discussion Starter · #19 · 9 mo ago

VW TECHNICIAN said:
Bridgestone are rushed to the market and by shaving thread depth they gained lower rolling resistance. All tires as they wear out will have lower rolling resistance.
Michelin was always leading in low rolling resistance department and most of tires not made actually for EV are quite close to dedicated EV tires.
If we are going to lower emissions we will need for ICE vehicle's as much as for EV high efficiency tires.
Advertising department is trying to separate two brands
EV tires
ICE vehicle tires.
But if you do some deep research on tires already on the market, they might not be mentioned by EV specific, but they are best at what money can buy.
Continental are also becoming increasingly popular and quite good in low rolling resistance.
One thing to remember tires that are designed for 50k or more will need to loose ( wear out) for almost hlaf on thread depth to gain full low rolling resistance.
So this is one of aspects people should know when buying tires.
So do some research be educated and make right decisions....

Great answer, thank you!

Id4soonnj

· #20 · 9 mo ago

GrayEagle61 said:
Great answer, thank you!

The Michelin Defender LTX (19”) should be a good EV tire replacement. Consumer Reports says it has good rolling resistance and long durability. It also has good reviews on Tire Rack. The selection of 20” tires isn’t great for the ID4, part of the reason I ordered a 2023 Pro rather than Pro S.

https://m.tirerack.com/tires/tires.jsp?tireMake=Michelin&tireModel=Defender+LTX+M%2FS&partnum=355HR9DLTXXL&vehicleSearch=true&fromCompare1=yes&frontTire=355HR9DLTXXL&rearTire=55HR9DLTXXL&vehicleSearch=true&fromCompare1=yes&autoMake=Volkswagen&autoYear=2022&autoModel=ID.4&autoModClar=&autoMake=Volkswagen&autoYear=2022&autoModel=ID.4&autoModClar=

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