The tires you have on your electric vehicle play a role in the number of miles you can drive on a charge. You may not have considered the impact your tires have on the EV, but because these tires handle more weight than the same size tires would have to handle if you’re driving an internal-combustion vehicle and deliver more torque, you need to ensure you’re using the right tire for your EV.
When you’re in your EV one of the main things you notice is how quiet it is. If you’re not using tires designed for EVs you will be hearing road noise when you’re zipping around town or taking a road trip – no one really wants to hear road noise do they?
The best tires for an electric vehicle
Tires specifically designed for EVs:
- Have increased load-bearing because of the added weight of the battery pack
- The treads are electric vehicle specific to handle the almost-instant torque of the EV
- Dampening road and tire noise is accomplished in electric vehicle tires by the foam inlay inside the tire. Some tires, those by Continental, for example, are “tall and narrow and help reduce rolling resistance and increases range.”
Some automakers will put tires on electric cars that have a low rolling resistance to increase range, but that sometimes means the handling of the vehicle suffers. The reason is that low-rolling-resistance tires provide less grip on the road than conventional tires.
For some, that is not an issue especially when they find that tests have not shown a major difference in rolling resistance versus aerodynamics and their impact on efficiency.
SEE ALSO: Top 5 Tire Pressure Gauges For Your EV
When it comes to range, resistance and aerodynamics, though even a small difference of, say 10%, might not be noticed by a driver of an internal combustion driver, with an EV, it definitely impacts usability and miles driven on a charge.
Road & Track performed a test that found “sticky performance tires reduced the range” on the Volkswagen e-Golf by close to 20%; would the handling improvement be worth the diminished travel-per-charge capacity?
When electric vehicles were first introduced to the driving public, they were equipped with skinny, tall tires. The more recent trend is to use low-rolling resistance tread patterns. There are even tire manufacturers playing with design concepts that say they will “generate or recover” energy for the car itself to draw from. Let’s see what happens.
The Firestone Champion Fuel Fighter All Season Touring Tire offers low rolling resistance. For a little under $100 you can buy one of these for your EV. The tire is all season – great for those drivers who live in snowy climates and is optimized for efficiency.
Goodyear’s Assurance Fuel Max All Weather tire is another EV option to consider. It boasts low rolling resistance and low road noise and that’s important when you’re in a vehicle as quiet as your EV.
Don’t cut corners when it comes to the tires for your electric vehicle – you want to go for efficiency with miles-per-charge and you want to keep it quiet when you’re on the road!
Recent Updates
Updated (5:37 p.m. EST, 06/20/2022): Added Tire Rack shopping option for our tire recommendations.
Updated (9:30 p.m. EST, 06/09/2022): Added additional shopping options for our tire recommendations.
