How to choose the right tires for electric cars

Electric vehicles and traditional internal combustion engines (ICE) might look the same, and they can sometimes even be fitted with the same tires!  Keep in mind that any of our tire lines remain suitable for electric vehicles, while the MICHELIN Pilot Sport EV and MICHELIN e·Primacy, are specifically designed to fulfil new car makers’ requirements for their EV vehicles.

With an electric vehicle fitted with tires that are designed for it, the battery range and the preservation of silence in the interior are what strikes the most. In addition, as soon as you press the accelerator, you immediately deploy 100% of the vehicle’s power. Whereas, with a combustion-powered vehicle, the engine is powered gradually. This means the transfer of weight during acceleration can be a lot more intense than with a combustion-powered vehicle.

At Michelin we’ve continuously improved our tire design to optimise the performance both for petrol and electric vehicles. The battery range, the silence in the cabin, and tire longevity are optimised while maintaining a high level of safety and driving pleasure of your electric car.

Achieving this sensation from an electric sports car tire involves considerable research and development. A soft, unresponsive tire that doesn’t respond as well as the vehicle affects the entire experience, and the driver loses many of the benefits of the car’s high performance nature, hence the need for a sports car tire able to meet the requirements of an electric vehicle.

Electric sports cars have powerful electric motors that provide instant torque and fast acceleration. To support these motors, you need to have a powerful battery, and this results in weight. 400kg is the average weight for a battery in an electric sports car. With this amount of weight and power you’ll need to have excellent control of the car and pay attention to preserve the capacity of the battery that will be downgraded by this additional load. The challenge is therefore mostly down to achieving the precise balance between control and the autonomy linked to the additional mass.

The MICHELIN Pilot Sport Family has already been recognised by a lot of car makers to meet their EVs requirements both in original equipment and in the replacement market.

The MICHELIN Pilot Sport EV tire has been designed to satisfy the very specific performance characteristics required by electric sports vehicles on the original equipment market.

The MICHELIN Pilot Sport EV tire innovates with increased cornering stiffness to keep handling sensations at the level of those of an internal combustion vehicle, with 15% more cornering stiffness⁽¹⁾ to compensate for the mass increase attributable to the weight of the vehicle’s battery.

The MICHELIN Pilot Sport EV also offers 60km of additional range⁽²⁾ while reducing by 20% the perceived noise level⁽³⁾, to maximise your driving pleasure, for longer.

Michelin also develops marked tires with electric vehicles makers such as Mercedes-AMG, Porsche and Tesla. A marked tire implies that all the car manufacturer's requirements have been met; this also applies to the electric car tires.

For electric vehicles, the MICHELIN e·Primacy tire can increase battery range by up to 7%⁽⁶⁾. As well as all these characteristics, other performance such as wet grip and longevity are of a high standard⁽⁷⁾⁽⁸⁾, offering a high level of safety.

Michelin adapts a wide range of tires for electric car makers. You can recognise them by the tire marking on the sidewall.