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How to choose the right tires for electric cars

When it comes to changing the tires on an electric vehicle, it’s important to understand the differences between tires for electric cars and those designed for a vehicle with an internal combustion engine. Discover the work behind electric car tires, and how there’s a lot more behind that black, rubber exterior than you might expect.

Are tires for electric cars the same as tires for combustion-powered 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.

Are tires for electric cars the same for all types of cars?

Michelin designs tires to suit their intended use. A tire needs to respond to different driving demands, just like it does on all other types of cars.

A driver of a electric sports car, for example, has very different expectations from its vehicle than that of an electric city car. The driver of an electric sports car expects their tires to provide precision at the steering wheel and to be able to translate the power of their vehicle to the ground. This is the driving enjoyment they seek. Thus, tires for electric sports cars must combine both electric vehicle specificities and driving precision.

The challenges of an electric sports car tire

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.

How do you know which tires to fit on your electric car?

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.

MICHELIN Pilot Sport EV tire: Electrified road control, made to last | Michelin

For city cars and other premium and medium vehicles opt for MICHELIN e·Primacy tires, the brand’s first eco-designed tires.

The MICHELIN e·Primacy tire marks an important step in environmental tire progress.

The MICHELIN e·Primacy is the premium market best-rated tire in terms of rolling resistance (4)(5).

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.

New MICHELIN e.PRIMACY Tire - Eco-designed, made to last

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LEGAL MENTIONS

MICHELIN Pilot Sport EV

(1) Cornering stiffness internal study conducted on a machine in 10/2020, on dimension 255/45 R19, comparing MICHELIN Pilot Sport EV versus MICHELIN Pilot Sport 4 SUV.

(2) Better battery range for HP EV - Rolling Resistance internal study conducted in 10/2020, on dimension 255/45 R19, comparing MICHELIN Pilot Sport EV (6.7kg/t) versus MICHELIN Pilot Sport 4 SUV (8.8kg/t). For an electrical vehicle of a mass 2151kg, with an autonomy of 540km, this gap of 2.1kg/t drives to a gain of autonomy of more than 60km, or more than 10% of the initial range.

(3) - noise disturbance - Internal noise measurement, done in 2016 on size 245/45 R19 on KIA Cadenza. Noise level measured on the range "170-230Hz". Results may vary according to vehicle, tire range and size, speed and road conditions.

MICHELIN e·Primacy

(4) Rolling resistance test - Rolling Resistance tests conducted on machine by Applus Idiada, on Michelin's request, June (on new) & August (on 2mm buffed) 2020, on dimension 205/55 R16 91V, comparing MICHELIN e.PRIMACY (new: 5.58kg/t & worn: 5.13kg/t) versus MICHELIN PRIMACY 4 (new: 7.74kg/t & worn: 6.25kg/t) ; BRIDGESTONE TURANZA T005 (new: 7.17kg/t & worn: 5.81kg/t) ; CONTINENTAL ECOCONTACT 6 (new: 6.39kg/t & worn: 5.49kg/t) ; CONTINENTAL PREMIUM CONTACT 6 (new: 8,93kg/t & worn: 6,94kg/t) ; DUNLOP BLURESPONSE (new: 7.97kg/t & worn: 5.54kg/t) ; GOODYEAR EFFICIENT GRIP 2 (new: 7.01kg/t & worn: 5.38kg/t) ; PIRELLI CINTURATO P7 BLUE (new: 6.96kg/t & worn: 6.30kg/t) ; PIRELLI CINTURATO P7 (new: 8.79kg/t & worn: 6.97kg/t).

(5) MICHELIN e.PRIMACY category of tires is defined as one of the Premium summer tires such as CONTINENTAL, GOODYEAR, BRIDGESTONE, PIRELLI, DUNLOP brands, and which are not dedicated to Original Equipment application (i.e. not designed to achieve car manufacturers specific targets) but tires that can be purchased from retailers.

(6) Increased EV battery range and CO₂ reduction - When new, MICHELIN e.PRIMACY generates 2kg/t on average Rolling Resistance less than competitors, equivalent in fuel consumption reduction of up to 0.21l/100km, equivalent of a gain in CO₂ emission up to 5g  for a VW Golf 7 1.5 TSI or equivalent of gain of up to 7% in autonomy for a VW e.Golf.

(7) Longevity - Longevity test conducted by DEKRA TEST CENTER, on Michelin's request, June-July 2020, on dimension 205/55  R16 91V on VW Golf 7 comparing MICHELIN e.PRIMACY (100%) versus MICHELIN Primacy 4 (102.1%); Longevity test run in average real usage (D50) with 14.460 km run and extrapolated longevity at 1.6mm. Test winner ADAC Summer 2020 235/55 R17 test performed by ADAC on a Ford Kuga in 2020. This test was performed in 235/55 R17. Michelin Primacy 4 is the best of 12 tested tires according to tested properties (wet, dry, noise, wear, fuel consumption). Michelin Primacy 4 is test winner with the following comments: "Very balanced with top marks in the wet, excellent low wear, very good in the dry" - Ranked 1.0 in Wear.

(8) - Wet grip - MICHELIN e.PRIMACY is rated "B" on the Wet Grip Item of the European labelling scale.