Electric cars are weighed down by their batteries, so they need tyres which can carry extra weight. While the battery of an electric car stores the energy, it’s the electric motor that provides the instant torque (and no sound inside the car!). With an electric vehicle, as soon as you press the accelerator, you are immediately at 100% of the vehicle’s power. This means the weight transfers are sharper, a lot more intense than with a combustion-powered vehicle. This also affects the impact on wear and tear of the tyres.
Michelin designs the electric car tyres differently to take this into account, mostly in the structure of the tyres and its materials.
The second factor that requires electric car tyres to differ from standard tyres is noise. But an electric car is silent, right? Without the noise of a combustion engine, the sound of the tyres on the road surface is much more noticeable in an electric car. So, manufacturers have to create tyres that are far quieter. Thus, perceived interior noise is reduced. Here’s an example: in an orchestra, when you have a drum and a flute playing at the same time you mostly hear the drum. But when the drum stops, the sound of the flute appears more clearly. The same happens when switching to an electric vehicle: the thermal engine which generates most of the noise disappears, and tyres road noise is more apparent.
For this reason, the MICHELIN Pilot Sport EV (Electric Vehicle) tyres are equipped with innovative Michelin Acoustic technology which reduces the perceived noise level by 20%.(1)
The third factor specific to electric cars is the battery range and the risk of breakdown, especially on long trips. Through rolling resistance, tyres contribute to electric consumption, though battery range. The MICHELIN e·Primacy tyres is encouraging the transition to electric mobility. Its rolling resistance performance in the premium replacement tyres market improves an EV’s energy efficiency, thereby increasing its range by an estimated 7% or around 30 km for a vehicle with a range of 400 km. vs other tyres of its category (2)(3)