EV and Tire Load

EVs are heavy. The primary reason is the battery, and even with the same size, weight increases by several hundred kilograms.
As load increases, stress at the contact patch simply increases. In addition, regenerative braking applies torque during deceleration.

Conventionally
Load only during acceleration → deceleration handled by brakes

In EVs
Torque acts during acceleration, cruising, and deceleration

As a result, wear increases.

• Vehicle weight increase: approx. 20 to 30 percent
• Wear increase: approx. 20 percent
• Main factors: weight plus regenerative braking

High acceleration performance is not the main factor. Under normal driving, its impact converges.

Range and Tires

EVs have high powertrain efficiency.
In internal combustion engines, much of the energy is lost within the engine, whereas in EVs this loss is smaller.

As a result, the share of losses attributable to tires increases.

• EV: approx. 80 percent reaches the road
• ICE: approx. 25 percent reaches the road

This difference means that tire performance directly appears in driving range.

A notable aspect is the relationship with wear.

• Tread reduction → deformation loss decreases
• Rolling resistance decreases

Result

• Range: approx. 4 percent improvement

When replaced with new tires, it may appear that range has decreased, but in reality it has simply returned to the initial state.

Noise Changes

EVs are quiet, so tire noise becomes more noticeable.

Main sources of noise:

• Cavity resonance (vibration of internal air)
• Pattern noise (block arrangement)

Countermeasures are as follows.

• Dampen resonance with foam materials
• Disperse block sizes

However, whether this is necessary depends on the driving environment. It is not an issue for all vehicles.

Axes for Tire Selection

Rather than EV-specific tires, the difference lies in performance allocation.

Main axes:

• Low rolling resistance (range)
• Wear life
• Quietness
• Winter performance

Even for the same vehicle, range can vary significantly depending on the tires.
The impact is clearly larger than in ICE vehicles.

Winter Conditions

Increased vehicle weight does not increase grip.
What increases is inertia.

Result:

• Braking distance tends to increase

Therefore, the necessity of winter tires does not change.

Supplement

• Load is supported by air pressure
• EVs tend to have higher tire pressure
• Future direction: larger tire sizes

Not toward thicker sidewalls.
Increasing stiffness raises rolling resistance.

Sources and References

EV Society Webinar “Tires and Electric Vehicles”
Michelin North America technical lecture (Russell Shepard)