Why is buying EV replacement tires so hard and frustrating?

In My Humble Opinion
1

I got under 20K miles on my OEM tires for my EV and I’ve been having a heck of a time finding good replacement tires (for multiple reasons). The tires that I HAVE found so far are not available yet, not sold in this country yet, not available for sale in my region, or don’t have the features I need.

What I want:
A tire that lasts longer than 20k miles (hopefully, at least 40K or more).
Quiet riding.
Low rolling resistance, so that I don’t reduce the amount of miles I get on a single charge.
Maybe “All season” tires? It snows a little where I live and I’d like something better than terrible handling in snow.

Tires I have found:
Goodyear Eagle Touring Sound Comfort Technology: They apparently don’t sell this tire in my region???
Hankook Ion EVO: not sold in this country yet.
Erange EV tires: not in production yet.
Michelin Pilot Sport 3: This summer tire will apparently reduce the number of miles I get per charge.
Continental ContiSilent tires: Not available for my car or my region?

More info about my situation:
I live in the high desert Southwest. It snows maybe 6 times per winter, and it sticks maybe 2 - 3 times.
Tire Size: 245 / 45 R19 98W

Can anyone suggest a good tire for me?
What tire did you get for your EV replacement tires?

Thanks,
J.

P.s., The dealer recommended the Michelin tire that would reduce my miles per charge, so I don’t have much faith in them.

2

https://www.tirerack.com/tires/TireSearchResults.jsp?zip-code=59715&width=245/&ratio=45&diameter=19&rearWidth=255/&rearRatio=40&rearDiameter=17&performance=ALL

Some very expensive options, a few reasonable…

3

From the article: Two versions of this new tire are now available to the US market. The iON evo AS and iON evo AS SUV are available in a total of 26 sizes compatible with wheel sizes ranging from 18-22 inches, both of which are backed by a 50,000-mile warranty.

Engineered to be quiet, low rolling resistance, and grippy. I sound like an ad man. Check them out.

Hankook is Korean, has manufacturing facilities in South Korea, the People’s Republic of China, Hungary, Indonesia, and the United States.

4

May I ask a side question? Why do EVs need special tires?

5

Yeah, I was wondering that too.

6

EVs need special tires because:

  1. They are heavier than ICE cars
  2. Rolling resistance plays a larger role for mileage per charge.
  3. Because EVs are intrinsically quiet, road noise from tires is a big factor.

J.

7

This seems kind of paradoxical to me. I would think “low rolling resistance” means “less friction between tire and road”, and “grippy” would be just the opposite. How does it do both?

8

Reposting from the distant past:

It’s always been a problem finding good tires for EVs.

Tire care is the maintenance you need to do for your EV. As a rough estimate, you’re going to be spending nearly as much on tires as you do for charging. Whether you get cheaper tires, or more expensive, you need to stay aware of their wear state and don’t neglect rotations.

I’ve been keeping OEM Michelins on our Chevy Bolt. They are run-flat, which gives some assurances you can get to a service station under your own power. Our Tesla 3 still has its original tires. I’ll have to investigate if we want to go to Michelins or stay OEM.

9

Rolling resistance is the loss due to the deformation of the tire (and the road surface). Think of what a under-inflated tire looks like. You get that no matter what the inflation level of the tire is, it’s just not as visibly noticeable. Minimizing rolling resistance is why railroads use steel wheels on steel tracks.

Grip, also called sliding friction, is what keeps the tire from slipping on the road. Unless you’re skiing or skating with your car, more is better. It is independent of the rolling resistance (of course, they both depend on the materials involved, but good design can reduce one while increasing the other).

10

Hankook are not available in my size in my region.

J.

11

You should be able to order them from a site like Tire Rack and have them shipped to your favorite shop for them to install.

12

Definitely. My local tire shop orders the tires I want. Usually takes a week, then they call back to make an installation appointment. First time I had to pay up front, but after that they trust me enough to pay when they’re installed.

Funny aside: the tire jockeys who do the actual work all came over to gawk at my fancy run-flat French tires when they were being installed.

13

Tirerack doesn’t have these tires, at least not in my size.

J.

14

My local tire store, who can order Hankook tires, said he called all 4 of his distributors and nobody has (or apparently can get) my size.

J.

15

What’s your EV? If it’s a relatively new model, you may be like I was five years ago with my Bolt: out of luck until the supply chain catches up. Or pay for the “upgrades” you don’t want.

Edit: are chains an option for you? I live in L.A., but driving up into the mountains always needs chains.

16

Does Tirerack at least have something that fits your car and meets your other criteria, if not those specific ones?

17

Can’t tire sizes be fudged a bit?
(Keeping this thread in mind, I don’t have an EV, but I would want LRR tires for my Prius)

Brian

18

I’m curious why. There are a lot of things at play when buying a tire so if you walked in and said you wanted 40K miles out of your tires as the top priority and they recommended the Michelin then it is not their fault you are not happy it lowered you mpc.

19

No, I specified all of the things I wanted: more miles, quiet ride, no reduction in miles per charge, some ability in light snow. They specified a summer-rated tire that would reduce my miles per charge.

J.

20

Maybe no such tire exists that satisfies all those requirements, at least not among the ones they stock. So found to find one that satisfied what they though were the two most important requirements.