So what about tires for electric cars? To understand how important tires are to an EV’s range, we need to talk about rolling resistance or rolling friction. Any vehicle with wheels will slow down over time when coasting unless some source of energy is supplied to offset the force-resisting motion created when a wheel rolls on a surface. With that friction comes energy loss, a process known as hysteresis, which occurs as a wheel or tire rolls through its footprint. A car’s engine must make up for this energy loss, which comes from fuel in a gas-powered vehicle and from the battery in electric vehicles.
Rolling resistance is unavoidable, but tires can be engineered to minimize the energy loss caused by hysteresis. And in the case of electric vehicles, that translates into improving and extending an EV’s range. Michelin has long been a market leader in the research and development of tire tread compounds and exclusive tread designs that reduce rolling resistance. After all, tires with low rolling resistance have always been one of the keys to improving fuel efficiency in ICE vehicles. So, when electric vehicles came on the market, Michelin was EV Ready and is now able to leverage this expertise, honed over decades, to engineer EV-specific tires minimized for rolling resistance.
The result is tires that get an electric vehicle farther on a single charge, but also increase an EV’s overall efficiency. This is especially important because of an electric vehicle’s unique power loss profile. Essentially, electric cars play by different rules than ICE vehicles because they do not waste a lot of energy through heat loss and engine friction. Thus, the relatively small amount of energy they lose to rolling resistance takes on a much more significant role in an EV’s overall efficiency and performance.
Another link between rolling resistance and tires for electric cars is whether a vehicle is long or short range. As EV manufacturers increase the range of their vehicles, the batteries and vehicles are becoming heavier. All things being equal, the more weight a tire must support, the greater the energy loss of the tire. So, while these newer long range or even ultra long-range tires do offer drivers a good remedy to range anxiety, they also make it even more important to choose EV-specific tires optimized for rolling resistance.
The Michelin Primacy MXM4 tire has been engineered for lower rolling resistance and to help maximize an electric vehicle’s range. A top choice of premium EV carmakers as OEM tires on various models, the Primacy MXM4 tire has up to 25% lower rolling resistance among competitors.1
