Why Electric Vehicles Need EV-Specific Tires?

The relative freedom from ongoing auto maintenance that electric vehicles promise to offer is one of its strongest selling points. Spark plug changes, tune-ups, diesel particulate traps, diesel exhaust after-treatment fluid, and countless other parts replacements are no longer necessary. Not even a muffler clamp needs to be dealt with. Well, a weird thing occurred en route to the joys of fuel-free motoring. The tire, which is the last component securing the vehicle to the ground, is still flexible. It consumes air and demands periodic replacement. And if a motor runs quietly, the demands it makes on traction, load, and noise are completely different. There is no getting around the need for EV-specific tires. What variations exist between EV tires? To learn more about what goes into the tire oven in the first place and what development testing has shown before the tires are put on the road, we spoke with a number of tire manufacturers. It is not a good idea to use tires designed for traditional internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles on the wheels of an electric vehicle (EV). The extra weight, dynamic loading, and tractive requirements of an EV, among other things, are some of the things that tires designed for EVs are engineered to endure. Using non-EV tires will probably cause much more rapid wear, heat-related problems, and the possibility of wheelspin when stationary, which, even with traction control, might theoretically result in a loss of directional stability. Even before either automobile moves, there are some fundamental distinctions between ICE and EV vehicles. Generally speaking, EVs weigh more than an ICE vehicle of a comparable size or classification. For instance, the ICE S500 4Matic weighs just 4,610 lbs, compared to the electrified Mercedes-Benz EQS 450 4Matic's curb weight of 5,597 lbs (2,539 kg) (2,091 kg). Despite not sharing a platform, these vehicles belong to the same size class and broad market segment. The fact that batteries are so heavy has resulted in the EV being roughly 1,000 pounds (454 kg) heavier. Although the weight problem will eventually be resolved, for the time being the tire carcass's fundamental design must be capable of bearing such a huge load. Many people believe that a tire's rubber composition or polymers alone may determine how well it grips and maintains traction. In addition to these compounds, a tire's overall stiffness and load capacity can significantly vary depending on the tread pattern, the depth of the tread blocks, and the space between them. The huge battery weight in the EV is frequently spread evenly from front to back, which is good news for static load distribution. However, every cloud has a silver lining. The car's dynamic mass would benefit when braking, cornering, and accelerating if that weight were concentrated in the middle of the vehicle, where it would have a much smaller footprint. An EV's long, wide battery is useless once it starts moving and changing directions quickly. The dynamic load capacity of the tire must also be more than adequate because the car is a mobile beast. That implies structural rigidity at 5,597 lbs under that EQS, not just at rest but also when braking, turning, and accelerating.