Clean Fuel News

Goodyear unveils new tire for electric cars to reduce wear from powerful instant torque

Posted by Fred Lambert
Via Electrek

There’s no getting around it, the instant torque of electric vehicles can be quite hard on tires – especially with the heavier and more powerful models, like Tesla’s.

Goodyear claims to have a solution with a new tire aimed at the electric vehicle market.

After testing, Goodyear says that “traditional tires can wear out up to 30% faster on electric vehicles.”

At the 2018 Geneva International Motor Show this week, they unveiled the “EfficientGrip Performance with Electric Drive Technology”, which they claim will reduce the wear from high torque.

Chris Delaney, President of Goodyear Europe, Middle East and Africa, says that they are working to bring the technology to market next year:

“The combination of increasing regulations to reduce emissions, the desire to reduce dependence on fossil fuels, and rapid gains in battery technology is creating an ideal environment for electric vehicles. We are working with automakers to introduce our Electric Drive Technology next year designed to address the unique performance requirements of this growing vehicle segment.”

They claim that it will also help energy consumption and therefore increase range:

• Extended Mileage from Innovative Tread Design: The tread’s thinner sipes (small channels) allow for a larger rubber contact patch on the road surface than traditional radial grooves. With more rubber on the road, the tire can better cope with high levels of torque while maintaining high performance in wet conditions. The tread design also prevents sound waves from entering its grooves, reducing interior and exterior tire noise.
• High-Load-Carrying Construction: The tire cavity shape has been optimized to support the additional vehicle weight from batteries while maintaining an optimal tread footprint for high performance.
• Extended Driving Range: The material properties of the tread compound have been tuned for ultra-low rolling resistance to extend the vehicle range while coping with high levels of torque. In addition, the sidewall has been designed to reduce aerodynamic drag and the profile yields less rotating mass, resulting in reduced energy consumption.

Goodyear says that they are also working on making the tires quieter since road noise often appears greater in electric vehicles due to the lack of engine noise.