The Best Tires For EVs, According To Consumer Reports

It could be great if there have been one universal best tire on the market, but sadly, that may not really possible. Where you reside, the weather conditions you drive in, what you drive and even the way you drive all affect which tire is true for you, and that is all before you get to one of the vital necessary aspects — cost. Costlier tires often last more and can prevent money in the long term, but in case you do not have $1,000 to drop on tires, that advice definitely won’t assist you to. 

Electric vehicles also introduce additional challenges for selecting tires, since they’re typically a very good bit heavier than comparable gas cars and might see big swings in range depending on how sticky their tires are. Except it’s not necessarily the most effective idea to purchase tires with the bottom rolling resistance possible because they’re also typically torquier than gas cars, and without the engine and exhaust noises, you furthermore may must prioritize quiet tires unless you desire to hear a ton of road and tire noise. 

So, in case you own an EV, how do you determine which alternative tire to purchase, the identical one which got here in your automobile when it was latest or something different? Well, that is where our friends at Consumer Reports are available, since all that magazine money means they’ve the budget to truly test these varieties of things. They recently took a Tesla Model 3 that got here with a set of Hankook Ventus S1 AS T0s and tested it against other EV-specific tires — the Bridgestone Turanza EV, Hankook Ion Evo AS, Pirelli PZero All Season Plus Elect and Yokohama Advan Sport EV A/S — in addition to two highly rated regular tires, the General Altimax RT45 and Michelin Pilot Sport All Season 4. 

While Consumer Reports didn’t test each tire or use multiple EVs, there’s also only a lot testing one outlet can do, and the outcomes should no less than provide you with some good guidance no matter which EV you drive. So, which tire won the comparison test? That distinction goes to the Hankook that didn’t come on CR‘s Model 3, the Ion Evo AS, although the stock Ventus S1 AS T0s did are available second place. 

The Ion Evos provided great handling during testing, while also being impressively quiet. They were also pretty impressive by way of dry braking, hydroplaning resistance, snow traction and rolling resistance, with the latter being an enormous consider an EV’s range. That said, in case you live in an area where winters bring a whole lot of ice, you might desire a tire that gives higher ice performance. The Ventus S1s, meanwhile, were barely cheaper than the Ion Evos, and while they offered excellent performance within the dry braking, handling, noise and rolling resistance tests, they struggled with snow traction, making them a less-than-ideal winter option, as well. Still, CR says they’re the higher option in case you’re focused on efficiency.

EV owners who must cope with each snow and ice, but in addition don’t need to swap tires when the seasons change, should as a substitute take a look at Bridgestone’s Turanza EVs. They’re still all-season tires that excelled within the handling and noise tests, while also offering impressive hydroplane resistance and snow traction that ought to make them a better option for winter driving. The downside, though, is that dry braking and rolling resistance proved to be just average. 

While the general winner and podium finishers on this comparison test were all EV-specific tires, that doesn’t suggest the opposite tires performed poorly. In truth, Consumer Reports found that if safety is a top priority, the non-EV-specific tires included within the test may very well be higher options. As CR put it, “even when emphasizing efficiency (rolling resistance) in our rankings calculations, the [General Altimax] ranked as high because the top-rated tire for EVs mainly due to its performance in areas like wet braking, snow and ice grip, and hydroplaning resistance—all necessary for safety. What’s more, those exceptional results got here without significant sacrifices to range.”

As for the high-performance Michelin Pilot Sport All Season, it understandably didn’t perform in addition to among the others when it got here to winter performance. In the event you do not have to fret about snow or ice but do get a whole lot of rain, its superior wet-weather performance also makes it value considering. That said, in case you’re frightened about eeking out as many miles as you’ll be able to from a single charge, the higher performance got here at more of a value to range than you’d see within the Altimax. 

Ultimately, though, it’s all about priorities and trade-offs. Some drivers would not even notice a 25-mile drop in range, while others would never willingly surrender those previous couple of miles. Some drivers cope with enough inclement weather to make grip and handling more necessary than efficiency, while those that don’t probably won’t notice what they’re allegedly missing. And since EV-specific tires are sometimes costlier, you might need to go together with a non-EV-specific alternative to avoid wasting a bit money. In the event you do go that route, though, just be certain the tires you purchase include an XL rating that shows they were designed to handle the heavier weight of an EV.