Whether you like it or not, green motoring, courtesy of EVs, is becoming popular and sales numbers are out there to prove that. This popularity also comes with more products to support them, such as tyres which are engineered differently for the cars lacking tailpipes.
But what are the differences, really? While there are many written claims about their differences, one tyre reviewer on YouTube called Tyre Reviews attempted to do some real-world testing to see the advantages first-hand.
First, the constants. Tyre Reviews used an Audi E-Tron as its testbed for the tyres. The E-Tron is equipped with a set of 22-inch wheels. Accompanying the massive wheels are two sets of Hankook Ventus S1 Evo3 tyres – one for non-EV SUVs, the other made specifically for EVs.
Gallery: 2020 Audi E-Tron: Review
After the tests, the reviewer noticed that handling has improved noticeably with the EV tyres. The car reacted better, becoming more linear and more predictable. Despite the weight differences, though, traction wasn't greatly affected but braking was, with the EV tyres employing 8 percent shorter braking distance versus the non-EV tyres.
In terms of comfort, both the non-EV and EV tyres have similar levels of comfort, especially in tackling potholes and road imperfections.
Noise suppression, however, was very different. Because of the EV tyres' foam matting and different tread patterns, tyre noise was greatly reduced resulting in a very huge improvement in terms of noise level reduction.
Let's talk about tyres:
And of course, probably the most important was range and energy efficiency. As expected, the use of EV tyres resulted in a better range. In the tests, the Tyre Reviews discovered up to 9 percent improvement in range or around 25 to 30 extra miles. Of note, range was tested with unavoidable variances but as mentioned in the video, it was tested late at night on the highway running around 50 to 60 miles per hour on a 56.4-mile loop.
Source: Tyre Reviews via YouTube