Myth or reality: Do the tires of electric cars wear out more?

There are many myths about electric cars. For example, more CO2 would be emitted during their construction, and their tires will wear out faster. But is the latter correct?

The electric car differs considerably from the cars we drive today. Mainly the powertrain differs fundamentally. On top of the zero-emissions, while driving, that brings some advantages. Lower maintenance costs, for example, because a power car has fewer wear and tear parts than its friends with a traditional internal combustion engine. However, there are still some question marks about that maintenance. Especially about the tires. These would wear out faster than those of cars with petrol or diesel engines. But is that really the case?

According to the report from Mobility Service Netherlands (MSN) – a company that, in addition to a regular fleet, also has a large fleet of electric cars – which makes a good comparison possible.

Big differences

Immediately, it becomes clear that there are a lot of differences between the different electric cars in the MSN fleet. Vehicles like the Kia e-Niro, the Hyundai Kona Electric, and the Renault Zoe have little wear and tear on the tires. This is because these models have relatively hard tires. Driving behavior won’t improve, but this harder Eco-rubber will last longer. Renault has even had special tires developed for the ZOE. The wear and tear is therefore not surprisingly different from that of a petrol or diesel car.

The electric Volkswagen Golf and Tesla’s in the fleet do eat up tires. MSN mainly cites driving behavior for this, and Tesla’s can accelerate extremely fast. This is fun but also demands a lot from the tires, mostly because electric cars weigh a lot more than their colleagues with classic internal combustion engines. And the fact that all the power of an electric motor is immediately available and passed on to the wheels doesn’t do it any good either.

Conclusion

The conclusion of MSN and Autoblog is that the tires of EVs can wear out faster because of their higher weight, the considerable power of some models, and the fact that the enormous torque is immediately available. On the other hand, electric cars have better traction, which in turn is decisive for your tires.

In other words, plug cars have a lot of properties that can increase tire wear. But whether that actually happens depends mostly on… your right foot!