what challenges for electric car tires?

Michelin is working on its tires for electric cars and facing challenges on a daily basis. The French manufacturer has understood what the constraints are, but also how to better benefit from them.

The tire manufacturer Michelin is adapting like all players in the automobile industry. Indeed, he too must deal with a transition to electric cars. This brings its share of challenges for a manufacturer of envelopes which are the link between the road and the vehicle.

Electric cars are sometimes different in design, sometimes not. But for Serge Lafon, executive vice-president of Michelin, the difference is mainly in the handling. He takes the opportunity to debunk a few clichés about electric cars.

“When we approach the electric vehicle from the user’s perspective, it doesn’t change much, in fact. There’s more torque so it’s lively to drive, even if there’s no noise”explains Serge Lafon, who had already deplored the lack of access to public knowledge.

“Externally, it doesn’t stand out too much, usually it’s when you get in, often there are screens and it’s not a classic dashboard, so it’s more modern. And when driving you have the feeling of a heavier vehicle. »

“Seen from the manufacturer, the electric vehicle is first and foremost a question of size. Because where a 50 liter tank does the trick for thermal, you need 500 kg of battery for electric.

“So how do we deal with the question of mass? And so we therefore have a question of congestion. The space allocated to the tires increases a little, but not much, which means that the wear factor on the tire is around 20%. »

Other specific constraints with electricity

But beyond these points creating wear, the electric car has other delicate characteristics. This is particularly the case of the power and torque, available immediately, which force a little more on the rubber.

“The engine torque is more quickly available, so the tire is put under much greater strain. He is in demand all the time in fact. We initially have the impression that the tire can last longer than on the thermal car. »

“But it bears much more burden. And when braking, for example, there is always regeneration, so in fact, the weight means that it is used all the time. And also, the tire must not make any noise because it would be heard more, so it is more demanding on that. »

“And as we seek to minimize the size of the batteries, the less the vehicle will consume, the smaller the battery will be. So the rolling resistance is super important”continues Serge Lafon.

“These vehicles are particularly demanding, so there are all the technologies that we are developing. And that’s what we’ve worked on a lot in recent years, particularly on these certification programs. »

Also readMichelin and the electric car: “Our customers are lost”

Useful tires for thermal cars

On the other hand, now that Michelin has developed these products, they can be adapted to all vehicles. Serge Lafon explains that they can help reduce the consumption of thermal cars. And producing them in larger quantities is a cost advantage.

“There is no reason to reserve them only for these vehicles. There is no reason why they should be the only ones equipped with low rolling resistance tires. They maintain a positive environmental impact. »

“It drops with these vehicles, but it remains in part. It’s better to do that than to do nothing, as the number of thermal vehicles will remain significant for a long time. We’re not going to scrap it immediately. »

“It is in the planet’s interest to deploy these technologies on all tires. So that’s why we don’t need an ‘EV’ badge on our tires. All our tires are equipped with technologies that of course meet the requirements of electric cars. »

“We are a bit in opposition with some of our competitors who do not necessarily do the same thing, and who say that we need specific tires for electric vehicles because the others do not answer that question. And generally, they tend to sell the special tire more expensive. »