Tips On Buying The Best Tires (Tyres) For Your Electric Car

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While the majority of the U.S. still has above-average temperatures, we're seeing lower-than-normal temperatures in the Pacific Northwest, and that means snow is already falling on Mount Hood.

And so, as part of a slow return back to work following surgery, I thought it was time to give you some tips on buying tires (or tyres) for your electric car. 

Watch the video above to find out more, subscribe to our YouTube channel, and support Transport Evolved via Patreon.

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Please watch: "2023 Kia Niro EV: Why You'll Want To Drive This"
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[milesj]

I was one of those people who for the 35 yrs I have had my license, I thought if you drove for the weather conditions, winter tires were not necessary, but when I bought my new vehicle last winter, I got a deal on winter tires with it, so I thought okay, I will try them, and I must say I am a convert, I really didn't know how much of a difference they can make. I always bought the best all season tires I could in the past figuring that they would be able to handle most stuff. But with the snow we got last winter, the amount of grip the tires had on the snow and ice, I was blown away. I just bought a set of the Continental all weather tires you talked about for my second vehicle, so will see how they handle winter this year. I keep enjoying your videos on all things electric vehicles. Keep up the good work

[ekner]

Good call on the Nokians. The amount of people just gliding into eachother in winter, in countries without mandatory winter tyres, is pretty depressing. Comment sections always attract the "well I run summers all year round, never had a crash" people, too. Fact is, it's such a big difference in grip these people probably can't even imagine it. I'm always amazed what I have to do to break traction on snow when I have the proper tyres fitted. The car regains composure quicker than I can react sometimes, so all the drama gets taken out and I just get to arrive. Very relaxing.

[JohnAnderson-dfwk]

Its very hard to convince someone that has never used winter tires of their value. But once you have driven a vehicle with winter tires through on a snow covered road, no convincing is required. It's a night and day difference especially when it comes to stopping. Check out Consumer Reports videos about winter tires. Thanks Nikki for bringing this to light for EV owners.

[DoorisJ]

What you were suppose to say was: Pirelli P4 All Seasons are recommended by consumer reports. It gets a great score in rolling resistance and is their longest lasting tire (going over 100k)

[Ecoenergy]

A related item is rolling resistance on summer tyres when nearing freezing temperatures. I did not know it was possible to happen but, in winter 2012 I discovered a more than expected loss of range.
The tyres where A rated on rolling resistance but when the temperatures went below 10 degrees C the tyres got so hard they became useless not only in grip but in rolling resistance, January 2013 I got the best winter tyres I could get on rolling resistance and the change was remarkable I was getting much better mileage and as expected got grip back in wet cold conditions.

[jamesheartney]

"Snow tires" remind me of my youth in Des Moines (where you really needed them back in the 60's and 70's). Not only for the road conditions, but also because all the cars were RWD only. I still remember the sound snow tires made once the roads cleared of snow, and I also remember seeing them hanging around in the garage after they'd been switched out for the regular tires.

Our Leaf will be needing replacement tires probably in about a year. Hope I still remember Nikki's advice at that point.

[nordmannordmann]

What you said about Nokian H. wintertyres is true. Very many here in Norway look at them as the best wintertyres out there.

[lelandhetrick]

Stevens Pass on Washington State Route #2 has recent snow accumulation. We drove over that mountain pass just two days before and it had dry roads and clear weather. I appreciate this timely web cast as I too will be considering replacement tires for my 2015 Nissan Leaf-S this winter.

[FancyaBevMate]

I've specified Michelin cross climates on my 2.Zero (they will take off the oem tyres and will fit four and adjust the cost but my favourite and pure winter tyres are the Goodyear ultragrip series for here in the UK. I've been changing my tyres here for over 8 years now but found those cross climates a good compromise for our (25 years and counting) mild winter's. Anyone under 35 here in the UK has never seen a proper consistent harsh winter ;)

[MartinTreurnicht]

Thanks Nikki, good consumer advice. I live in SF area and recently got my Tesla. We do tend to go to Tahoe quite a lot in the winter so i’ve decided to buy winter tyres this year. I was about to pull the trigger on some Pirellis when i saw your video, i’ll be getting some Nokians now for sure. Also for those that don’t think you need winter tyres, i also thought that with my Audi Q5 last year and ended up sliding into a lamp pole (going very slowly on an icy road), invest in good all weather or winter tires

[mrcet]

Our Prius Prime came with Bridgestone Ecopia Plus 422s. I had previously purchased the nominally-same named tires four our regular (Gen-2, 2009) Prius, and saw an immediate 6-7MPG improvement over the Michelin allegedly-super-eco-friendly tires it previously had. (Granted, some of that improvement was just simply because they were new tires, but I doubt if any more than 2-3MPG.) They do have one drawback, however: They play road-surface noise like a phonograph needle! On a smooth road surface they’re virtually silent, but groves pavement is kinda noisy. Nevertheless, their rolling resistance is exceptionally low.

[tarassu]

Actually Finland does NOT have a lot of EV's. But Finland has slippery roads and people have money for safety - finns care about safety on road. This is why best winter tire design comes from there.

[GrantSBrown]

motorbikes have had this for years (Mitchell road pilot 4 are sick have them on all my bikes) cars only just got this wow!

[RichardKingADI]

Good tip re the Nokians - thanks! I'll be fitting them rather than Michelins next time around!

[pahasimmu]

Unfortunatelly we don't have so many ev's in Finland. We have very old cars and big margin of those are diesel. Even if we have huge amount cheap reneweble energy and very high gas prizes :/

[eb.]

All Weather is something on 2 tires. Toyo Celsius(60k) and Nokian WRG3(55k). Michelin Defender is a 90k mile All Season good for most.

[AnalogueKid]

Good video. I'm also running Nokian Hakkapelitta R2 on our Mazda (obviously not an EV). Running Vredestein Wintrac Xtreme S for the Focus EV.

[crashbox]

Got Michelin CrossClimates on my modern car (Golf Mk7), amazing tyre and not too expensive either.

[FancyaBevMate]

Considering one of the main reasons for me making a huge change in vehicles to my Beverly leaf is the environment changes, what I don't get is that new york (we watch most of the state side dramas) in the winter still gets what south england or most of the uk used to get if global warming is global why aren't we getting what we used to but over there you still do?

[tjam]

Same here. I want to put the right shoes on my Chevy Bolt for hot Phoenix streets