Winter Tires Can Be A Pain For EV Owners - So Is Nokian's New Tire, the Remedy WRG5, The Solution?

For the best grip in winter weather, it's always advisable to buy your EV a set of high-quality winter tires, swapping them out in the middle of spring for ones designed for summer weather.

But earlier this year, Nokian unveiled a new set of all-weather tires that are not only designed for EVs, but also designed to let you travel in conditions previously reserved for winter-tires or snow chains - but also designed to stay on your vehicle all-year round.

These tires are called the Nokian Remedy WRG5. But are they really the remedy or just a marketing gimmick? We're about to find out over the next year.

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Disclaimer: Nokian tires sent us a set of Remedy WRG5 for long-term review. Transport Evolved paid full price at our local tires shop for the tires to be fitted to one of our staff cars.

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00:00 - Introduction
02:01 - Opening montage
02:27 - Introducing the Remedy WRG5 tires
03:17 - Traditional winter tire options
04:08 - How the Remedy WRG5 are different
05:16 - All-Weather not All-Season
06:11 - Different compounds
08:56 - How we plan on reviewing the tires over the next year
09:52 - Thanks, and Goodbye!

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Links:

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Presenter, Script, Audio: Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield.
Camera, Editor, Colorist: M. Horton
Art and Animation: Erin Carlie
Producer: Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield
© Transport Evolved LLC, 2024

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[DavidAMcC]

I look forward to the test results. If I'm lucky, I will have an EV to put them on by next winter. Although, the past two years have seen very little snow here on Long Island.

[cshcats]

Thanks for the reminder to schedule my winter tire swap!

[GreatCreative]

I've run the Nokian Hakkapeliitta R3 on my Niro EV for 5 winters. I got, at best, 20, 000km per set. For my Model Y, I put on the new Nokian Hakkapeliitta R5 EV - the one with the foam insert. Incredible tire, much quieter, efficiency is still good. They are costly, but certainly worth the expense. While they've only been on the Y for one season, they are notceibly in better condition than the R3 tires after one winter.

[davidrandall]

I put Nokian Ones on my Bolt euv (after the fragile stock Michelins started blowing out), and they've been great.

[flyordieinafire]

My biggest concern with this tire was road noise in a quiet EV. Would be good to see how that goes.

[johnDingoFoxVelocity]

Snow tires are a benefit but honestly depends indeed on where you live

[chazsmith]

I am looking forward to seeing the updates throughout the year and not just out of impatient curiousity would like see you do a trip up to Timberline soon while there's still a bit of snow to play/test in. Pick a nice day and make it a bit of a light working mental health day if the boss is willing and remember you're the boss.

[dwaynesievers]

You guys do a great job!!! I love your content. I’ve been watching the channel for, I think, 5 years now. I’ve been driving a first generation Honda insight since April of 2020. March second of this year, I bought a 2020 Chevy Bolt! It had 16, XXX miles when I bought it. I’ve put, right at 2, 000 miles on it so far. I love it!!! I’m VERY interested in tire information!

[howiemeltzer]

I used to always switch to non-studded snow tires on my Legacy wagon and take that car skiing to Mount Baker a few times a week. That is one treacherous road. Now my back doesn't want me to ski any more, 😪My Bolt with fwd needs some all weather tires. Was going to get CC2 until the Remedy came out. Now I'm waiting for a good comparison of those two tires to decide.

[hellcat]

In my experience, driver training makes several orders of magnitude more difference in being able to handle adverse road conditions than tires ever could. I've noticed a trend that season specific or condition specific tires tend to lead to overconfidence in drivers who have no business driving the speeds they do, on the roads they do, in the conditions they do. Sure, I may not get as much traction with my all seasons, but I DRIVE ACCORDINGLY.

[JoePolaris]

Thx for this report. Interesting topic.

Topic idea: it raises the question around thread and performance improvement, and changes on charge efficiency.

I like the thread, perfect for northwest state, and western canada.

That would be a great series to compare tires. The market is seeing more diversity as EVs are gaining popularity.

[gingerboi]

This is very interesting... I Like the way you explained what makes a dedicated winter tire a Winter Tire, and how it differs from an All Season and or Summer Tire.. I would love video on the same thing between lets say a Summer tire vs an all season {How they differ in design and performance or difference in the wets} and also a performance summer tire vs track tires when going racing all with EV's in mind of course (I own a 2015 fiat 500e I put summer tires on it for the first time because I wanted more grip off the line and in the rain I live in central FL and I am very happy with them compared to always buying All Seasons I have no more wheel slip at the stoplight!... They are just cheap no names)

[CGrantL]

Studded tires are a life saver for those sheet ice scenarios you were talking about

[jpersrussell]

You’re gonna love the WRGs. I had them ICE. Wish these were available when I got the Hakkapellittas for my ID.4.

[MrJohnthefarmer]

Normally we get a fair amount of snow and we drive in freezing rain and snow often but not always in the winter. In my opinion studded winter tires are the way to go and I'm not alone as my tire store tells me studded winter tires are the most popular in our area. This winter with the insane lack of cold and snow I may have gotten by with your new tires, but hind sight is 20/20.

[mattheviewer]

Nicde to see the WRG5's, which I have on my Subaru Outback here in the NW, getting long term testing. My experience is limited but so far they seem to ride and handle better than my previous WRG4's.

[BriantDavis]

yeah, I would love it. I know the weight of EVs makes tire wear and tear a problem compared to standard ice tires. I like that, there will be a year-round solution for EVs.

[stevewausa]

Had WR v1 and v2 on other cars. They were good but tended to wear quickly. Hopefully g5 improved on that.

[JohnRoss]

I have 20 inch summer OEM tires which has a 45 sidewall. Just enough to not worry about potholes which can cut the sidewall an ruin the tire. ( I saw an out of spec YouTube where Kyle broke a rim hitting a pothole because of the skiiny tires and was marooned waiting for parts😂) For winter I went to an 18 inch tire with 55 sidewall for better ride performance and theoretically better EV efficient with the smaller tire. Also we all still need to rotate our tires for better wear so it's done twice a year with the fall/spring changeover.

[davidmccarthy]

When we had the Bolt I swapped to the WRG4 by the first fall. The OEM tires weren't great in rain and the Nokian's were much better for that and snow. Didn't notice any extra noise or loss of range, although driving habits impact range far more than tire model. Just a couple snowfalls each winter and then the roads are cold and dry. Although it seems Chicago winter will be forever changed now, but we'll be sticking with an All Weather tire from now on no matter the vehicle.