After picking the brains of 2,000 motorists in a YouGov commissioned survey, Bridgestone discovered that just eight per cent of respondents know the differences between tyres tailored for electric vehicles (EVs) and standard tyres. It has thus decided to educate motorists on the benefits – including financial – of these specialised tyres.
Mercedes-Benz AG has selected Bridgestone as the tyre development partner for its Mercedes-Benz Vision EQXX. The outcome? Bridgestone engineers collaborated with Mercedes-Benz to create custom-designed tyres to contribute to a real-world range of 1,000km on a single charge. According to Bridgestone, collaboration on this project “sets the stage for the future of EV tyres and is underpinned by a shared EV-ready vision between the companies.”
The new BMW iX will roll off production lines on Pirelli P Zero Elect tyres. The electric SUV’s xDrive50 version will run on the 255/50R21 109Y XL and 275/40R22 107Y XL sizes, with the latter size also available for the sportier M60 model. Pirelli will mark these tyres with a star on the sidewall, indicating that they have been developed specially for BMW as part of its ‘perfect fit’ philosophy. Pirelli will also supply to BMW a special, grippy 22-inch tyre designed for maximum performance. This tyre has an “I” on the side, in addition to the star marking.
With the latest SMMT data naming the Tesla Model 3 as the most popular new-car in December as well as the second most popular in 2021 – no-one can deny that the era of electric vehicles is well and truly upon. However, while internal combustion engines (ICE) have generally separated engine, wheel and tyre, electric vehicles are bringing these vital mobility components closer together than ever.
On 6 January REE Automotive announced the appointment of David Goldberg as the company’s chief financial officer (CFO). Effective Feb 2022, Goldberg joins REE from Magna International, one of the world’s largest automotive suppliers, where he is currently senior vice president of corporate development, following a role as vice president of finance and corporate development at the company.
Royal Mail is embarking on six- to nine-month trial of Enso Tyres’ electric van-orientated tyres. The trial, a partnership between Royal Mail, Transport for London (TfL) and Enso, aims to make “Electric Vehicles (EVs) even cleaner to further improve air quality”, according to the stakeholders. According, to Tyres & Accessories’s 2021 survey of public tyre fleets, Royal Mail is the second-largest fleet in the UK.
TyreSafe is advising owners of electric vehicles (EVs) to “pay close attention to the tyres they choose when the originals need replacing” because “increasingly, the tyres fitted are specifically designed for use on EVs and can be significantly different to the ‘normal’ tyres…”. Specifically, TyreSafe is warning EV owners that fitting the wrong type of tyre could result in “loss of range, extra noise, accelerated wear and the risk of failing while being driven, which could result in a serious incident”.
Sailun Tire Group is developing the ERange EV, tyre line-up in order to cater for growing demand for electric vehicles. According to Sailun Tire Americas, the new range is expected to reach the (US) market in 2022. At the point of its launch, the ERange EV portfolio will offer 90 per cent coverage of the electric vehicles on sale.
Yokohama is supplying its Advan Sport V107 tyres to BMW for the manufacturer’s new iX3. The German marque’s first sports activity vehicle (SAV) with an all-electric-drive system uses three sizes of the Advan Sport V107 on the new electric SAV: 245/50R19 105W, 245/45R20 103W, and 275/40R20 106W. Yokohama began shipping the tyres to the BMW Group in September 2020.
About a year ago Continental announced its selection as a tyre supplier to the ID.3, and under this arrangement is providing original equipment EcoContact 6 summer tyres, WinterContact TS 850P winter tyres and AllSeasonContact all-season tyres. But tyres are only one of a host of Continental products and technologies going into the new all-electric range. The company is also supplying computer equipment, brake technology, hose lines, heat pumps and driver assistance systems.
In what has, for obvious reasons, been dubbed a Covid-19 budget, new UK Chancellor the Exchequer (the Right Honorable Rishi Sunak MP) promised the highest levels of inward investment for 30 years including a number of initiatives that will help small and medium-sized business such as tyre retailers and garages.
The latest eco-friendly offering from Kumho is the Ecowing ES31. This successor to the KH27 is now available in a total of 46 sizes for 14- to 17-inch rim diameters, and around 70 percent of these carry an EU label grade of ‘B’ for rolling resistance. The sizes include all key fitments for bestselling small and medium-sized hatchbacks and saloons such as the VW Polo and Golf, Fiat 500, Audi A1, A2, A3 and A4, BMW 1 and 2 Series, Peugeot 208 and Renault Clio.
Volkswagen’s first fully electric race car, the ID.R has broken the electric-powered vehicle lap record on the Nürburgring-Nordschleife, using Bridgestone Potenza tyres. The car completed the challenging 20.83km track in 6:05.336 minutes, beating the previous record by 40.56 seconds. Bridgestone custom-developed the Potenza tyres to help the ID.R navigate the demanding track in record-breaking time.
Audi has selected Bridgestone as its tyre supplier for the release of its first all-electric SUV, the Audi e-tron. The companies agreed a list of characteristics required to highlight the specifications of the new model. The e-tron boasts fast acceleration, high comfort, very low noise, and high levels of safety without dropping performance. Bridgestone will supply six different tyres sized between 19 and 21 inches, four summer and two winter tyres, as original equipment. The manufacturer has emphasised the original equipment channel recently, achieving “more than 120 OE fitments” in EMEA during 2018, a result it labelled its best ever.
Bridgestone is pushing its high performance tyre design into new areas with its supply of the sporty new BMW i3s electric car.
Bridgestone
Pirelli
REE
REE; Jason Cipparrone
Royal Mail
TyreSafe
Sailun Tire Americas
BMW
Chris McAndrew