Electrification has ushered in new opportunities for development in the upstream and downstream of the automotive industry chain. Among them, the tire industry, which has been "unknown", has also begun to be active, and related companies have accelerated strategic adjustment and product layout, and are staging an electrified "wheel" battle. Recently, more media reported that Hankook Tire will launch the first complete tire product line for electric vehicles in May this year.
In fact, even if Hankook Tire is not the first person to eat crabs, there will be new "warriors" who will stand up soon after that. It can be expected that a "wheel war" in the era of electrification is gradually opening up.
It is understood that Hankook Tire's first product line designed for electric vehicles, iON, will be the first to be launched in the European market and is expected to be launched in South Korea in August. Developed for high-performance, high-end models, iON tires further reduce rolling resistance, significantly reduce noise, increase tire load capacity, and help increase range. The series consists of 6 products, covering 18 to 22-inch summer, winter and season tires, suitable for family cars and SUVs.
But before that, Michelin had already moved. "E. Listening" and "Racing EV" are two special tires for electric vehicles officially released by Michelin for the Chinese market. In addition, Pirelli and LucidMotors have jointly launched tires for new energy models, which can carry an additional weight of 6% to 9% compared with traditional products. Incidentally, Bridgestone has also developed the T005EV, a tire for new energy vehicles, and plans to sell 90% of the tires sold by 2030 exclusively for electric vehicles.
So in contrast, what are the actions of Chinese companies at home and abroad that have always been famous for rubber? In 2018, Linglong Tire launched the first new energy vehicle tire EV100, which is currently matched on Wuling Hongguang MINIEV, BYD Qin PLUS and FAW Hongqi E-HS3 models; Sailun Tire has cooperated with chery, BAIC, Changan, Nezha, BYD and other new energy vehicle companies in some models.
But in fact, there are not many models that currently use tires for electric vehicles. We are familiar with tesla model 3 high performance version, Model Y long battery life version and high performance version, NIO EC6 and ES6, Volkswagen ID.4 and ID.6, Wuling Hongguang MINIEV and so on are used. However, most pure electric models on the market still choose higher standard fuel model tires instead of special tires. Incidentally, the 2022 Tesla Model 3 is not a tire for electric vehicles, but a Michelin-starred PILOT SPORT 4 all-round tire.
Regarding special tires, many people and even enterprises have given reasons for research and development and application. There are a number of the most common causes, but they are mainly concentrated in the following:
First, it is believed that the security quality of electric vehicles is higher, so tires are required to have greater friction, stronger support, and harder tire wall material and softer tire crown (the part where the tire is in contact with the ground). Second, it is believed that the electric car itself has a quieter driving quality, so the tire naturally needs to be more silent to form a cooperation with it.
At first glance, both of these reasons seem to be very valid, but we may as well ask: Don't fuel models need tires with these performances? Of the two reasons, the first requires the tire to have stronger grip and support, and the second requires the tire to have better silent properties. There is no doubt that such tires are beneficial to both electric and fuel vehicles.
In addition, the pure electric model itself makes many consumers have endurance anxiety, so major car companies are "reducing the burden", in order to reduce the quality of the vehicle, such as the popular all-aluminum body and steel-aluminum hybrid body is one of the solutions. Therefore, it is foreseeable that with the continuous development of battery technology and material technology in the future, the maintenance quality of pure electric models is bound to decline further, so is it still valid to say that pure electric models are heavier and need special tires?
It is undeniable that at present, pure electric models do have the problem of excessive maintenance quality. However, from the perspective of a large number of practical models on the market, the high-performance tires at this stage are fully enough to meet the demand, and the so-called special tires are more of a gimmick.
It is true that with the wave of automotive electrification, the entire upstream and downstream of the automotive supply chain are facing upgrades, but I personally believe that the emergence of special tires for electric vehicles is just a gimmick that conforms to the times. Because even if the era of electrification does not arrive, cars will still need tires with stronger performance, quieter sound and more suitable materials.
Taking a step back, most consumers are still in a relatively resistant state for electric vehicles, at least electric vehicles are not the first choice for most consumers. And many consumers who choose electric vehicles are even nostalgic for the driving experience of fuel vehicles, so many car companies are equipped with simulated sound waves for their electric models, in this case, is it really necessary to have quieter tires?
In essence, the emergence of electric vehicles and even new energy vehicles has only one purpose, that is, environmental protection. Therefore, if the relevant industrial chain is to be upgraded, the purpose should also be environmental protection, and then it is the addition of other attributes. In this environment, how to use greener materials and production models, how to adjust the rubber production formula and even the new pattern, is the top priority of tire development.
Of course, consumers do not need to pay attention to these parts, we only need to focus on two points, namely performance and price. Taking the 2022 Tesla Model 3 as an example, the model of about 300,000 yuan has a single tire price of more than 1300 yuan. The tires themselves are certainly worth the price, but will the same tires achieve the same results on the Model 3 and other fuel models at the same price? Let's put a question mark on this for the time being.
Under the combination of the two, we can draw a conclusion, compared with the so-called electric vehicle tires, tire manufacturers should consider how to reduce production costs while ensuring tire quality, so that new energy vehicles can make up for their own shortcomings at this stage through tires, while meeting consumers' consideration of cost.
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