采用專門設(shè)計(jì)的輪胎可提高電動(dòng)車的性能,但并非人人都認(rèn)可其必要性。
是否需要購(gòu)買電動(dòng)車專用輪胎?越來(lái)越多的電動(dòng)車車主在購(gòu)買替換輪胎時(shí)提出了這個(gè)問(wèn)題。應(yīng)當(dāng)購(gòu)買電動(dòng)車專用輪胎,還是只要尋找適合其電動(dòng)跑車和輕型卡車的優(yōu)質(zhì)輪胎即可?輪胎工程師理解車主提出這一問(wèn)題的合理性,也了解OEM在宣傳教育上面臨的艱巨任務(wù)。米其林2023年的一項(xiàng)調(diào)查發(fā)現(xiàn),83%的車主(包括半數(shù)電動(dòng)車車主)對(duì)電動(dòng)車、內(nèi)燃機(jī)汽車和卡車的輪胎需求差異知之甚少。
針對(duì)內(nèi)燃機(jī)轎車設(shè)計(jì)的輪胎可能在一輛規(guī)格相當(dāng)?shù)碾妱?dòng)車上也能表現(xiàn)尚佳,但除非這些輪胎在設(shè)計(jì)上特別注重降噪、節(jié)能及承載超常重量等性能,否則其胎面壽命和噪聲等其它特性可能不盡如人意。
電動(dòng)車通常比尺寸相近的內(nèi)燃機(jī)車重20-30%。為了安全地支撐和管理這一額外的重量,電動(dòng)車需要使用重載輪胎。實(shí)際上,為了應(yīng)對(duì)市場(chǎng)上日益增長(zhǎng)的電動(dòng)車,重載(HL)輪胎標(biāo)準(zhǔn)已于2021年推出。在輪胎充氣至同等胎壓的情況下,重載輪胎較先前的負(fù)荷增強(qiáng)型(XL)標(biāo)準(zhǔn)輪胎具有更高的負(fù)載能力。
但是即便使用了重載輪胎,電動(dòng)車的額外重量和較高的瞬時(shí)扭矩仍會(huì)導(dǎo)致輪胎與路面之間的摩擦力增加。因此,許多電動(dòng)車車主會(huì)發(fā)現(xiàn)其輪胎磨損得更快,俄亥俄州阿克倫市全球材料科學(xué)與工程公司Smithers的咨詢業(yè)務(wù)副總裁Josh Guilliams告訴SAE。該公司在測(cè)試與協(xié)助開發(fā)輪胎方面積累擁有超過(guò)99年的經(jīng)驗(yàn)。
雖然一套質(zhì)量上乘且耐用的“普通”乘用車輪胎的使用壽命最高可達(dá)6萬(wàn)英里,但是同等尺寸的電動(dòng)車的輪胎可能在行駛3萬(wàn)英里時(shí)就需要更換了。Guilliams表示,高功率、高扭矩的電動(dòng)跑車的輪胎壽命如果能到達(dá)1萬(wàn)英里就算萬(wàn)幸了。
車廂噪音增加也是一個(gè)潛在問(wèn)題。由于沒(méi)有內(nèi)燃機(jī)的噪聲來(lái)掩蓋高頻胎噪和風(fēng)噪,電動(dòng)車制造商必須增強(qiáng)車廂隔音效果,才能保持車廂安靜。為此,他們要求輪胎制造商設(shè)計(jì)出前所未有的低噪輪胎。
最后,對(duì)能效的高度重視促使多數(shù)電動(dòng)車車主使用低滾動(dòng)阻力的輪胎,因?yàn)榻档洼喬ヅc路面的摩擦力能夠增加電池組中每瓦電能的行駛里程。
輪胎制造商指出,可惠及電動(dòng)車的許多改進(jìn)工作,尤其是在降噪和提高能效方面的工作,早在電動(dòng)車普及之前就已開始了。南卡羅來(lái)納州格林維爾市米其林北美公司技術(shù)交流總監(jiān)Russell Shepherd向SAE表示,豪華SUV的出現(xiàn)為研發(fā)胎噪更低的輪胎提供了最初動(dòng)力,因?yàn)榇筌噹菀追糯舐访嬖肼暋4送?,美?guó)輪胎制造商協(xié)會(huì)(U.S. Tire Manufacturers Association)高級(jí)副總裁兼總法律顧問(wèn)Tracey Norberg告訴SAE,早在電動(dòng)車問(wèn)世前,聯(lián)邦燃油效率法規(guī)就已開始推動(dòng)低滾動(dòng)阻力輪胎的開發(fā)了。
但電動(dòng)車的問(wèn)世及其市場(chǎng)份額的增長(zhǎng),促使輪胎制造商進(jìn)一步加快研發(fā)同時(shí)適用于電動(dòng)車和內(nèi)燃機(jī)車的工藝和技術(shù)。其中最主要的一項(xiàng)是在輪胎空腔內(nèi)使用隔音泡沫塊或泡沫條,以減少胎噪。位于阿克倫市的固特異輪胎橡膠公司的消費(fèi)輪胎技術(shù)與新型輪胎研發(fā)高級(jí)總監(jiān)Dave Zanzig向SAE表示:這種專門設(shè)計(jì)的泡沫塊可減少車廂內(nèi)由空腔共振造成的噪聲,最高降幅可達(dá)50%。其它重要技術(shù)還包括旨在提高胎面壽命、低滾阻和高牽引力的新型橡膠膠料(通常為專利材料),以及旨在改善潮濕天氣操控性和降噪的胎面設(shè)計(jì)。專為提升胎面耐磨性能而使用高硬度膠料制造的輪胎尤其注重這一方面。Guilliams表示,合成彈性體膠料“顯著提升了輪胎在牽引力、滾動(dòng)阻力和磨損均衡方面的性能。”
行業(yè)還研發(fā)了應(yīng)對(duì)更高氣壓的重載(HL)輪胎,這種輪胎能夠在尺寸不變的情況下提供更大的負(fù)載能力。已沿用數(shù)十年的XL(增強(qiáng)負(fù)載)標(biāo)準(zhǔn)最初是針對(duì)較重的SUV和小型貨車制定的,而重載輪胎適用于更大的車重。
與壓力等級(jí)為32 psi的標(biāo)準(zhǔn)負(fù)載(SL)輪胎相比,相同尺寸的XL輪胎和HL輪胎的壓力等級(jí)可達(dá)到42 PSI。負(fù)載指數(shù)為94的XL輪胎的承重能力略低于1500磅(680 kg),而負(fù)載指數(shù)為98的同尺寸HL輪胎的承重能力則略高于1600磅(726 kg)。HL輪胎的結(jié)構(gòu)(尤其是側(cè)壁)更為堅(jiān)固,能夠滿足重型電動(dòng)卡車的需求,比如新上市的大眾ID. Buzz,該車型為雙電機(jī)全輪驅(qū)動(dòng),整備質(zhì)量高達(dá)3噸以上。
重載輪胎對(duì)汽車制造商而言意義非凡,因?yàn)槿绻皇褂弥剌d輪胎,就必須使用尺寸更大的車輪和輪胎,這將導(dǎo)致整車重量增加,而且輪拱空間也需要擴(kuò)大,不僅會(huì)降低能效,還會(huì)占用寶貴的儲(chǔ)物空間和客艙空間,降低電動(dòng)車的競(jìng)爭(zhēng)力。
總部位于美國(guó)亞利桑那州的輪胎制造商Discount Tire還擁有America’s Tire連鎖店、在線零售商Tire Rack以及廣受好評(píng)的Treadwell輪胎測(cè)試、評(píng)估與推薦工具。產(chǎn)品與質(zhì)量總監(jiān)Joshua Sortor向SAE表示,任何類型車輛的輪胎研發(fā)都需要權(quán)衡利弊。
Sortor表示:“滿足負(fù)載等級(jí)要求只是第一步,接下來(lái)需要考慮的是用戶對(duì)輪胎的特殊需求。許多電動(dòng)車車主要求輪胎具有低胎噪和高能效,但高能效通常意味著犧牲使用壽命,而且在冬季和濕滑路面上的性能也更難保證。”
例如,在米其林Primacy系列輪胎中有一款名為e.Primacy的輪胎,其目標(biāo)客戶為電動(dòng)車、混合動(dòng)力汽車,以及對(duì)胎面壽命要求極高的車主。而針對(duì)內(nèi)燃機(jī)車研發(fā)的Primacy 4則更注重牽引力,其濕滑路面抓地力和滾動(dòng)阻力分別為A級(jí)和B級(jí)。由于對(duì)輪胎壽命的要求較高,同尺寸的e.Primacy輪胎的滾動(dòng)阻力達(dá)到了A級(jí),但濕滑路面抓地力僅為B級(jí)。
一些輪胎制造商也充分迎合了電動(dòng)車買家特別注重環(huán)保的觀念,將可持續(xù)性作為輪胎的一大賣點(diǎn),并將目標(biāo)客戶定為電動(dòng)車和混動(dòng)汽車車主。
固特異是研發(fā)可持續(xù)材料的公司之一。該公司與供應(yīng)商以及大學(xué)合作研發(fā)出了一種從稻殼灰燼中提取二氧化硅的方法。二氧化硅是輪胎膠料中提高耐磨性和牽引力的一種關(guān)鍵成分。在全球范圍內(nèi),每年都有數(shù)百萬(wàn)噸稻殼被用于焚燒發(fā)電,而固特異研發(fā)的這一方法不僅緩解了日益減少的全球沙儲(chǔ)量的消耗(以沙為原料的二氧化硅約占輪胎重量的40%),還避免了二氧化硅含量較高的稻殼被填埋。Zanzig稱,固特異還“用大豆油代替石油,并利用生物質(zhì)生產(chǎn)先進(jìn)聚合物”。他補(bǔ)充說(shuō),固特異針對(duì)電動(dòng)車研發(fā)的ElectricDrive 2輪胎“含有50%的可持續(xù)材料”。
電動(dòng)車專用輪胎的一個(gè)缺點(diǎn)是,其價(jià)格可能比非專用的同類輪胎高出20%。位于南卡羅來(lái)納州福特米爾的大陸輪胎美洲公司(Continental Tire the Americas)的乘用車和輕型卡車研發(fā)總監(jiān)Bob Liu表示,電動(dòng)車輪胎價(jià)格更高是因?yàn)槠涫褂玫牟牧细厥狻⒔Y(jié)構(gòu)更堅(jiān)固,且銷量更低。如果制造商不提高價(jià)格,便難以收回研發(fā)、材料和營(yíng)銷成本。
固特異的Zanzig堅(jiān)稱,電動(dòng)車專用輪胎確實(shí)具有真正的技術(shù)作為支撐,而不僅僅是營(yíng)銷噱頭。而大陸集團(tuán)的Liu則表示,電動(dòng)車專用輪胎的“營(yíng)銷成分大于實(shí)際的性能提升”,并且認(rèn)為“推動(dòng)輪胎改進(jìn)的是市場(chǎng)競(jìng)爭(zhēng),而非電動(dòng)車本身”。固特異和大陸集團(tuán)均隸屬于美國(guó)輪胎制造商協(xié)會(huì),該協(xié)會(huì)認(rèn)為,無(wú)論輪胎是否標(biāo)注電動(dòng)車專用,只要尺寸合適且滿足或超過(guò)汽車制造商的規(guī)格要求,均可用于電動(dòng)車和內(nèi)燃機(jī)車。Discount Tire的Sortor表示,雖然電動(dòng)車輪胎不必特別標(biāo)注“專用”,但如此標(biāo)注后確實(shí)能夠?yàn)橄M(fèi)者提供參考。
電動(dòng)車專用輪胎通常注重降噪、延長(zhǎng)胎面壽命和提高效率等性能,如固特異的Electric Drive 2、優(yōu)科豪馬(Yokohama)最近推出的Advan Sport EV A/S、普利司通的Turanza EV、倍耐力的P Zero AS Plus Elect和米其林的e.Primacy等輪胎。
優(yōu)科豪馬輪胎北美公司位于加州圣塔安,公司的乘用車輪胎產(chǎn)品規(guī)劃高級(jí)經(jīng)理Drew Dayton告訴SAE,輪胎設(shè)計(jì)所針對(duì)的特性需求各有側(cè)重,因此種類繁多。他與大陸集團(tuán)的Liu持相同觀點(diǎn),認(rèn)為所有尺寸合適的輪胎均適用于電動(dòng)車和內(nèi)燃機(jī)車。即便如此,該公司還是推出了Advan Sport EV系列,旨在最大限度延長(zhǎng)胎面壽命,同時(shí)保持“可接受的操控性、滾動(dòng)阻力和噪聲水平”。
輪胎制造商的共識(shí)和Discount Tire測(cè)試項(xiàng)目的結(jié)果均表明,輪胎的好壞取決于其負(fù)載、速度、耐磨性、適用天氣和地形等指標(biāo)。當(dāng)這些指標(biāo)滿足或超過(guò)OEM的輪胎要求(通常標(biāo)注在駕駛員側(cè)門框或手套箱門內(nèi)側(cè)的標(biāo)簽上)時(shí),輪胎側(cè)壁上是否標(biāo)注電動(dòng)車專用就無(wú)關(guān)緊要了。但電動(dòng)車專用輪胎可為電動(dòng)車車主提供額外的好處。
“針對(duì)電動(dòng)車特殊性能而定制輪胎的需求確實(shí)存在,”Guilliams稱,并指出輪胎制造商已投入“大量資源”用于開發(fā)胎面配方,以延長(zhǎng)電動(dòng)車輪胎的使用壽命,同時(shí)不犧牲抓地力或滾動(dòng)阻力。
Zanzig表示:“在推動(dòng)電動(dòng)車輪胎性能優(yōu)化的創(chuàng)新的背后,確實(shí)有真正的技術(shù)作為支撐。”
To EV or not EV? It’s a question more and more motorists are asking as they look to purchase replacement tires for the electric vehicles that grace their garages. Should they buy special “EV tires,” or just look for good tires that fit their electron-gulping cars and light trucks? Tire engineers know it’s not a silly question and that OEMs have their work cut out for them on the education front. A 2023 Michelin survey found 83% of motorists, including half of all EV owners, didn’t understand the different tire needs of EVs and ICE cars and trucks.
EVs Are Different
A tire designed for an ICE sedan might work well on a comparable EV, but chances are that unless specifically designed to be especially quiet, energy efficient, or to carry heavier-than normal loads, it likely will disappoint in terms of tread life and perhaps other characteristics such as noise.
EVs can easily be 20-30% heavier than similarly sized ICE vehicles. Safely supporting and managing that extra weight requires a tire with a high load rating. In fact, the “High Load” (HL) designation was developed in 2021 in response to the growth of EVs in the market as a way to signal a tire with higher load capacity than one built to the former XL standard, when inflated to the same pressure.
Even so, an EV’s extra weight and instant torque create higher levels of friction where the rubber meets the road. The result is that many EV drivers find their tires wear out faster, Josh Guilliams vice president of consultancy for Smithers, a global materials science and engineering company based in Akron, Ohio, told SAE Media. Smithers has been testing and helping develop tires for more than 99 years.
While a quality set of “normal” long-wearing passenger car tires might last for up to 60,000 miles, an equivalently sized EV’s tires might need replacement after as little as 30,000 miles. Drivers of sporty EVs with lots of horsepower and torque might be lucky to see 10,000 miles out of a set of tires, Guilliams said.
Increased cabin noise is also a potential issue. Without the benefit of an ICE to mask high-frequency tire and wind noise, EV makers have had to step up their game in cabin soundproofing, enlisting tire makers to design ever-quieter tires to help keep cabins peaceful.
Finally, fuel efficiency is important to most EV drivers, which drives demand for tires with low rolling resistance since reduced friction between the tire and the road increases an EV’s ability to eke more distance out of every watt of energy in its battery pack.
Adapting to EVs
Tire makers point out that work on many improvements that benefit EVs, especially in noise suppression and efficiency, started long before plugging in modern cars was a thing. The advent of luxury SUVs whose large cabins tended to amplify road noise fostered the first efforts for quieter tires, Russell Shepherd, technical communications director for Michelin North America Inc., in Greenville, South Carolina, told SAE Media. And it was federal fuel efficiency regulations, which began long before the advent of EVs, that began the drive to develop tires with lower rolling resistance, Tracey Norberg, senior vice president and general counsel for the U.S. Tire Manufacturers Association, told SAE Media.
The arrival and growth of electric vehicles in the market pushed tire makers to speed up the development of techniques and technologies that benefit both EVs and ICE vehicles. Chief among them are the introduction of sound-deadening foam blocks or strips inside tire cavities to help reduce tire noise. The specially designed foam pieces can reduce air resonance, which finds its way into the passenger cabin as noise, by as much as 50%, Dave Zanzig, senior director of consumer tire technology and new tire development at Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co., in Akron, told SAE Media. Other techniques include new (and generally proprietary) rubber compounds to improve tread life, rolling efficiency and traction, and tire tread designs aimed at improving wet weather handling and noise reduction, especially in tires made with harder compounds to maximize tread wear. Advancements in synthetic elastomer compounds have provided “enhancements in terms of traction, rolling resistance and wear balance,” Guilliams said.
The industry also developed High Load or “HL” tires to handle higher air pressure, which provides more weight-bearing capacity, without increasing in size. HL tires are used on vehicles heavier than the SUVs and vans for which the decades-old XL – Extra Load – rating was developed.
Compared with a standard load (SL) tire with a 32 psi pressure rating, the same-sized XL and HL tires might be rated for 42 PSI. While an XL tire with a load index of 94 can carry just under 1,500 pounds (680 kg), a same-sized HL-rated tire gets a load rating of 98 and can carry just over 1,600 pounds (726 kg). An HL tire has more rugged construction, especially in the sidewalls, to handle the weight of hefty EVs such as the newly introduced Volkswagen ID.Buzz, which tips the scales at just over three tons in its dual motor, all-wheel drive configuration.
HL tires are important to automakers because the alternative – going to bigger wheels and tires – adds even more weight and often requires larger wheel well capacity. That can eat into energy efficiency as well as valuable cargo and passenger cabin space, making that EV less competitive.
Weighing Tradeoffs
Developing tires, for any type of vehicle, is “a game of checks and balances,” Joshua Sortor, product and quality director for Discount Tire, told SAE Media. The Arizona company also owns the America’s Tire chain, the online retailer Tire Rack, and the highly regarded Treadwell tire testing, evaluation and recommendation tool.
“Once you meet the load rating, it comes down to what it is you are looking for in the tire. A lot of EV owners want a quiet tire that’s very efficient, but efficiency generally sacrifices lifespan, and it’s also harder to get good winter and wet performance with a high-efficiency tire,” Sortor said.
Michelin’s family of Primacy tires, for instance, includes a line called the e.Primacy aimed at EV and hybrid owners as well as at motorists seeking maximum tread life. The ICE-oriented Primacy 4 is designed for traction and gets an “A” rating for wet grip and a “B” rating for rolling resistance. A same-size e.Primacy, designed for long tread life, gets an “A” for rolling resistance but a “B” for wet grip.
E – It’s Also for Eco-Friendly
Some tire makers also have seized on the notion that EV buyers are particularly environmentally conscious and have made sustainability a feature of tires aimed at electric and hybrid vehicle owners.
Goodyear is among those developing sustainable materials. In collaboration with suppliers and universities, the company developed a method of extracting silica, a key ingredient in tire compounds that improves wear and traction, from ashes of rice husks that are often burned by the millions of tons to generate electricity worldwide. As a result, Goodyear has reduced its consumption of the world’s declining sand reserves – approximately 40% of a tire’s weight is silica – and the silica-laden husks aren’t going into landfills. Goodyear also “uses soybean oil instead of petroleum oil and is making advanced polymers from biomass,” Zanzig said. The company’s ElectricDrive 2, a tire aimed at EV owners, “has 50% sustainable content,” he said.
The Cost Factor
One drawback to EV tires is that they can cost as much as 20% more than comparable tires without EV-specific features. The higher cost is a function of their unique materials, more rugged construction and low-volume sales, which makes it harder for manufacturers to recoup R&D, materials and marketing costs without increasing prices, said Bob Liu, research and development director for passenger cars and light trucks at Continental Tire the Americas in Fort Mill, South Carolina.
PR or Substance?
Goodyear ’s Zanzig maintains there is real technology behind EV labeling, that it’s not just PR. Continental ’s Liu, on the other hand, said that EV-labeled tires “are more focused on marketing than performance” and that “competition, not EVs, is driving tire improvements.” Both Goodyear and Continental belong to the U.S. Tire Manufacturers Association, which takes the stand that, special label or not, a properly sized tire that meets or exceeds the vehicle manufacturer’s specifications can function on both EVs and ICE vehicles. While a tire doesn’t have to be labeled “EV” to be an EV tire, such labeling can help consumers, said Discount Tire’s Sortor.
In general, EV-specific tires such as the Electric Drive 2, Yokohama’s recently introduced Advan Sport EV A/S, Bridgestone’s Turanza EV, Pirelli’s P Zero AS Plus Elect and Michelin’s e.Primacy are designed to favor attributes such as quietness, long tread life and fuel efficiency.
Tires are designed to prioritize specific goals, which leads to many varieties, Drew Dayton, senior product planning manager for consumer tires at Yokohama Tire Corp, North America, in Santa Ana, California, told SAE Media. He’s of the same school as Continental’s Liu, holding that all properly fit tires are suitable for either EV and ICE use. Even so, the company does make the Advan Sport EV line, designed for maximum tread life with “acceptable levels of handling, rolling resistance and noise.”
So, EV or Not?
The consensus among tire makers, backed up by findings from Discount Tire’s testing program, is that a tire is only as good as its load, speed, wear and weather and terrain ratings. When those things match or exceed the vehicle OEM’s tire requirements – usually posted on a label fixed to the driver’s side door jamb or the inside of the glovebox door – it shouldn’t matter whether the sidewall says anything about EVs or not. But tires specifically designed for EVs can offer electric vehicle owners additional benefits.
“There is definitely a need for tires that are customized to support the unique performance attributes of EVs,” Guilliams said, noting that tire makers have invested “significant resources” into developing tread formulations to extend an EV tire’s life without sacrificing grip or rolling resistance.
“There’s real technology fueling the innovation behind optimizing tire performance for electric vehicles,” Zanzig said.