Goodyear announces tyres for hybrids

Goodyear will be launching a range of tyres aimed at cars with electric motors. At this year’s Geneva Motor Show, a sneak peek was offered of the prototype of the EfficientGrip Performance with Electric Drive Technology tyre.

Testing at Goodyear has revealed that traditional tyres wear out 30% faster on electric vehicles from the powerful instant torque that electric motors can produce and also from the additional weight from the battery packs.

Goodyear set out to develop a range of tyres with increased durability, enhanced rolling resistance to reduce fuel consumption and increase range between charging stations and provide a quiet, comfortable drive. At low speeds, electric propelled vehicles generate less than half the noise of that from combustion engines.

EfficientGrip Performance with Electric Drive Technology will offer these performance solutions:

• Extended Mileage from Innovative Tread Design: The tread’s thinner sipes (small channels) allow for a larger rubber contact patch on the road surface than traditional radial grooves. With more rubber on the road, the tyre can cope better with high levels of torque while maintaining high performance in wet conditions. The tread design also prevents sound waves from entering its grooves, reducing interior and exterior tire noise.
  

• High-Load-Carrying Construction: The tyre cavity shape has been optimised to support the additional vehicle weight from batteries while maintaining an optimal tread footprint for high performance.

• Extended Driving Range: The material properties of the tread compound have been tuned for ultra-low rolling resistance to extend the vehicle range while coping with high levels of torque. In addition, the sidewall has been designed to reduce aerodynamic drag and the profile yields less rotating mass, resulting in reduced energy consumption.

EfficientGrip Performance with Electric Drive Technology is slated for launch in Europe in 2019.