EV tyres last 10,000km less than ICE tyres

Fleets and leasing companies need to budget for higher tyre costs with electric vehicles, after new fleet data revealed that tyres last 10,000km less on EVs than on petrol and diesel vehicles.

The findings are based on data from e-commerce specialist epyx, whose 1link Service Network platform is used by car and van fleets totalling more than four million vehicles to manage and process their service, maintenance and repair.

According to epyx, which is owned by FLEETCOR, the first tyre change for electric cars is taking place at an average of 28,776km and 551 days old, compared to 38,936km and 670 days for petrol and diesel cars.  

EV tyres cost more

The cost of replacing EV tyres more frequently is exacerbated by the higher price of EV tyres due to reinforced sidewalls to deal with the extra weight of batteries, as well as special compounds for quieter driving and lower rolling resistance. Some EV tyres may even have reduced tread depths, which would also impact on the frequency of their replacement cycle.

Epyx data released in March in the UK showed the average replacement tyre fitted to an EV measured 47.2cm (18.59 inches) and cost €240 (£207) while the corresponding figures for petrol and diesel cars were 44.2cm (17.40 inches) and €150 (£130).
  

Tim Meadows, chief commercial officer at epyx (pictured above), said the comparisons may not be fair, because early EVs have tended to be at least the size of a family hatchback, whereas the data for internal combustion engine cars includes smaller models.

“However, even bearing that in mind, both the new data and the figures we have released previously do seem to suggest that EV tyres are wearing faster and are more expensive to replace," he said. "EV tyres are undoubtedly costing fleets more money in real world terms at the moment.”

EV total cost of ownership

The findings are a blow to the total cost of ownership case in favour of EVs, which has claimed that the higher acquisition prices of battery electric models can partly be offset by lower service and maintenance costs due to fewer moving parts.

Rising supply of secondhand EVs is also having an impact on TCO, with residual values falling in some markets. In the UK, the giant used car retail site AutoTrader reported that prices were down -22.6% year-on-year in August as volumes rose by 97.4%.

Images: Shutterstock–2209405257 and epyx