Goodyear’s New Tires Solve the Last Loud EV Problem

@xguntherc

Dec 28, 2021, 5:10 pm EST
| 1 min read

Goodyear tires recently announced and released its first tire line built specifically for electric vehicles. As we all know, electric cars are nearly silent as they zip around the streets, but that also means drivers hear other things, like tire and road noise. Well, that’s exactly what the all-new Goodyear ElectricDrive GT tires aim to solve.

More specifically, Goodyear’s new tire is optimized for electric cars, especially Tesla vehicles, which will be the first to get the new tire. But, then, the company plans to offer the ElectricDrive GT for other EV’s in the future.

We all know that electric vehicles are quiet and don’t put out nearly as much noise as their gas-guzzling counterparts. However, being nearly silent brings its own challenges, including road noise from tires, wind noise, and other things. Additionally, EV’s are heavy, loaded with battery cells, and often cause regular tires to wear down even faster than ICE vehicles.

Another thing to keep in mind is range and efficiency. Every auto-maker is trying to produce EV’s that are efficient and can travel as far as possible on a single charge. Having a new tire built from the ground-up for EV’s should theoretically deliver improved range, slower wear and tear, and hopefully, solve the last loud noise from our vehicles.

Here’s what Goodyear had to say during the announcement:

“The ElectricDrive GT features Goodyear’s SoundComfort Technology®, which acts as a built-in sound barrier that helps reduce road noise. It is also designed with an asymmetric tread pattern and specialized tread compound that provides enhanced all-season traction, giving EV drivers confident handling in both wet and dry road conditions.”

The idea here is when you’re driving down the road in your silent Tesla Model S, you’ll hear the road instead of a typical car engine. As a result, Goodyear’s ElectricDrive GT tire should offer less road noise while improving the other areas mentioned in the quote above.

Any EV driver knows precisely what we’re talking about too. In fact, just last week, Tesla pushed a new software update with what it’s calling “active road noise reduction” software tweaks. Essentially, the car pipes in certain sounds to help drown out road noise.

For those interested, the new Goodyear ElectricDrive GT will be available in North America in early 2022, starting with the popular 255/45R19 104W XL size, which is specific to the Tesla Model Y and Model 3. Then, we can expect more sizes to arrive for other EVs soon.

via Electrek