The specialist electric vehicle tyre beat EV compatible products in demanding test of all-round tyre performance
Auto Bild has made the Hankook iON Evo the top product in its electric vehicle test. The winner of the 2024 WhatTyre Tyre of the Year and Electric Car Tyre of the Year impressed the German motoring magazine’s independent testers with its all-round abilities, notably matching Continental’s PremiumContact 7 at the top of the table in wet performance. It was one of two tyres developed specifically for EVs included in the test, the other being Falken’s E.Ziex, which distinguished itself particularly well in the rolling resistance test, the only tyre to achieve the top grade, as well as recording decent performance marks. All eight tyres were tested on Hyundai’s electric powered SUV, the Kona, in size 215/55R18 99V/Y.
While there is no doubting the growing importance of EVs in the German and wider European market, Auto Bild’s test joins a very select band of independent tyre tests conducted on electric-powered vehicles. Tyres designed either specifically to handle the extra torque and weight of EVs, while also maximising energy efficiency and minimising noise are gaining greater importance among testers at major magazines and motoring associations. Overcoming the trade-off between low rolling resistance and high wet grip is an increasingly significant part of tyre development, a factor key to developing top tyres for EVs. In its latest issue, out on 13 March, Auto Bild comments: “The balancing act between safety and range is clearly becoming increasingly successful, regardless of whether standard or electric tyres are used.”
Auto Bild tester Dierk Möller was reluctant to commit to a specific question on whether electric cars require “special treatment” when it comes to tyres, and major tyre manufacturers are continuing to work out what their strategy for EV tyres should be, especially in the replacement market, which will grow rapidly in the next few years. Some manufacturers, led by Hankook, offer special tyres for electric-powered cars; others produce variations generally marked on the sidewall for EV-compatible fitments; others still rely on all-rounders. Continental, for example, suggests that its entire range is designed to offer EV compatibility, since low noise and rolling resistance are already a key part of its tyre development strategy.
All that said, low rolling resistance can be achieved most easily by reducing wet grip. Auto Bild did not equivocate on its attitude towards this, though, calling it “a compromise we will not accept.” Accordingly, the magazine’s tyre testers have not adjusted the weighting of their evaluation criteria compared to the standard summer tyre test published last week.
Top tyres prove all-round credentials
The best tyre in wet conditions – the Hankook iON Evo – also won the overall test of EV-compatible summer tyres. The Hankook tyre, developed specifically for electric cars, “didn’t show any weaknesses” in the wet, Auto Bild writes. It also had the Continental PremiumContact 7, described as an all-rounder, at the top of the wet rating “with minimal differences,” particularly convincing in wet braking. The German manufacturer’s tyre earned second place overall and an exemplary rating.
The final tyre to gain Auto Bild’s “exemplary” rating, and third place on the podium, was the Goodyear EfficientGrip 2 SUV. The tyre convinced Auto Bild testers across the board, and gained the “Green Tyre 2025” seal of approval, which Auto Bild awards based on a separate evaluation of cost-of-ownership criteria. This is primarily mileage, but also the energy efficiency (or rolling resistance).
Hankook iON Evo (Photo: Hankook Tire)
‘Good’ but not ‘exemplary’
The Michelin Primacy 4+, easily the most expensive tyre in the Auto Bild test, performs “only in the second league in wet conditions,” though its rolling resistance is low and was the second-best in the test. According to Auto Bild, the Michelin tyre is therefore merely “good” – though worth noting that the Michelin tyre is coming up for replacement with the Primacy 5 entering the market last year. In terms of rolling resistance, the Continental PremiumContact 7 delivers only satisfactory performance, ranking alongside the second-to-last tyre in the EV tyre test: the Yokohama BluEarth-XT.
The Falken E.Ziex, the second tyre specifically developed for electric cars in the current Auto Bild summer tire test, received consistently good marks alongside the test winner, the Hankook iON Evo. What’s more, the tire earned a perfect A in rolling resistance, something none of the other competitors in the test achieved in this sub-discipline.
‘Satisfactory’ tyres
The Firestone Roadhawk 2 from the Bridgestone Group was undermined by its longevity, despite creditable performance elsewhere. It achieved a (calculated) mileage of only 28.51km, while the “Green Tyre” from Goodyear has a whopping 49.05km to offer.
Yokohama’s BluEarth-XT kept up with higher-ranked competitors in wet and dry performance, but was undermined by its relatively high rolling resistance, as previously mentioned.
Only budget tier option lags, but not fatally
The Goodride Solmax 1, manufactured by Zhongce Rubber Group (or ZC Rubber), achieved consistently “good” to “satisfactory” results in the individual disciplines and was by far the top tyre in the price/mileage category, even ahead of the Goodyear tyre. However, the Goodride could not keep up with the other test subjects in wet braking: it needed a braking distance of 48.7 metres from 100 km/h, compared to the Continental tyre’s 39.4 metres. It therefore received a downgrade and was therefore only “conditionally recommended”.
