Are Low Rolling Resistance Tires Really Economical For Electric Cars?

The fuel consumption of a car can be reduced quite a bit only if the friction of the tires can be reduces while driving. Reduced friction of the tires against the road reduces the load on the engine or motor and batteries of the car to a great extent. This may result in the reduction in gasoline consumption by as much as 15%.

This is exactly what the low rolling resistance (LRR) tires are known to do for electric or gasoline cars. They are designed to minimize the resistance of the tires against the road resulting in increased economy. This may sound quite tempting and the obvious reason to go for a low resistance tire, but before deciding, it is highly recommended that one should first evaluate the cost and the durability of those tires.

Especially if most of the time you are driving at low speed, say at less than 50 mph, these cars may not be economical at all. In fact the experience of most of the drivers suggests that the actual additional mileage that you get may be around 2 miles-per-gallon only. The cost of four LRR tires is around $500, which itself takes quite some time to pay off.

Let us consider two cases. In the first case, a car runs on a normal tire. If it travels 30 miles in a day at 0.3 kWh per mile, its total consumption of electricity in a day is 9 kWh. Taking the cost of electricity as $0.16 per kWh, the total cost of electricity is $1.44 per day.

In the second case the car is running on a LRR tires and runs the same distant, i.e. 30 miles per day, but at 0.27 kWh per mile. Then the consumption per day comes to 9 kWh. Taking the same cost of electricity, $0.16 per kWh, the cost incurred in electricity is $1.30 per day.

Thus there is a clear saving of $0.14 cents a day in the second case, i.e. a saving of 10%. But to pay off the higher cost of the tire, the car has to run 107,000 miles. That means that the life time of the tire have to be at least 9.7 years if it has to be actually more economical than the first one.

In gasoline powered cars the payback time is little less. But this is due to the fact that the gasoline engines are not very fuel efficient and the fuel consumption is much higher that electricity driven cars.

One alternative for people who have limited budget is to go for second hand tires with a hardened tread. The savings will not be great for a electrically driven vehicle, typically under similar conditions as shown in the above example above, but may be beneficial in longer range vehicles, both electric and gasoline.

LRR tires are particularly economical if the vehicle is long range vehicle and if it regularly runs long distances. Due to the harder tread the grip of LRR tires are poor in wet conditions and the tire pressure required is also higher. Keep this in mind if you are staying in a wet area, and get full statistics from the supplier of the tire that you are intending to buy.

For Jo or Joanne Average who drive small, local-range c cars that are electrically driven, the LRR tires are not recommended. It is better to continue with their regular budget tires.

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