The reason hybrid and electric cars benefit from low rolling resistance tires is because low rolling resistance decreases the amount of energy needed for each journey thereby allowing the hybrid or electric car to go further. Rolling resistance is the combination of forces that work against the forward motion of your vehicle. The weight, gravity and inertia, the amount of friction between the tires and the road surface, as well as air drag.
Low rolling resistance tires are therefore even more important for hybrid and electric cars as the very reason people invest in hybrid and electric cars is to save energy, reduce pollution and leave a smaller carbon footprint.
The low rolling resistance tires can therefore be considered an environmentally friendly tire and it has become a goal by all tire manufacturers to produce tires with low rolling resistance to follow the trend of environmental consciousness. The rolling resistance plays a role in fuel efficiency because rolling resistance burns about seven percent of the fuel while the car is on the freeway and with a low rolling resistance tire you can save about 6 percent on your overall fuel costs. In the case of electric cars, it allows them to travel further on each charge.
With tire manufacturers working on new innovative solutions to reduce rolling resistance tires in general have lower rolling resistance then previously however all-season tires have the lowest overall rolling resistance. The reason for this being that all-season tires do not have as aggressive tread pattern as either winter or all-weather tires. This is because tires like winter tires and all-weather tires have deeper tread blocks to help with grip and traction on snow and ice. Since all-season tires are not made for winter weather conditions and do not hold the “Three Peak Mountain Snowflake” emblem they are not required to have such an aggressive tread pattern. This in turn equals lower rolling resistance which helps make the car more environmentally friendly which is of course the reason many people invest in hybrid and electric cars.
Tire size can also play a role in rolling resistance. It is recommended to follow the manufacturer’s recommended tire dimensions for your make and a model of car or SUV. If the recommended dimensions for your car are 215/70R16 then you would need to get 215/70R16 all-season tires. This allows you to make the most out of the performance of your car as well as maintaining fuel efficiency. Larger or wider tires than the recommended size tires actually decrease the fuel efficiency by increasing the rolling resistance. The other big advantage with all-season tires is that they can be used year-round if you live in an area with mild year-round climate.
Low rolling resistance tires make a lot of sense on hybrid and electric cars and are in fact what is on all hybrid and electric cars from the factory.
For more information on all-season tires for hybrid cars, visit nokiantires.com
