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With the introduction of affordable mass-market models like the Ford Mustang Mach-E, the Chevrolet Bolt EUV, and the Hyundai Ioniq EV, electric vehicles have officially broken into the mainstream.
Along with them, there’s a whole host of special new “EV” tires that promise greater range and efficiency than your run-of-the-mill commuter car tire can manage. But commuters aren’t exactly strangers to efficient, low-rolling-resistance tires; they’ve been a staple of the passenger vehicle tire market for some years now, helping to support the environmentalist-pleasing MPG numbers of fuel-sipping models like the Toyota Prius. In that time, attentive drivers have become quite accustomed with the usual casualties of greater rolling efficiency: performance and noise.
Simply put, it’s remarkably difficult to boost the efficiency of a tire by lowering rolling resistance without using firm, hard-wearing tire compounds, and as a rule, the harder a tire’s rubber is, the less able it is to deform, deflect, and grab hold of the pavement. The result is often a tire that, while long-lasting and great for your EV’s range, feels a bit more “wooden” than we might like, sacrificing some amount of stopping resistance and corner-holding in exchange for a modest boost in driving range.
The ERANGE Tire
Now, tire manufacturer Sailun has set out to develop a tire with all the benefits of a high-efficiency EV tire, but none of the drawbacks – a tire that allows the EV owner to have their proverbial cake, and eat it, too. They might just have done it with the new Sailun ERANGE, and in the process, breathed new life into an old debate. So do you really need EV tires? The Sailun ERANGE makes a compelling argument for why you do.
Central to what makes the Sailun ERANGE different from other leading EV tires is the company’s revolutionary liquid phase mixing process. Most traditional tires are made from a mixture of dry chemical compounds that are all blended and molded together into a single form. The process is generally perfectly effective, but it leaves the myriad different compounds in the tire’s tread less well-mixed than they could be; certain patches of tire might have more of some compound or another than neighboring areas, leaving some amount of performance on the table.
A truly homogenous mix is what you want, and the trick to achieving greater homogeneity? Mixing the compounds while they’re in a liquid form. That’s the big breakthrough that Sailun has managed to accomplish with the ERANGE, and it’s unlocked a new level of EV tire performance. It means you get all the stopping and cornering grip you need, in a tire that doesn’t compromise when it comes to its hard-wearing, low-rolling-resistance chemical cocktail.
SEE ALSO: Sailun ERANGE EV Tire Review
Benchmarking the Best
Armed with this unique liquid phase mixing technique, Sailun makes some pretty lofty promises for the ERANGE. They’ve benchmarked the new ERANGE tire against some of the best, hottest-selling tires in the segment, and found that the ERANGE delivers about a full seven percent more driving range per battery charge than EV tires from other leading manufacturers – a huge margin, if you consider what that means over the course of a year.
More range per charge means fewer charge and discharge cycles, making life just a bit easier on your battery, as well as helping alleviate some amount of range anxiety. That impressive boost in driving range is accompanied by a major edge in treadwear, so the ERANGE can go further for longer without needing replacement, and according to Sailun, the ERANGE emits roughly five percent less noise than other leading EV tire models. That’s nice to have in any car, but all the more important when it’s a whisper-quiet electric vehicle; that tire noise makes up most of what you’re going to be hearing in the cabin.
There was a time not too long ago when we were decidedly on-the-fence when it came to EV tires. Less rolling resistance and a harder wearing tread would be pluses for any passenger vehicle tire, but historically, the compromises consumers have had to make to get those things have been big. But Sailun’s new ERANGE EV tire, with its uncompromised road-holding and impressive range-extending capabilities, makes a strong case for why you might just need EV tires after all – and all at a price around 30 to 40 percent less than the other leading EV tire brands. It’s a true win-win-win, and that’s a rare thing to find these days.
