Already sold in China. Will be available in North America Q3 2021. Main two points are... - Hard compound for the center of the tread to provide the grip required to handle high torque characteristics of electric sports cars. - Commitment to neutralize the CO2 emissions associated with the tire’s production.
Saw this as well, very interesting. I assume (although it doesn't say directly) that this is a summer/performance tire and not an all season? Although I realize the ultimate performance isn't as good, I typically try and run a UHP All Season tire if possible.
Huh, says available in '18- and 22-inch diameter tires' - Hopefully they mean '18- TO 22-inch'... Otherwise, we're SOL on MY.
And if it matters to you, they will have foam inside to help isolate and remove some road noise. Michelin launches first EV tire designed for Electric Sports Vehicles My understanding is that tires with foam inside can be harder to get plugged should you have a puncture, some shops will not work on them?
This sounds backward to me. Grip would require a softer compound. Maybe this statement means "hard compound" to reduce wear, not to provide grip?
It's a summer tire. They have been developing this tire for Formula E, so this is the road car version. Can't wait see it vs PS4S.
Inability to patch easily is the downside of the foam. My next set of tires won't have the foam even though I've only had a few punctures.
Local tire shop used an air driven burr to file away the portion of the foam where the patch/plug would glue in. They had done many of these and it only took a minute. These quieter foam belted tires are well known in the tire industry and most all up to date tire shops should have no issue with them.
Regardless of whatever the marketing material says, I suspect the "hard compound for the center of the tread" is to increase the tire life in lieu of EV torque, not to increase its grip. Perhaps Michelin is doing this because they're getting tired of honoring the treadwear warranty on their tires when used on Teslas. I know I only got 16,500 miles on my factory Primacy MXM4 set that came with my mid-2018 Model 3, and yet they gave me over $500 toward my next set (Cross Climate+). Those are wearing better, BTW, but still aren't likely to hit even 25K miles. (I've eased off the throttle a bit too since those first few exhilarating months with my Model 3).
I bet this is an OEM fitment they have developed with some car manufacturer. I wonder who. Maybe it will be the tire on the new Model S.
I obviously can't speak to anyone's experiences but my own, but I picked up a nail in my 2 month old MY driver side tire. Took it to Costco, they explained about the foam and said that to repair the tire, they would need to cut out a section of the foam around the puncture which they would not replace. I had them go ahead and have not noticed any changes.
i've got performance tires on my MYP. had a screw or a nail, tesla service center patched/plugged/repaired it for $59 or something