Electric trucks carry a load, in more ways than one. There is the work they are designed to carry out, hauling and delivering freight or serving as a platform for vocational equipment, and then their critical role as slashers of greenhouse gas emissions.
The slowly but steadily building wave of battery-electric vehicles washing over trucking has original equipment manufacturers seeking to cut weight, due to how heavy BEV and HEV batteries are, and correct for differences in certain operating characteristics between electric powertrains and ICE engines.
This OEM quest in turn is driving the development of truck tires engineered specifically to help deliver the expected on-the-road performance of electric trucks while ensuring low rolling resistance and longevity. And all that while making sure EV tires remain entirely suitable for use on diesel or gasoline, to avoid fleets having to spec multiple tire types for the same applications.
For starters, though, rest assured that electric trucks don’t need special tires to run legally on the road. Rather, tires engineered for EV placement may assist truck builders to improve EV performance by ensuring the longevity of these tires despite carrying heavier vehicle loads and, arguably more critical, enabling these tires to better counter the higher torque of electric motors and their effect on traction.
The weight issue is real, as reflected by the “adjustment of federal rules a few years ago to allow EV Class 8 trucks an extra 2,000-lb. allowance, to operate up to 82,000 lbs. GCW,” Rick Mihelic, Director of Emerging Technologies for the North American Council for Freight Efficiency (NACFE), told CCJ.
“Truck tare weights vary considerably,” he continued. “Some daycab EV tractors are within 2,000 lbs. of sleeper-equipped diesel trucks. But some may be 5,000 lbs. and some as much as 10,000 lbs. more than a sleeper diesel. And daycab diesels are 3,000 to 5,000 lbs. lighter than sleeper diesels. So, yes, tare weights of electric-powered day cabs are heavier and that will wear tires more quickly.”
However, according to Mihelic, the extra weight of an EV battery pack is “no different in impact than trucks would see from cargo weight differences-- truck tires are designed to operate up to 80,000 lbs. normally, and EVs only expand that to 82,000 lb. The tire doesn't know the weight is batteries or cargo.” He added that “Class 3 to 6 trucks that don't typically see maximum-weight cargoes would naturally wear [tires] faster. as if they were carrying more cargo daily.
