Winter and freezing temperatures mean higher consumption and shorter autonomy. The internal resistance in a cold battery increases, it is more difficult to turn off the current, while snow and slush on the road increase the rolling resistance of the wheels. For many new electric car owners, cutting the range is a shock.
But this doesn’t just apply to electric car owners. But the soaring prices of gasoline and diesel, tires with high rolling resistance will also mean an increase in fuel consumption.
Rolls more easily
Something not many people think about is the role the tires you have on the car play in the range. Our extensive winter tire test reveals that there are big differences in the rolling ease of winter tires. In practice, this means that there is a big difference between how much consumption increases and how much range is reduced with different types of tires and tire models.
WORST STUD TIRES: In the rolling resistance list of winter tires in the test, we find four studless tires that roll the easiest and four studded tires with the lowest rolling resistance. Photo: Markus Pentikainen
sea View
The test reveals that studless winter tires are generally the easiest to roll. Four studless tires are best in the rolling resistance test. Nokian Hakkapeliitta R5 and Continental VikingContact 7 are the easiest.
Cut the range
At the bottom of the list we find four studded tires. Falken Winterpeak F-Ice and Bridgestone Blizzak Spike have the highest rolling resistance. These contribute to an increase in consumption and a reduction in range, respectively by 5.3 and 5.6 per cent, compared to the best tires.
Warning: these decks dominate the death stats
But the size of the wheels you have on the car also plays an important role. The larger the wheel, the greater the consumption and the shorter the range.
Not so long ago 16-inch wheels were standard on most cars. Now many people buy 20 or 21 inch wheels to make the car sturdy. We can see how bad this is for the range in BMW’s new i4. The car comes standard with 18-inch wheels, but you can choose 19 or 20-inch wheels as an option.
BIG WHEELS ARE BAD: Big wheels can reduce the range of an electric car by many miles. And significantly increase the consumption of a petrol or diesel car. Photo: Lasse Allard
sea View
Seven miles less
While the car’s range is claimed to be 510 kilometers with standard 18-inch wheels, it drops to 417 kilometers if 20-inch wheels are chosen, according to BMW’s WLTP measurements.
Now you can do business on tires
Recently, Hyundai revealed that its new Ioniq 6 will have a range of up to 610 kilometers. So the car has 18-inch wheels. If the car is equipped with 20-inch wheels instead of standard wheels, the range is reduced to 545 kilometers, according to Hyundai’s measurements. This is a 65 kilometer shorter radius.
The bottom line is: if you want the maximum range possible, you need to be careful about the type of wheels and tires you mount on your car.
Rolling resistance test, studded and studless winter tires
| bridge | Increase in consumption (%) |
| Nokian | 0.0% |
| Continental | 0.5% |
| Michelin | 0.9% |
| Kumho | 1.1% |
| Hankook (piglet) | 1.4% |
| Northern Man (bubbly) | 1.8% |
| Hankook | 2.3% |
| Happy New Year | 3.0% |
| Nokian (pig) | 3.3% |
| Bridgestone | 4.0% |
| Michelin (spicy) | 4.6% |
| continental (pork) | 4.8% |
| hawks | 4.9% |
| Dynamo | 5.1% |
| Goodyear (pig) | 5.1% |
| Antares (pig) | 5.2% |
| Bridgestone (pork) | 5.4% |
| The hawk (tip) | 5.6% |
Source: Tire Rolling Resistance Test in Aller Media’s Big 2022 Winter Tire Test
