It’s long been said that electric vehicles and the cold don’t mix. The winter season saps EVs of precious range. Range anxiety takes on a whole new meaning when you could be stranded in the snow and ice. And then there’s charging, which takes longer when the temperature drops.
All that is nonsense.
While EVs present different challenges in the cold than your traditional car powered by an internal combustion engine (ICE), we’ve long since left the nascent period of the technology when those challenges had yet to be solved.
The addition of heat pumps, for instance, has helped limit the loss of range in cold temperatures. Real world experience from people stranded in traffic jams has also proven an EV’s electric heater can last far longer than a gas-powered heater in a traditional car. And as for charging, the sophisticated software in today’s EVs knows when charging is imminent and preheats the battery pack for better performance at the electron pump.
Old Man Winter has thrown everything he’s got at EVs and the steady march of innovation has confronted them all. There is one aspect of operating an EV in the cold, though, that hasn’t gotten the attention it deserves: tires. By now everyone knows the advantages that come along with installing a set of EV-specific tires on your electric vehicle, but what options do you have if you and your EV live in a cold climate where it snows?
Thanks to Hankook Tire, you now have an excellent option… two, in fact. Hankook has developed the iON i*cept winter tire and the iON FlexClimate all-season tire, both of which carry a Three-Peak-Mountain-Snow-Flake rating, for EVs that spend their time in the wintriest of conditions.
First off, the iON i*cept and iON FlexClimate ice are both members of Hankook Tire’s iON line of EV-specific tires, which means they start with the same technologies designed to overcome the four main challenges an EV presents: noise, grip, rolling resistance, and tread life.
EVs are obviously quiet, which means road noise from their tires needs to be eliminated or else it’s the only thing a driver hears. Low rolling resistance, meanwhile, increases an EV’s efficiency, and therefore its range. Grip, the opposite of low rolling resistance, is important because electric motors generate so much torque; without it EVs would lay smoky burnouts at every stop light. And when it comes to tread life, EV tires have to be much stronger because EVs weigh, on average, 30% more than ICE cars.
Hankook employs a suite of advanced technologies to address these challenges, which includes special rubber compounds developed to be lighter with lower rolling resistance, stronger construction techniques to better hold an EV’s weight without deforming, a new curing process that ensures each tire maintains these qualities from edge to edge, and special sound-deadening foam inside the tire to dampen unwanted decibels.
For the iON i*cept and iON FlexClimate, though, that’s just the start. These tires also need to address how cold temperatures affect the strength and elasticity of their rubber. They need extra grip in snow while still having less rolling resistance than a traditional tire. And they ultimately have to provide greater efficiency and range while doing all that.
Somehow, Hankook Tire has managed to accomplish these tall tasks with the iON i*cept and iON FlexClimate. The company credits a special rubber compound, unique tread design, and overall shape for getting them across the finish line.
The iON i*cept and iON FlexClimate employ what Hankook Tire calls ProDurable Compound. It’s the whole basis of these tires, and it’s loaded with natural oils. These natural oils ensure the tire maintains the same level of grip despite plunging temperatures. Their special flexibility lets the tire form itself to the road surface to create the largest possible contact patch, thus increasing grip, while their natural strength prevents movement in the tire’s profile.
Their tread pattern is the next big advancement that gives these tires their edge in winter. First, you need to know about sipes. Sipes are the small slits you see in a tire’s tread pattern. They’re not the deep grooves and channels; they’re the little guys that fit around the larger elements of the tread.
The sipes on the iON i*cept and iON FlexClimate use three different strategies to provide more grip while not adversely affecting rolling resistance. The first strategy is the use of diversified sipes. Not all sipes are the same on these tires. Some are simple straight or curved lines, while others employ a zig-zag pattern. Hankook calls these 2-D and 3-D sipes, respectively. Their shape and specific placement on the tire help increase the tire tread’s surface area for enhanced grip while letting the tire roll to its heart’s content.
Hankook engineers then angle the sipes to further aid grip, especially while braking on snow. To achieve this, they’ve employed a directional ‘V’ pattern pointed towards the front of the car, which also gives these tires their aggressive appearance.
The iON i*cept also uses special “waterpipe sipes” on the tire’s edge. These sipes go from slits to open channels that allows the centrifugal force of the spinning tire to eject water from between the rubber and the road.
Lastly, the iON i*cept and iON FlexClimate are actually aerodynamic with a frontal profile that minimizes drag in the wind. Most traditional snow tires are bulky with rubber protrusions and sharper edges that slow down the air passing over them, but not these tires.
How good are the iON i*cept and iON FlexClimate in snow? TÜV SÜD, an independent testing, inspection, and certification organization, rated these tires highest compared to the average of the best premium snow tires on the market. They were found to have the best braking, handling, and acceleration in the snow compared to their rivals.
While EV owners in cold climates haven’t had many tire options until now, Hankook Tire has gone above and beyond to bring them a tire that’s designed specifically for their needs. The iON i*cept and iON FlexClimate are true EV-specific tires that improve range, maintain grip, and quietly operate better than a traditional tire, but also have advanced tech suited to the cold, snow, and rain that comes with a harsh winter. And this means your EV and the cold can finally be friends.
