In just one year, Pirelli has seen a doubling of homologations as a tire suitable for electric and plug-in hybrid models. To date, the Italian manufacturer boasts 250 homologated tires, which confirms the acceleration of the market towards electrified mobility. Pirelli tires that dominate this segment are those developed with the Elect technology package. These proved to be the ones with the most compelling features for electric cars. An example is Audi for the A6 Avant e-tron concept on show these days at the Pirelli stand at the “Tire Cologne” fair, which is fitted with tires with Elect technologies.
It is no coincidence that this set of technologies applied to tires, in their development, have satisfied some of the main requirements that are typical of electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles. In fact, features such as increased battery life, low noise and performance are all “benefits” that Elect is able to offer to the cars that mount them. Starting from a very low rolling resistance, resulting in a longer battery life of the EV car. Thanks to an optimized tread pattern, cars fitted with these tires are particularly quiet, without forgetting the development of a special compound that promotes immediate grip.
The range of Pirelli tires intended for electric and plug-in hybrid cars, chosen by car manufacturers as original equipment based on Elect technologies, includes the P Zero, Cinturato, Scorpion models, available in summer, all-season and winter versions. One example is Porsche, which has tailor-made P Zero models available for its Taycan, including the specially developed P Zero Winter. Specific Cinturato and P zero are proposed for some Audi of the e-tron range and also for the entire EQ family of Mercedes-Benz. The list of manufacturers that can have specific tires for their “green” models is not lacking BMW (Pirelli P Zero for the new iX and for the X5 xDrive45e Plug-In Hybrid) and Volvo. Going beyond the European borders, the American Lucid Air is the first car to be fitted with the new Pirelli P Zero tires with a high load index and marked with the words “HL”. Finally, some models of the Chinese Nio and Link & Co use P Zero and Scorpion Elect.