AWhen the Munich-based company launched their first electric car, the BMW i3, in 2013, it irritated the viewer not only because of its body design, which took some getting used to, but also because of its unusual tire format of 155/70 R 19, a size that none of the international tire manufacturers in Germany had previously offered had had in his portfolio. The reasons for this strange combination of tire size and width were given by the special needs of electric cars: Narrow tires reduce both air resistance and rolling resistance, which benefits the range, and large wheels and tires allow a higher load index, which the heavy Traction battery demands.
Initially, many electric car manufacturers followed the credo of tires in disc format, but recently a paradigm shift has obviously been in the offing, which is particularly noticeable in luxury sedans and SUVs. The Tesla Model S, which came onto the market with 245/45 R 19 or 245/35 R 21 tires, already set the direction in 2012. The Porsche Taycan rolls on 225/55 R 19 tires at the front and 275/45 R 19 at the rear. The Mercedes-Benz EQC also runs on tires that are just as fat as its similarly powerful siblings with combustion engines.