Silence Tires for EVs
1. The rise of electric vehicles has highlighted the demand for silent tires
With the rapid development of the global new energy vehicle industry, electric vehicles have gradually become the mainstream of the automobile market with their environmentally friendly and efficient characteristics.
In China, the new energy vehicle market has shown explosive growth. In 2023, the sales of new energy vehicles reached 9.495 million units, a year-on-year increase of 37.9%, and the penetration rate exceeded 30%. Against this background, electric vehicles have put forward new and stringent requirements for tire performance, among which quietness and comfort have become the core indicators for measuring tire quality.
2. The root of quiet demand: dual drive of electric vehicles and consumers
The roar of the engine of traditional fuel vehicles will cover up some tire noise, while electric vehicles are driven by motors and are extremely quiet during operation, which makes the tire noise problem particularly prominent.
According to relevant studies, during the driving of electric vehicles, tire noise accounts for more than 70% of the noise in the car. For Chinese consumers who use cars with comfort as the orientation, a quiet and stable driving environment is an important consideration for them to choose vehicles.
According to a survey conducted by the China Automobile Dealers Association, more than 80% of consumers list comfort as a key requirement when buying a car, and the quiet performance of the tire directly affects the comfort experience of the entire vehicle.
3. Technical core: R&D direction of quiet and comfortable tires
Quiet comfort is not only the core demand of consumers, but also a touchstone for testing the technical strength of tire companies. It involves technical innovation in many aspects such as tire materials, structural design, and manufacturing processes.
In terms of materials, it is necessary to develop new rubber formulas to reduce the friction between rubber molecules, thereby reducing noise generation; in terms of structural design, optimizing tread patterns, adopting asymmetric pattern designs or quiet ribs and other technologies can effectively disrupt airflow and reduce rolling noise; in terms of manufacturing processes, high-precision production equipment and strict quality control systems are the key to ensuring tire uniformity and balance, and reducing abnormal noise caused by tire eccentricity or uneven quality.
4. Corporate actions: Innovative products to meet market demand
In order to meet the demand for quiet tires for electric vehicles, tire companies have increased their R&D investment and launched a series of innovative products. For example, the e・PRIMACY tire launched by Michelin uses Acoustic silent technology.
By installing a polyurethane sponge sound insulation layer inside the tire, the tire noise can be reduced by 20%; the MAX III tire developed by Goodyear uses ANX silent technology to optimize the tread pattern design and effectively reduce tire noise. The advent of these products not only improves the driving comfort of electric vehicles, but also wins market competitiveness for tire companies.
5. Challenges: The dual dilemma of technology and cost
However, the development of silent and comfortable tires is not easy, and tire companies face many challenges. The first is the technical difficulty. How to ensure silent performance while taking into account other key performances such as tire wear resistance, grip and cruising range is a technical bottleneck that companies need to overcome. The second is the cost issue.
The development of new materials and the improvement of production processes will increase the manufacturing cost of tires. How to find a balance between cost and performance is also an important issue that companies need to solve.
6. the way out: multi-party collaborative innovation and development
In the face of these challenges, tire companies need to strengthen technology research and development, cooperate with universities and scientific research institutions to jointly overcome technical difficulties; at the same time, reduce production costs through large-scale production and optimized supply chain management.
In addition, companies should strengthen market research, deeply understand consumer needs, continuously optimize product performance, and launch quiet and comfortable tires that better meet market demand.
In the era of booming electric vehicles, quietness and comfort have become the core track of competition for tire companies. Only by continuous innovation and improving technical strength can we remain invincible in the fierce market competition, provide better quality tire products for the development of electric vehicles, and meet consumers' pursuit of comfortable driving experience.
