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HANOVER, Germany If electric vehicles are the future, Continental A.G. has it covered.
The tire maker is touting three tires it says meets the needs of every EV segment. As proof, Continental pointed to its OE fitments, saying it has secured fitments with six of the world s 10 highest volume manufacturers. Among the models sporting Continental tires as OE are the Tesla Model 3 and Model S, Volkswagen ID.3 and models offered by China s BYD.
At the same time, Continental said its tires have earned approval from eight of the 15 most popular electric cars and vans in Europe, covering 40 percent of all EV models produced on the continent.
Continental has created specialized tires to meet EVs’ unique demands.
Battery electric vehicles are heavier than traditional combustion-powered cars because their battery pack is quite heavy. The lithium-ion pack in a Tesla Model S, for example, weighs 1,200 lbs.
Carmakers place this mass low in the car to keep the center of gravity low, but the mass is still there and must be supported by the car’s tires. With that challenge in mind, Continental has launched the first line of EV-optimized tires built to the new HL load index code, which adds nearly 25 percent to the tires’ load-carrying capacity compared to standard-load SL tires. The HL code also specifies a 10 percent capacity increase beyond that of XL code tires, which were the previous high-load champs.