Apollo Tyres has launched the Vredestein Quatrac Pro EV, an all-season tyre developed specifically for battery-electric vehicles and hybrid models.
Electric vehicles require specialised tyres, that not only reduce rolling resistance, but can cope with the heavier load placed upon them by the vehicle, while retaining a wear pattern similar to non-EV vehicles.
Compared with the established range of Vredestein all-season tyres, the Vredestein Quatrac Pro EV delivers high-quality handling and stability, offers significantly lower levels of rolling resistance, and delivers a quieter and more comfortable ride. It also has a lighter construction and has a lower environmental impact during production.
Considerable research and development effort has been invested to ensure the tyre contributes to the vehicle’s overall efficiency and to maximise the driving range that can be achieved. Rolling resistance is 15% lower than that of the best-performing non-EV Vredestein all-season tyre, thanks to a carefully optimised blend of fourth-generation polymers and ‘smart’ silica for the tread compound, rim cushion and carcass.
Vehicle efficiency is also enhanced by the tyre’s weight-saving construction, which features thinner sidewalls, a lower sidewall apex and lighter materials for the belt and cap ply.
Research key for Vredestein Quatrac Pro EV
An extensive global R&D programme has confirmed the new tyre’s cornering stability and a 6% improvement in handling performance compared to its all-season siblings – ideal for managing the elevated torque and higher vehicle weight typical of modern EVs. The Quatrac Pro EV’s handling characteristics are enhanced by a new asymmetric tread design, stiffer tread blocks and robust construction.
Several structural features have been introduced specifically to manage the greater mass of EVs and the consequential increased loads they create during cornering and acceleration. For example, the outside shoulder of the new tyre is wider than the inner to resist lateral deformation, and the outer flanks of the main longitudinal grooves are much steeper to resist distortion as cornering forces rise.
Such is its ability to manage higher vehicle mass, the Quatrac Pro EV has become the first all-season tyre ever produced to be certified with the HL mark, signifying ‘High Load’ readiness (255/40 R 20 variant). This confirms the tyre is able to carry 10% more weight than a reinforced ‘Extra Load’ (XL) tyre at the same pressure.
In designing the Vredestein Quatrac Pro EV, the Apollo Tyres R&D division considered both the energy required and the carbon that would be emitted throughout production. Benchmarked against its regular all-season tyres, the new Quatrac Pro EV has a 17% lower environmental impact (measured as Global Warming Potential of CO2) – contributing to a lower lifecycle carbon impact.
The Quatrac Pro EV is being produced at Apollo Tyres’ two European production facilities, in Enschede in the Netherlands and Gyöngyöshalász in Hungary.
Find out more at www.vredestein.co.uk
You must be logged in to post a comment.