New Bridgestone Turanza EV tires (with "Enliten" tech) for Teslas, Mach-E promises better durability

[roamtheworld]

https://electrek.co/2023/05/19/bridgestone-ev-specific-turanza-tire-tesla-mustang-mach-e-owners/
Veteran tire manufacture Bridgestone has launched its first EV-dedicated tire in front of a crowd in Southern California this morning. The Turanza EV is a grand touring tire designed to handle the heavier-torque of electric vehicles through all seasons. Several new Bridgestone technologies also make their debut on the Turanza tire, which will be targeted toward Tesla and Ford EV drivers to begin.


Bridgestone Corporation’s history dates back to the early 1930s in Japan, so the company clearly knows tires. EVs however, have been a slightly different story. In our previous coverage, we’ve seen Bridgestone support the EV revolution through partnerships.

First, Bridgestone’s EMIA (Europe, Russia, Middle East, India, Africa) arm developed a specific tire for the now defunct Lightyear One solar EV. In August of 2021, Bridgestone announced a partnership with autonomous commercial EV developer Einride, to become its sole tire supplier for US fleets. In exchange, Einride is helping the tire manufacturer electrify its truck fleets in a quest to make a majority of its vehicles EVs.

Most recently, we saw Bridgestone partner with Blink Charging to deploy Level 2 EV chargers at dozens of its retail locations. As you can see, Bridgestone has been supporting EVs for years, but has yet to deliver its own EV-specific tire for the mass market… at least until now.

The Turanza EV tire made its debut at the Electrify Expo in Long Beach, California today and features some unique technology from the tire manufacturer. First off, the new replacement market tire is Bridgestone’s first in North America to feature ENLITEN technology, which is manufactured using 50% renewable and recycled materials, while still providing longer wear life and all-season performance.

Recycled materials include carbon black from old tires, synthetic rubber from plastic bags and bottles, renewable soybean oil, and even rice husk silica which is usually a discarded byproduct during rice harvesting.

Also debuting on the Turanza EV tire is Bridgestone’s PeakLife technology – a next-generation polymer that enhances tread wear resistance, enabling longer tire life. President and chief sales officer for Bridgestone Americas Riccardo Cichi spoke to the potential of the company’s first EV-dedicated tire:

With the accelerated progress toward an electrified vehicle fleet, we’re thrilled to launch a tire that is designed to help drivers get the best overall experience from their electric vehicles, including ride comfort, all-season driving performance and excellent wear life. We are also excited to introduce ENLITEN, which marks a major pivot in how we approach tire technology and design to deliver both exceptional dynamic performance and increased use of renewable and recycled materials.

The Turanza EV tire is designed, developed and manufactured in North America – the targeted market it will serve first. To begin, Bridgestone states its initial five sizes will fit the Tesla Model 3, Model S, Model X, Model Y, and Ford Mustang Mach-E. Goodyear also has EV specific tires in its lineup.

Looking ahead, Bridgestone is planning 13 additional tire sizes that will launch in early 2024. The Turanza EV comes with a 50,000 mile limited warranty and is “wet road ready.”

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[leehinde]

$316 each. That's a little spicy. https://www.bridgestonetire.com/tire/turanza-ev/235-40R19/ And no 18s for us CA Rt 1 owners.

 

[leehinde]

https://www.walmart.com/ip/HANKOOK-iON-evo-AS-SUV-IH01A-225-60R18XL-104V-Quantity-of-1/2178621444

Walmart has the Hankook cheaper. Costco might have the Bridgestone cheaper as well.

 

[roamtheworld]

$316 each. That's a little spicy.

Spicy indeed! At least they are made in USA and are partially made of recycled materials.
Once they been in the market for a few months maybe one could find a deal.

 

[sotek2345]

I really want to see some snow driving tests before I buy in on any of these EV optimized tires.

 

[VindictivePantz]

New EV tire for Teslas, Mustang Mach-E promises better durability | Ars Technica

I'm due in the next 5k - 10k miles, so anxious to see how these are in the real world.

 

[roamtheworld]

New EV tire for Teslas, Mustang Mach-E promises better durability | Ars Technica

I'm due in the next 5k - 10k miles, so anxious to see how these are in the real world.

Already discussed here https://www.macheforum.com/site/thr...-and-mustang-mach-e-owners.28178/#post-643588

 

[VindictivePantz]

Dangit. I tried to look and failed. Thank you!

@Administrator please delete at your earliest convenience

 

[AhardFSU]

I think that I’d still prefer the Hankooks over the Bridgestones. The reason why is that the Hankooks have foam in the tires to help with controlling road noise.

Having looked on the Bridgestone website and elsewhere, I can’t find any mention of the Bridgestone EV tires using foam. For me, that’s a no go bc road noise is an issue for some EVs and anything you can do to mitigate it via tires is a plus.

 

[OldEVGuy]

I think that I’d still prefer the Hankooks over the Bridgestones. The reason why is that the Hankooks have foam in the tires to help with controlling road noise.

Having looked on the Bridgestone website and elsewhere, I can’t find any mention of the Bridgestone EV tires using foam. For me, that’s a no go bc road noise is an issue for some EVs and anything you can do to mitigate it via tires is a plus.

I was also wondering if they were using foam. Apparently, they’re using a technology called QuietTrack they introduced in 2019. I found this article explaining why they decided not to use foam, and what they did instead. It’s an interesting read.

https://www.wired.com/story/bridgestone-turanza-quiettrack-tire/

 

[DanCoon]

I think that I’d still prefer the Hankooks over the Bridgestones. The reason why is that the Hankooks have foam in the tires to help with controlling road noise.

Having looked on the Bridgestone website and elsewhere, I can’t find any mention of the Bridgestone EV tires using foam. For me, that’s a no go bc road noise is an issue for some EVs and anything you can do to mitigate it via tires is a plus.

I just got a set of the Hankooks with the interior foam. I'm very impressed. I've put about 1500 miles on them so far. They are noticeably more quieter.

 

[markboris]

I think that I’d still prefer the Hankooks over the Bridgestones. The reason why is that the Hankooks have foam in the tires to help with controlling road noise.

Having looked on the Bridgestone website and elsewhere, I can’t find any mention of the Bridgestone EV tires using foam. For me, that’s a no go bc road noise is an issue for some EVs and anything you can do to mitigate it via tires is a plus.

The use of foam inside the tire does very little to quiet it down and only around a specific frequency, 200 Hz.

I want to give you my take on quiet tires having gone through many on all my vehicles over the years and more recently 9 different ones on the MME. While testing different size combinations for staggered wheel/tire setups, I found it's the tread pattern/rubber structure that's more important than the use of foam for a quiet tire. Out of the 9 sets of tires, the noisiest was the one that came with the foam inside. Michelin Pilot Sport 4S. Also, the Michelin Pilot Sport 4S's that came stock on my 2020 GT500 have foam inside and they are a very noisy tire.

My personal opinion is if a tire is particularly noisy around 200 Hz, the manufacturer will add foam to the inside. Or they just might add it for marketing purposes. Many reviewers have tested a manufacturers same model tire with and without foam and the difference is barely measurable. They find a difference of 0 to 1 dB maximum.

I think Pirelli has a good jump on manufacturing EV tires since they've been making them for several years now. They are also an OEM EV tire manufacturer for Lucid, BMW, Mercedes, Porsche and other EV's. The quietest tire I found, out of the ones I tested, are the Pirelli P Zero All Season EV tire designed for the BMW i7. I am currently running this tire right now. Second was the Pirelli Scorpion Zero All Season Plus which is not an EV tire but has a tread pattern identical to the Pirelli P Zero All Season EV tire. I won't say that all EV tires are quiet because they aren't. The Pirelli P Zero EV tires that come on the MME GTPE are a fairly noisy tire but then high performance summer tires are usually noisier than all-season or touring tires.

The Hankook EV tires have been very popular recently and while I haven't tested them (they don't come in any of the sizes I can use) I've been told they are a very quiet tire and they do have the foam inside.

 

[jeffdawgfan]

I passed on EV tires the first tire change and went with the Conti Extreme Contacts in the 245 width on original wheels. The change in ride and handling was quite noticeable. I am still getting a GOM range of 300 miles on our premium ER AWD. Happy with that.

 

[MellowJohnny]

Umm..."wet road ready"? This needs to be mentioned?

 

[tuminatr]

The foam is in the tire to limit the thud sound from potholes and bumps, so in regular driving it makes sense it would have minimal effect. Tread pattern, construction, and tread pitch optimization have more of an effect on the sound you hear during everyday driving. My UHP summers are quieter and smoother than the factory Michelin tires.

Soon all tire manufacturers offering EV tires it's only a matter of time. I hope manufacturers add a way to show the lever of rolling resistance, or maybe our friends at the tire rack will test that for us consumers.

Bridgestone typically makes a very good tire. Hopefully, they add 18" and 19" Mach E sizes to the line.

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