Here’s Why Pirelli Makes Special Tires Just for EVs

• Pirelli wants to be the go-to tire source for battery-electric cars, particularly the high-performance models.

• The company’s first-generation EV tire, branded since 2019 as P Zero Elect, can be found on a long list of the latest EVs, well beyond the realm of ultra-high performance vehicles.

• This year, Pirelli is launching a new generation of tires designed specifically for the next wave of battery-electric cars, marketed under the P Zero E nameplate.
  

Max Verstappen has done pretty well by Pirelli tires, having rolled them to three consecutive Formula 1 championships. Pirelli has been the sole tire supplier for F1 racing since 2011, and the Italian company has also been onboard for 11 racing series in North America, as well as the Motocross World Championship, the MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship, and even bicycle racing.

P Zero tires from Pirelli are the common thread running through most of these racing series, but the company is consistently pushing versions of these high-performance tires onto street-legal vehicles, which means you can be like Max, sort of.

While Pirellis used to be reserved for the likes of Ferrari and Lamborghini, now you can buy a Ford F-150 Limited with 22-inch Pirelli tires—among a growing number of mainstream vehicles. Heck, you can buy Pirelli replacement tires at Walmart, but they tend to be more expensive.

But it’s the latest evolution of the popular P Zero tires that shows Pirelli pivoting in a direction that might be perceived as unexpected: Pirelli wants to be the go-to tire source for battery-electric cars, particularly the high-performance models we’ve been hearing about are under development and to be launched in coming years.

The company already has good momentum on this front, having earned the contract to supply original-equipment P Zero tires (measuring in at 245/45R20) for the Ford Mustang Mach-E GT Performance Edition, Dearborn’s fastest all-electric SUV, with 480 hp.

Ford brought in Pirelli to help with rolling resistance to increase the Mach-E’s driving range, to reduce noise levels, and to ensure enough grip when 634 lb-ft of immediate torque spins the wheels in a vehicle tipping the scales at 5,000 pounds. Those tires have a tough job.

It Started with P Zero Elect

This first-generation Pirelli EV tire, branded since 2019 as P Zero Elect, has found good—ahem—traction throughout the EV market and beyond the realm of ultra-high performance vehicles. For instance, these Pirelli tires are standard on all-electric Rivian R1S SUVs and R1T trucks, ranging from 20-inch all-terrain rubber to 22-inch all-season sport rollers.

But beyond Rivian and the Mach-E GT Performance, the list of new EVs coming from the factory with optional or standard Pirelli P Zero Elect tires is substantial:

• Audi Q4 e-tron

• BMW i4/i5/iX

• KIA EV6

• Hyundai Ioniq 5

• Lucid Air

• Mercedes-Benz EQE/EQS

• Nissan Ariya

• Polestar 2 BST

• Porsche Taycan

• Rolls-Royce Spectre

• Tesla Model Y/3/S/X

• Volvo XC40 Recharge

• VW ID.4

Even without any General Motors EVs, that is a fairly complete list of the latest battery-electric cars available right now to consumers, which demonstrates how badly Pirelli wants a seat at the EV table. Landing Tesla as a customer probably helped Pirelli pull in many of the others.

This year, Pirelli is launching a new generation of tires designed specifically for the next wave of battery-electric cars, marketed under the P Zero E nameplate. To launch this new tire, Pirelli had a prominent display at both the Goodwood Festival of Speed in the UK in July, as well as the IAA Mobility car show in Munich in September.

Of the new cars on display at IAA, Pirelli supplied rubber for almost 25% of the BEV cars and 30% of the plug-in hybrids, using either P Zero or Scorpion tires, but all featuring Pirelli’s new “Elect” marking that denotes tires designed specifically for electric cars.

There was also one hydrogen car at IAA this year, the BMW iX5 Hydrogen, and it rolled on P Zero Pirellis made with natural rubber certified by the Forest Stewardship Council. That might not sound like a big deal, but manufacturing eco-friendly tires from sustainable materials is extremely hard—and expensive.

Pirelli says the new P Zero E is the first tire made using more than 55% of materials from natural and recycled origins, such as lignin, rayon, bio-resins, rice husk ash silica, and circular carbon black.

Yes, that means a lot of work is necessary to address the remaining 45% for a fully sustainable tire, but Pirelli management says it can reach that goal.

The Next Generation EV Tire: P Zero E

On the performance side, the arrival of battery-electric cars poses completely new challenges to tire producers. Massive batteries underfloor make these vehicles heavy and also help generate enormous horsepower and torque.

Both of those factors contribute to EV tires wearing out about 15% sooner than with conventional vehicles, says Andrea Casaluci, Pirelli’s general manager of global operations. With the new P Zero E tire, “we have improved the wear rate compared to the old generation around 40%,” Casaluci says.

Also, a silent powertrain means the driver of an EV notices other types of noise more readily, particularly tire contact and wind. And then there’s tire rolling resistance, which must be reduced to extend the vehicle’s battery range.

On all those fronts, Pirelli says its new P Zero E has the structure, materials, and technology to address these challenges, although management admits developing an EV tire, because of the unique requirements, is about 15% more expensive than for a conventional tire.

All P Zero E tires use Pirelli’s new RunForward run-flat technology, able to drive 25 miles with zero air pressure at speeds up to 50 mph.

There’s another new EV that bears mentioning: the limited-production Lotus Evija supercar, which was unveiled in 2019 with 1257 lb-ft of torque, a carbon-fiber body, and a gearbox and motor at each wheel. Production has begun in Hethel, UK, and it’s available now for a cool $2.4 million. It rolls on Pirelli Trofeo R tires.

“There are four pieces of rubber keeping this car on the road, so our relationship with tire suppliers is vital,” Gavan Kershaw, Lotus’ director of attributes and product integrity, told journalists recently.

“This car has a top speed over 220 mph,” he says. “Changing one compound in the tire can mean the difference between holding on or losing grip. The tire must hold up.”

If you drive an EV, do you notice more tire noise, or that tires are wearing more rapidly? Please comment below.