Do electric cars need special tyres? Or do they run better with normal tyres? AutoBild asked these very questions and tested eight summer tyres in size 235/55 R 19. The Falken e. ZIEX proved able to impress.

Electric vehicles require special tyres to safely transfer their high engine torque and heavy vehicle weight to the road. Five standard tyres were compared with three special tyres for electric vehicles to determine the most successful products. All the tyres tested were required to pass 13 test categories. In addition to the tests on wet and dry surfaces, environmental factors such as mileage and rolling resistance also played a particularly important role.

From the testers’ point of view, there was no question that the normal tyres offered the best grip on wet road surfaces. The conventional products were awarded a red card due to their poor wet grip during handling and braking though. By contrast, the Falken e. ZIEX, which has been specially designed for battery-powered cars, performed better. It did not experience any dangerous slipping during the tests on a dry road surface either. Whether it was during handling or braking – its performance fared consistently well. And as one of the particularly quiet tyres in the pack, it also passed the important criterion of pass-by noise for electric cars.