Good article about the long term cost of tires. Paying $100 a year more for tires does seem to be more than oil changes cost.
I wonder if the “Extra Load” tires are similar to LT (light truck) tires that I believe are for 3/4 and higher pickups instead of P (passenger).
No… The Extra Load (XL) means the sidewalls of the tire are stronger and capable of handling heavy load requirements (over standard load) and higher air pressure…
Load range C is the basic LT (light truck) tire and has a 6 ply sidewall
Load range D has a 8 ply sidewall
Load range E has a 10 ply sidewall and can handle the most weight and normally 80 psi
A lot of ultra high performance tires are XL’s for the added sidewall strength to not flex in the corners etc…
Another inconvienient truth about EVs… expensive tires for very heavy vehicles. Could anyone have forseen that? Yes, they could. And did.
The LT rating is not just for 3/4 ton and greater trucks. They are just high load, high pressure tires for light trucks and vans. They don’t ride very well. But run flats don’t ride well nor do eco tires.
This article has a lot of misinformation and does a lot of apples to oranges comparison. Example, it states a GMC Sierra weighs about half as much as the 9000# Hummer EV. That would have to be a Sierra made a long time ago because a new Sierra is a lot closer to the Hummer in weight, some models can even be heavier.
The author compares the price of Michelin tires on an EV to Firestone tires one an ICE vehicle in one paragraph. Michelin tires costing more than Firestone?? How did that happen😏.
A few drives getting only 20-35k from a set of tires? My son only gets about 12k on his Spec-V. It’s not just the weight of the vehicle but the weight of the right foot here.
A Tesla Model 3 is closer to a Honda Accord than it is to a Honda Civic.
2022 GMC Sierra 1500 is 5050 pounds. 450 pounds more than half the weight of the Hummer EV.
Did you check prices on other Extra Load tires that are equivalent to the Michelin tires mentioned?
My bad, my old Silverado 1500 LT weighs in at 6500 and the new Sierra looks bigger.
No and neither did the author.
I am neither pro or con to EVs. I don’t like the laws that are going to mandate them though, I’d prefer to let the market place sort things out.
I do believe that eventually, EVs will make up the majority of the market place just on simple economics. But many who are pro EV and want to mandate them do not understand the economics of the oil industry.
Quick history, Henry Ford wanted all his vehicles to be powered by alcohol and not gasoline. But the oil companies were refining crude oil into various products and gasoline was a hazardous waste by-product that they had to get rid of.
So the oil companies campaigned for gas and eventually won out. Gas has always sold at below cost, but the oil companies make more money selling it at a loss than paying for disposal. The money is in the other products.
Banning ICE vehicles will bring back the hazardous waste problem for the oil companies. So if everything is left to the market place, EV buyers will help the ICE buyers by reducing demand for gas, thus keeping its cost down. Feel free to thank a Tesla buyer.