Seven out of 10 EV manufacturers used Continental tyres in 2021

Continental recently announced that it is continuing to expand its position with tyres for fully electric vehicles.

In 2021, seven of the ten highest-volume manufacturers of electric vehicles worldwide relied on the high technological expertise of the premium tyre manufacturer as original equipment.

These included Tesla, whose models are all equipped with tires from Continental ex works, Porsche, and Mercedes-Benz.

Asian manufacturers such as KIA and BYD, and American vehicle producers like Ford also rely on tyres from Continental as original equipment for their electric vehicles.

It is said that all of Continental's current tyre lines are designed for use on e-cars and to optimize their range.

At the same time, they are also capable of sustainably reducing the energy consumption of combustion vehicles.

By means of complementary technologies, such as ContiSeal or ContiSilent, Continental also meets all the specific requirements that manufacturers place on tyres in the course of the electrification of their vehicle models.

"With our specific rolling resistance-optimized tyres, we are contributing to more climate-friendly and sustainable mobility. We combine our decades of experience in tire development with findings from various practical tests and development cooperations with well-known manufacturers," says Dr. Holger Lange, who heads tire development for Continental's original equipment business. 

Continental has also developed special technologies that meet the specific requirements of tyres for electric vehicles and which are available both ex works and in the tire replacement business.

These include ContiSilent technology which reduces the sound components of rolling noise perceived as particularly annoying in the vehicle interior by up to nine decibels.

To achieve this, a special foam layer is applied to the inside of the tyre tread to absorb the vibrations that occur while driving. ContiSilent is compatible with all commercially available rims and does not affect a vehicle's performance, fuel consumption, load capacity, or top speed.

This technology is particularly useful in electrically powered vehicles as they travel without engine noise and are therefore much quieter than a combustion engine vehicle.

With ContiSeal technology, Continental provides a solution that ensures safe continuation of driving in the event of a puncture and also eliminates the need to carry a spare tyre. This saves additional weight, which in turn can have a positive effect on the vehicle's range.

A highly elastic protective layer on the inside of the tyre encloses penetrating foreign bodies in fractions of a second and reliably seals the damaged area when the foreign body is removed from the tread again – for example by the tyre's rotational movement.

In this way, even holes up to five millimeters in diameter are reliably sealed. Around 80 percent of punctures can be remedied immediately in this way.

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