In a challenge to conventional tyre setups, Volvo Cars will equip its fully electric cars with Recharge tyres for use all year round as standard in Northern and Central Europe.
With a single set of tyres capable of safely handling a wider range of weather and road conditions than summer or winter tyres, Volvo Cars aims to simplify customers’ lives by avoiding the bi-annual hassle of tyre changes, while also reducing CO2 emissions.
The Recharge tyres are the first tyres for year-round use to achieve A-class energy efficiency. This innovation is in line with the company’s aspiration to lead the industry in offering more sustainable products.
Driving a pure electric Volvo XC40 on Recharge tyres can reduce energy consumption by up to 8 per cent and extend the average driving range, compared with driving on winter tyres.
As more customers use just one set of tyres all year round, aluminium wheel production can be reduced, bringing an additional climate impact benefit.
“With electric cars, keeping tyre rolling resistance low is more important than with traditionally powered cars, since it has a bigger impact on consumption and range,” said Gisela Blomkvist, head of Volvo Cars Sustainability Centre. “Usually, that trait is limited to summer tyres – but with Recharge tyres we extend this into the winter months and realise clear benefits for customers and the environment.”
In large parts of Europe, the conventional tyre setup of summer and winter tyres might not always be the safest option for the actual weather and road conditions.
Volvo Cars safety experts have identified that it is less safe to use traditional summer or winter tyres when conditions are dry or wet with temperatures around zero degrees. In these conditions, the Recharge tyres are the safest option.
The Recharge tyres, specially developed for our Recharge product line, offer the best-balanced safety performance all year round and excel when the weather and road conditions change frequently.
“In a perfect world, you would wake up each morning, look outside your window, listen to the weather report and fit the right tyres to your car based on what you see and hear before driving away,” said Jan Ivarsson, senior safety expert at Volvo Cars Safety Centre. “Of course, that’s too much to ask of people, so we offer the Recharge tyres as the best-balanced alternative to help keep our customers safe all year round.”
The Recharge tyres, however, may not be the best option for everyone. For customers who live in areas where winter conditions are severe and driving on snow or ice is common, or for customers who frequently visit areas like these, traditional friction or studded winter tyres remain the safest choice and are still available as an option.
