How much range your tyres are actually worth
About 10 per cent, and sometimes more. Fitting tyres that were not designed for an electric car typically costs around a tenth of the range, and a 2025 test on a Hyundai Kona EV found 65.6 kilometres, or 16 per cent, between the most and least efficient tyre it was given. Of everything an owner can change on a finished car, this is the largest single lever on range.
Why rolling resistance matters more on an electric car
A petrol engine wastes roughly two thirds of its fuel as heat, so a few per cent of extra drag at the road disappears into a much larger inefficiency. An electric drivetrain is far more efficient, which means the losses that remain are proportionally larger and the tyres are one of the biggest.
It also compounds. A tyre with lower rolling resistance means less energy per mile, which means a smaller battery draw, which means less heat and slightly better efficiency again.
The trades you are making
Rolling resistance trades against wet grip and against tread life. A tyre at the efficiency end of the range will generally stop slightly less well in the wet and wear slightly faster than one built for grip, and the manufacturers have spent enormous effort narrowing that gap without closing it.
This is a genuine choice rather than a trick. A car doing long steady runs wants efficiency. A car doing short wet urban journeys wants grip. Most people want the middle and should buy it.
Three things that cost more range than the tyre choice
Pressure. An underinflated tyre costs range immediately and continuously. Check monthly, cold, against the placard, not against what the tyre says on its sidewall.
Rim size. A 20 inch wheel on a car also offered with 19s is usually worth several per cent of range, because the tyre is wider, heavier and has a stiffer sidewall.
Cold. A tyre below seven degrees has higher rolling resistance and a battery below seven degrees has less usable energy. Winter range loss is mostly the battery, but the tyres are not innocent.
A fact that reads the wrong way round
A worn tyre has lower rolling resistance than a new one, by roughly 6 per cent, because there is less tread to deform. So range will quietly improve across the life of a set and then drop when you replace them.
This is not an argument for running tyres down. It is an explanation for why the car seemed more efficient last month, and it is worth knowing so you do not blame the new tyres for a fault they do not have.
Common questions
- Will low rolling resistance tyres make my car unsafe in the wet?
- No. Check the wet grip grade on the label and buy a good one. The trade is real but it is a matter of a few metres, not of safety.
- Do narrower tyres give more range?
- Usually, a little, but only within what the car is approved for. Never fit a size the placard does not list.
Last checked 2026-09-22. Where this page and your own vehicle disagree, the vehicle wins.