Tyre Edge Wear on Electric Cars | Hometyre Mobile Wheel Alignment Service

As the ULEZ Zone in North London expands with every passing minute, the adoption of electric cars by Londoners is becoming exponential.

Being electric, these vehicles rely heavily on their tyres to transfer their expected range and performance to the road. Take the Tesla Model S Ludicrous for example, with a 0-60 of just under two seconds, if you were to install budget tyres onto this car, you would definitely not see those performance figures as it would be spinning the wheels with no grip through the tyres. Tesla specific tyres have a reduced rolling resistance which helps to increase the range and enhance the grip on the road. Look out for a T0 or T1 symbol on the side of your tyre to see if it's been approved by tesla for the use on their vehicles.

One thing we are seeing a lot of recently is misaligned wheels. For electric vehicles, any ability to increase the range is always of benefit and if the wheels are misaligned and causing drag, that's no Bueno! Typically, an alignment issue is down to pothole or curb damage where it has thrown one of the rods out. To check the status, we first install our laser gauges onto the side of the wheels (see below) and point backwards to the reference point. Using the guide, we can see if it is within or over the manufacture's tolerance.

The most obvious way to see if your alignment is if the front tyres are wearing on the edges (again, see below). This 'feathering' is caused when the toe angle is excessive and thus the tyre isn't pointing directly forward anymore and instead to the left or right.

If you're encountering an alignment issue, have a puncture or need help with some electric tyres, why not give us a call on 0333 444 5454 or head online here and book a time specific appointment to suit your day!