Hanover, Germany, March 21, 2023. All new passenger tire lines from the Continental brand that are launched on the market in Europe now bear a new marking on their sidewall: the EV-Compatible logo. This underscores the premium tire manufacturer’s product strategy for electric vehicles. After all, every single tire in Continental’s current product range already meets the exacting requirements of electric cars. They also reduce the consumption of vehicles with conventional drive types.

“We are convinced that there is no one tire for all electric vehicles. This is why we have optimized our entire tire portfolio for this drive type too. With our new EV-Compatible logo, we are making that visible,” says Enno Straten, Head of Strategy, Analytics and Marketing for Continental Tires EMEA. “Our customers can count on the fact that tires from Continental are always the right choice – and, of course, that applies to electric cars too.”

Long before electric vehicles became mainstream, Continental began work on optimizing its tires with the specific aim of achieving greater efficiency and less consumption. This entails a focus on less rolling resistance, low rolling noise and high service life – without limiting or compromising on safety. All vehicles – regardless of their drive type – are benefiting from these technological advances. However, they are particularly noticeable for drivers of electric vehicles. Because improving a tire by just one rolling resistance class according to the EU tire label already increases the range of the electric vehicle by around three to four percent.

The current tire strategy for electric vehicles also offers tire dealers major advantages, since Continental is not making the product portfolio any more complex as a result. This makes storage easier, simplifies the processes involved in selection, ordering, stocking up and logistics. As a result, valuable resources can be saved from production right through to when the tire is fitted.

In addition to the sidewall of its tires, Continental will be using the EV-Compatible logo in all order systems as well as marketing materials – both online and offline – and in showrooms in the future.

Continental’s product strategy is proving successful: In 2022, nine of the ten most successful manufacturers of electric vehicles relied on the premium tire manufacturer’s technological expertise for their original equipment – including Tesla, Porsche and Mercedes-Benz. But Asian manufacturers like KIA and BYD as well as other American vehicle manufacturers such as Ford also rely on tires from Continental for the original equipment of their electric vehicles. In the EMEA (Europe, Middle East and Africa) and Americas (North, South and Central America) regions, the five most successful manufacturers are all original equipment customers. In the APAC (Asia-Pacific) region, four of the five most successful manufacturers of electric vehicles place their trust in tires from Continental.

Hybridized and all-electric vehicles are available in all passenger car segments today. The selection ranges from cabin scooters, small and mid-size cars and SUVs right through to high-performance sports cars. What’s more, vehicles are now being offered with ranges that rival those of diesel vehicles. As with vehicles with combustion engines, individual tire configurations are required for every type of electric vehicle. For high-performance electric vehicles with large batteries, for example, the focus is on handling-oriented tires with high mileage, while small cars should have low rolling resistance to optimize their range.

The company’s portfolio now includes summer, winter and all-season tires for almost every electric vehicle model that does not already come factory-fitted with tires from Continental. Continental also offers special tire technology with strengths that are particularly evident in electric vehicles – including high load indices and ContiSilent, a product for significantly reduced rolling noise inside the passenger compartment.