Going electric means no more engine oil changes, spark plugs or air filters. Tyres are a different story. They still wear out, and the weight and instant torque of an EV mean they can wear out faster than they would on a comparable petrol car.
Tyremakers have been saying so for a while. When Hankook launched its iON EV tyres here in 2023, it said EVs have 20% faster tyre wear than ICE cars. A year later, Michelin Malaysia said that “given the instantaneous torque of electric motors and the weight of the battery, tyres tend to wear out faster on EVs compared to internal combustion vehicles.”
The weight gap is easy to see. Hankook puts EVs at around 25-30% heavier than equivalent ICE cars. Closer to home, the Proton eMas 5 weighs between 1,230 and 1,305 kg, against 1,010 to 1,025 kg for the Perodua Myvi, as we noted in our eMas 5 maintenance cost comparison.
