Electric mobility, referring to electric vehicles, is a key component of more climate-friendly and sustainable transportation. We are proud to look back on more than ten years of experience in the development of tires for electric vehicles. In 2023, the ten highest-volume manufacturers of electric vehicles worldwide placed their trust in our high level of technological expertise for their original equipment.
Since 1993, long before electric vehicles became mainstream, we have been optimizing our tires to achieve ever lower rolling resistance, low rolling noise and long service lives – with zero compromise on safety. All these measures are now proving especially beneficial in vehicles with electric drive systems, too. For these, we offer special tire technology with strengths that are particularly evident in electric vehicles – including high load indices and ContiSilent, our product for significantly reduced rolling noise inside the passenger compartment.
So, to continuously enhance and refine our existing portfolio, we merge our experience with findings from a variety of practical tests and development partnerships with other renowned manufacturers.
Continental tires are ideal for the demands of electric transportation. Our tires not only fulfill the needs of electric vehicles but also help to reduce combustion engine fuel consumption and emissions. All vehicles – regardless of their drive type – benefit from the technological advances of our tires.
In 2023, the ten worlds´ most successful electric vehicle manufactures worldwide placed their trust in our high level of technological expertise for their original equipment.
And in the EMEA (Europe, the Middle East and Africa) region, we convinced all five most successful manufacturers to place their trust in our expertise.
We also secured OEM approvals of the five most successful manufacturers of battery-powered vehicles in The Americas
In the APAC region, we have secured original equipment approvals for the five most successful BEV manufacturers.
Our portfolio also encompasses summer, winter and all-season tires for almost every electric vehicle model that does not otherwise come factory-fitted with our tires.
Ten Highest-Volume E-Vehicle Manufacturers Worldwide Relied on Tires From Continental in 2023
We have entered into a number of development partnerships with our partners including reputable truck manufacturers, startups and fleet operators. In doing so, we are striving to design our tires in line with the special requirements of e-trucks.
World record for the greatest distance driven
In 2021, and in collaboration with the e-truck brand Futuricum, we achieved the Guinness World Records certified title for the greatest distance driven by an e-truck on a single charge: 1,099 kilometers!
For this record-breaking achievement, our partners used an e-truck operated by DPD Switzerland for regional transportation purposes. A Volvo FH retrofitted with an electric drive system and Continental’s EffiencientPro all-season tires with exceptionally low rolling resistance served as the base vehicle.
The Futuricum truck has been in service since early 2021 on the route between the DPD warehouse in Möhlin near Basel and the distribution center in Buchs near Zürich around 300 kilometers away, suffering zero problems and all officially documented.
So in the logistics sector, sustainable, energy-efficient and cost-effective electric transportation is not merely some future dream but a reality right now on the roads of Europe.
Public transit plays a vital role in the sustainable transportation of tomorrow and is crucial to environmental protection and climate change mitigation. In passenger transportation – and especially local public transit – the number of electric buses is rising all the time. Many cities all over the world already operate all-electric bus fleets.
We are collaborating closely with a range of partners including bus manufacturers and public transit operators to optimize our tires as effectively as possible in line with the requirements of electric buses. Our portfolio already includes a number of suitable tires.
At IAA Transportation 2022, we showcased a concept tire specially designed for electrified city buses and delivery vehicles in urban environments. Already approved for road use, this concept tire has a renewable and recycled materials content of around 50 percent. All the materials used could potentially be deployed right now in series production. When designing the tire, Continental’s tire developers focused their efforts on achieving high energy efficiency and optimizing noise emissions.
