Fleets should consider driver training to counter the high level of tyre wear being reported on electric vehicles, suggest analysts at FleetCheck.
The fleet software specialist says the additional weight and performance of EVs means that employees who drive company cars more aggressively are getting through sets of tyres much more quickly than would be expected.
Peter Golding, managing director, said: “The data behind this is still relatively scarce and much of what we are hearing is anecdotal but it seems as through the range of wear you can expect from different driving styles is wider for EVs than you would see for petrol or diesel.
“The reasons for this are, it appears, the facts that EVs tend to be much heavier, model-for-model than internal combustion engine (ICE) cars and often offer faster acceleration. This means that a driver who accelerates sharply and brakes hard puts a lot of pressure on their tyres and can get through a set very quickly indeed.
“At the other end of the scale, it looks as though EV drivers who are much more circumspect in their approach are achieving much lower tyre wear, perhaps not as good as the average for petrol and diesel vehicles, but much closer to being acceptable for fleets. Really, fleets want all drivers to be driving this way.”
Peter added that the potential rate of wear made it arguably much more important to monitor behaviour of drivers using EVs and consider training for the worst offenders.