Hyundai and Michelin today announced the signing of a memorandum of understanding on the development of next-generation tires designed for premium electric vehicles. As part of the deal, Michelin will work on developing next-generation tires that will have optimal performance characteristics and will allow an electric vehicle to travel long distances, and will be very durable to meet the growing requirements for power reserve and heavy loads that are imposed on electric vehicles.
“In addition, Hyundai and Michelin plan to conduct joint research on the analysis of tire wear, tire load, and traction to improve tire quality.”
Since they will be used on premium cars, they should also be quiet and comfortable at high speeds. Finally, companies want to make tires more environmentally friendly by making 50 percent of their total weight from environmentally friendly materials, rather than 20 percent like their current tires.
“This partnership with Michelin will lead to real innovations in tire technology and strengthen Hyundai Motor Group’s position as a leader in the intelligent vehicle industry,” said Bong—so Kim, head of Hyundai Chassis Development Center. “By fully leveraging our mobile technologies and Michelin’s tire-making expertise, we are confident in our ability to innovate groundbreaking ways to improve tire performance and create synergies in this organic collaboration.”
The memorandum is not binding, but it follows a previous deal between the companies that was signed in 2017. This deal, according to Georges Levy, executive vice president of Michelin automotive original equipment, led to the creation of an exclusive tire for the Ioniq 5.
