Continental has launched their new line of Conti.eContact low rolling resistant tires designed specifically for hybrids and electric vehicles. What I know so far about this tire comes primarily from Continental's press release on it, but that does contain some interesting technical information. What it shows me is that the eContact is rather an odd duck, even by LRR standards.
Conti claims the tire has 30% less rolling resistance "than with conventional tires", which is the usual vaguely unverifiable number compared to a fuzzy dataset that we've come to expect from LRR marketing-speak. The very next sentence, however, turns out to be startlingly honest:
"Continental engineers achieved this reduction by using a completely unusual tire dimension."
Um, yeah; I would have to say that 195/55/20 is a completely unusual tire dimension. Continental's PR department gives us all a free lesson in subtle understated humor when it notes that the tire is "very large and narrow in appearance." On the other hand, 125/80/13 is a simply a freak of nature.
The eContact also has a very flat, square profile, designed so as to control the contact patch and sidewall deformation as well as movement of the belts, all of which contribute to energy loss as the tire compresses and rebounds. Stiff lateral ribs and what are probably self-locking sipes contribute to stability and low noise.
Continental says that the eContact will come standard on Renault's Twizy, which looks like it would be a total blast to drive.
But really, I think this is great news if only because I just cannot wait to see hybrids and EV's out there "riding nerdy" on 20-inch wheels and skinny, high-profile tires. We're talking an entirely new market in green bling! I can see it now. Eco-friendly chrome-alternative finishes! Leaf-influenced spoke designs! Really, what hybrid-driving geek could ever resist a set of Regenerative Spinners? Not me, my friends, not me.
