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Snow tires with the Kona EV

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15K views 10 replies 7 participants last post by  coder  
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#1 · (Edited)
I got a set of black spoked aluminum rims, recommended by Hyundai dealer, and have a set of snow tires on them. Illegal to drive without snow tires on the malahat near Victoria,BC October to April

The only issue running snow tires on the aftermarket rims is no TMPS sensors. I asked Hyundai as they put the tires on. They said if I wanted that it’s $220.00 a tire plus tax and install. I would be looking well over 1100 dollars. Ridiculous.

It’s important to keep an eye on tire inflation as it affects mileage. Also not sure what affect if any the spoked rims will have as well. They look way better than originals and if it’s a couple kms less who cares.

I went into my local OK TIRE and they had the aftermarket TMPS in stock for 339 installed with taxes in. I was a little hesitant as wasn’t sure they would work. Well they work perfectly giving me real time tire pressure. I highly recommend OK TIRE.

Now I will switch these snow tires to my original rims and run the nice spoked rims with original all season tires spring to fall

Pictures to follow
 
#2 ·
I just put the snow tires on the stock Kona rims and put the brand new summer tires in bags (tire shop did this for me), and then stored them in my barn for the winter. No money spent on extra rims or TPMS sensors. It's 80$ to get the summer tires put back on in the spring. I don't understand why all the fuss?
 
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#7 ·
I did that for a while about 20 years ago when I first started using winter tires and thought the same as you. Hey, that’s stupid! Why down extra on rims when I already have some aluminum ones. One thing I found through years of extensive driving on them through is seasonal mounting and dismounting scratches up the inside of the rim where the tire meets the rim leading to channels for air to leak through compounding the problem of salt and sand leading to corrosion on exposed parts of the aluminum rim again, right where the tire mates up to the rim leading to leaks over time. Ask any tire guy. Aluminum rims are prone to leaking, especially in winter.Another advantage to having your winter tires on rims is convenience. If you’ve ever gotten busy and not booked a seasonal change well in advance I’ve had lots of times when the tire shop told me flat out. “Sorry, we’re not booking any more tire changes this year due to volume. Try back in February”. When I tell them I already have them on rims in the car, the same shop says”oh! Why didn’t you say so! I can probably squeeze you in on so and so’s lunch break today”. Not everyone has this kind of situation, but if you live in a winter tire market it’s food for thought. Good luck, and safe driving this winter!
 
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#8 ·
I’m driving on Nokian H3 snow tires(no snow yet)215/5517 (stock) using factory rims and have noticed around 3% range loss from the stock nexxen tires. I’ll report back on here when I see the range difference with snow but it’ll really be for snow

nokian H3 giving a roughly 3% range reduction on stock rims from stock nexxens all other things being equal and no snow on the ground yet. I’ll be reporting back what I’m getting in snow later. Traction so far is right up there with blizzaks on dry or wet pavement and better than Michelin xice as far as I can tell so far. Very quiet tire (for a snow tire)much quieter than blizzaks and about on par with the cove that way.
 
C
#9 ·
I have just put on Michelin crossclimate 2-s. These are not proper snow tires, but "severe snow service rated" all seasons. They have the "snowflake" symbol, and these indeed perform much better in lite snow and rain than the oem Nexen-s. the Nexens btw were pretty horrible. They would often spin out even on dry pavement and felt unstable/unsafe under most conditions. I only got 12K out of the Nexens, one of the tires got a tear near the shoulder and could not be repaired. I notice ( ort maybe imagine, hard to tell ) I get a bit less range with the Michelins. Otoh they have much better grip and the car drives a lot better with them.
 
C
#10 ·
I noticed that my range dropped substantially with the Michelin x-climate tirtes. Used to get 240 miles + on a 100 % charge. Now I only get 185, no matter what I do.
I was not super concerned during the winter, but it is full spring now, and the range fails to improve. I wonder if it is the tires, or my battery just getting old?
What pressure do you guys usually inflate your tires? Could this be just the tire brand change? That woudl be sad, I really hated the stock Nexen-s on the car. The driving quality of those things was abysmally bad.

Underinflation? Any way to assess the state of my battery?
I have some vague recollection that the SoulEVSpy software had some sort of assessment option, although cannot find that now.
 
C
#11 ·
coder said:
I noticed that my range dropped substantially with the Michelin x-climate tirtes. Used to get 240 miles + on a 100 % charge. Now I only get 185, no matter what I do.
Click to expand...
It looks like my range drop was battery related. My traction battery ended up failing completely shortly after. After the battery replacement, I get about the same mileage with the Michelin x climate 2-tires as I did wit the OEM-s. (The Michelins). The x-climates are all season, but have a good snow rating.
Good enough that I just leave them on for the winter here in New England,
 
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