Nils-Hendrik  Schröder,  Team Manager at Hankook Tire Europe  OE Sales Office

Since the beginning of the year, registrations of electric vehicles have been exhibiting an extremely positive trend internationally. This is due, on the one hand, to new subsidy programmes and a much larger model selection, but also to the tense geopolitical situation with markedly higher fuel prices. However, it is not a unique outlier in the statistics but rather the tentative culmination of a trend that has been emerging for several years.

The percentage of BEVs among new registrations in Germany increased from 1.24 % in 2016 to 19.1 % in 2025; registrations for electric drives overall (BEV + PHEV) went from 3.85 % to 30.0 %. In particular, recent years have exhibited extremely dynamic growth since 2020 due to subsidy programmes and platforms designed specifically for electric vehicles. In Germany, the production share for electric vehicles has gone up even more sharply from around 1-2 % to approximately 40 %.

In 2025, the percentage of BEVs in Germany was 19.1 %, above the EU average of 17.4 %. The frontrunners were Denmark (68.5 %), the Netherlands (40.2 %) and Belgium (34.7 %).

Worldwide, China dominated, despite falling registration numbers, with an EV share of 46.9 % (March 2026) and thus 62 % of global electric vehicle sales, while the US market backslid dramatically to an EV share of 4.2 % (March 2026) after the tax credit expired.[1]

There is significant diversification among manufacturers, even if the market shares are often small. Brands like Leapmotor, BYD and Lynk & Co are gaining in importance. Even Tesla is gaining ground again. While the first electric vehicles were often still produced on the combustion engine platform and the tyres primarily featured an adapted tread compound (Ventus S1 evo 3 EV), now electric vehicles are built on platforms developed specifically for this purpose. The first manufacturers are beginning to also use iON tyres developed for electric vehicles on models with a combustion engine in order to reduce the effort and costs for parallel new tyre developments. This is the case with the BMW i4/4 Series among others: the 20-inch tyre is used both on the all-electric variant as well as on the combustion engine variant.

A comparable approach is also being pursued at the moment in an AMG project. In this case, the percentage of hybrid and electric vehicles within the model series is higher overall than for the pure combustion engine version. Accordingly, all drive variants in this project – including the internal combustion engines – will be available with Hankook iON tyres.

Market & OE parameters

What percentage of original equipment vehicles fitted with our tyres run purely on electric power (Europe/worldwide)?

Our growth in the OE business in 2025 shows that vehicles with an electric drive account for around 25 % of our OE sales worldwide. In Europe, it is around 30 %. Due to the higher added value of tyres developed specifically for electric vehicles, this percentage likewise illustrates the strong and continuing trend towards electrification within our OE portfolio.

In addition, the assignment is not definitive in all cases: sometimes, our tyres are used on models with an electric drive without them having been explicitly planned or developed as an EV application originally. This highlights the increasing permeability between classic and electric vehicle concepts in the OE environment.

How quickly is the EV share growing in the OE business?

The penetration of electric vehicles in our OE business is increasing significantly worldwide. The EV share has increased by around 3.7 percentage points year on year, which is equivalent to a growth rate of over 17 %.

This also mirrors the international trend in registrations: in Europe, where electrification is already at a more advanced stage, the EV share increased by around 1.4 percentage points. This indicates a more mature, but at the same time stable, growth trajectory. Especially since the start of the year, we have seen a sharp increase in all-electric vehicles (with the exception of the US market) due to new subsidies as well as the tense geopolitical situation with exploding fuel prices. 

This trend highlights both the strong global acceleration in electrification as well as the already high level of maturity of the European market. It should be borne in mind that there is increasing overlap in the OE environment: in some cases, our tyres are also used on electric models without them having been originally planned as a specific EV application.

Which vehicle segments are particularly strong drivers of electrification?

At present, the premium and SUV segments are the primary drivers of electrification. These segments are taking a leading role as they exhibit higher EV adoption rates, integrate greater battery capacities and are specifically positioned by the OEMs as electrified flagship models. From the OE perspective, premium vehicles and SUVs place especially high demands on tyres, in particular with respect to load-carrying capacity, performance, comfort and efficiency. These demands are further amplified when it comes to electric vehicles by the higher vehicle weight and instantaneous torque.

Against this background, electric premium SUVs in particular are becoming a central driver of growth in the OE business. They combine high performance requirements with a growing need for efficiency, reduced noise levels and high mileage and thus lead to an increasing demand for tyre technologies developed specifically for electric vehicles.

Nevertheless, as the model selection grows, affordable small and compact cars are increasingly coming into focus. In the medium term, premium vehicles and SUVs will probably continue to drive registrations of all-electric vehicles. 

Tyre development & platform strategy

Are OEMs developing tyres primarily for EVs and then using them across different drive systems?

The development of tyres for primary use on EVs is taking up more and more space. Going on to then use these tyres for selected models with other drive systems is already happening at some manufacturers. This makes sense in particular where electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles are expected to form the lion’s share of a manufacturer’s line-up. The costs and effort involved in developing separate tyres are high.

Why are iON tyres suitable for both electric and combustion engine vehicles?

In principle, a tyre designed for electric drives, such as the iON, can also be used for combustion engine vehicles. However, the combustion engine vehicle benefits much less from the advantages. The other way round, the situation looks different. A tyre tailored specifically to combustion engine vehicles can cancel out the intrinsic benefits of an electric vehicle: excessive noise levels, including inside the vehicle, reduce driving comfort. Low rolling resistance is essential for range optimisation. High wear resistance, paired with the necessary grip as well as high load-bearing capacity, ensures excellent driving performance for electric vehicles, which have a much higher starting torque and are generally heavier than comparable combustion engine vehicles. The iON meets all these requirements perfectly, since all the characteristics have been specifically designed for use on electric vehicles.

Technical requirements

How do tyre requirements differ between EVs and combustion engine vehicles?

It goes without saying that differentiation is necessary here too. Both drive categories feature completely different vehicles, with completely different requirements for tyres. If, for example, we focus on a mid-range estate car with an average engine profile, the following differences are generally present: Vehicle weight: As a rule, the electric vehicle will weigh more and the tyres therefore need to have a higher load index.

Torque: Since an electric motor can deliver full power right away, the vehicle has a higher torque. The tyres should therefore provide higher wear resistance while still offering the necessary grip in every driving situation.

Noise level: Tyre noise is usually much more noticeable when travelling in an electric vehicle, since there is no engine noise. This applies to both rolling noise and to other noises that potentially can only be heard inside the vehicle. Hankook therefore uses different technologies in its iON tyres to reduce noise levels in all areas. This includes both the design of the profile as well as sound absorbers, whose foam prevents noise generation inside the tyre.

Rolling resistance: With electric vehicles, there is still a strong focus on the potential vehicle range, and each component must play its part in improving the WLTP value.

Overall, it is of course clear that the specifications of the OEM are crucial, particularly in the OE sector. When it comes to vehicles designed principally to have a low sales price, there is often slightly less investment in the tyres, whereas with very sporty electric vehicles, more grip is desired and lower rolling resistance is accepted in exchange (e.g., iON Supreme for some BMW and MINI models). The materials that are responsible for a low rolling resistance and minimal wear are associated with higher costs. Lower-cost solutions without silica and silane often have less grip in the wet.

Development priorities & future

What development priorities have become more important as a result of electrification?

In addition to driving dynamics and handling characteristics as well as subjective performance indicators that vary depending on the vehicle manufacturer and segment, electrification has noticeably shifted development priorities towards complex conflicting objectives. Key priorities here are reducing weight without compromising on basic tyre functions. Added to this is a very low rolling resistance with ambitious targets for summer tyres of around 5.0 kg/t as well as increasingly demanding specifications for drive-by noise.

In parallel, noise level inside the vehicle is becoming much more important. In certain vehicle segments, the use of sound-absorbing foam is now standard. Overall, tyre concepts today need to reconcile the highest efficiency and safety requirements with performance features such as durability, comfort and grip.

The use of new technologies is essential to resolve these conflicting objectives. All design areas are therefore considered holistically – starting with the geometric design of the tread and tyre shape. Virtual simulations play a central role in the development of a tyre, since they consider a wide range of performance criteria and make it possible to incorporate new technologies and solution approaches right from early development phases.

Do we expect a convergence of or greater differentiation between EV and traditional tyres?

The technological challenges posed by electric vehicles have played a significant role in driving tyre development forward and have resulted in new solutions and strategies being identified in areas such as tread geometry, tyre contour, rubber compounds and raw materials. These developments generally have a positive impact on the overall performance of tyres and can also be of benefit in conventional applications.

The transfer of technologies developed specifically for electric vehicles to conventional tyres is, however, closely linked with cost-benefit analyses in production. Accordingly, a partial overlap can currently be observed in individual areas of development, while in others there is still a clear differentiation. The decisive factor here is the different weighting of the conflicting objectives between efficiency, noise generation, grip and mileage, depending on the vehicle concept and market requirement.