Falken e.Ziex debuts in Europe

It’s more than a year since Sumitomo Rubber Industries (SRI) first announced an upcoming electric vehicle tyre for Europe. Visitors to The Tire Cologne gained a sneak preview of Falken e.Ziex last May, and a further sign of the tyre’s impending arrival came earlier this month with a strong tyre test result. SRI now confirms it is launching Falken e.Ziex as a “new line of replacement tyres for electric vehicles in Europe, where the market for EV has been growing at a rapid pace.”

Featuring what SRI considers the “highest level” of fuel/energy efficiency from any tyre it has offered to date, e. ZIEX is the company’s second replacement tyre for EVs following the 2022 debut of the Dunlop e.Sport Maxx in China, a market where EV uptake is “growing at an astonishing pace.” SRI also has “high expectations” for this new European product: “With our new Falken e.Ziex, we have responded to the specific needs of the European market with further improvements in terms of driving performance on wet road surfaces. In this same way, we will continue to develop and produce tyres with an eye toward meeting the needs of our customers in each region.”

Proprietary technologies

In order to fully respond to the distinctive needs of EVs, e.Ziex utilises a rubber compound that SRI developed using its proprietary Advanced 4D Nano Design material development technology. The tyre maker says this results in “simultaneous improvements” in energy efficiency and grip strength. In addition, SRI also optimised the tyre profile by reducing tread width in the shoulder section, giving e.Ziex a more uniform contact pressure and thus greater load resistance. Furthermore, e.Ziex incorporates the proprietary Silent Core noise absorbing technology to provide a quieter all-around ride.