Pirelli Elect tyres for the Lotus Eletre hyper-SUV

Pirelli has homologated 10 different tyres to equip the Lotus Eletre, Lotus’s very first electric hyper-SUV. With different tyre sizes front and rear, this new car benefits from a 22-inch (275/40R22, 315/35R22) and a 23-inch (275/35R23, 315/30R23) P Zero, both available with and without Seal Inside technology, as well as a 22-inch P Zero Corsa (275/40R22, 315/35R22). All these tyres have been designed to meet Eletre’s requirements, from dynamic performance and excellent steering feel, to range and comfort in all driving conditions.

When designing the tyres for the Lotus Eletre, safety was of paramount importance, and the tyres incorporate Seal Inside technology (available as an option), making its debut on a size this large. Seal Inside is a self-sealing system that maintains the air pressure within a tyre even after a puncture, allowing journeys to continue.

Speaking about the new tyres, Dario Marrafuschi, Head of Product, Pirelli, said: “Developing high-performance tyres for a dynamic BEV like the Lotus Eletre, we had to raise the technological level, to identify new solutions that meet the needs of a market that is experiencing a real revolution, faster and more challenging than ever before. As with cars, tyres are also changing in many more ways than might at first appear. For us, it is essential to work alongside prestige car manufacturers, such as Lotus, because it allows us to imagine and then carry out this evolution together.”

For Lotus, Dr Flavio Friesen, Senior Chief Engineer of Vehicle Integration of Lotus Tech Innovation Centre, Deputy General Manager of Lotus Tech Research Institute, explained: “During recent months we carried out intensive testing on challenging tracks such as the famous Nürburgring Nordschleife and the Pirelli team did a great job to develop tyres with the absolutely right performance for our new all-electric and very dynamic vehicle.”

Pirelli’s Elect tyres for the Lotus Eletre incorporate technical innovations designed and developed specifically for electric cars; the tyres have an optimised footprint and specific compounds that maximise grip, reducing wheelspin under acceleration caused by the instant torque from electric motors. The tyre engineers also worked on an optimised structure, to provide outstanding handling performance and steering feel. Another focus was acoustic comfort: Pirelli Elect tyres are designed to reduce rolling resistance, making journeys quieter and more comfortable. These attributes are certified by the European tyre label: all sizes have an ‘A’ rating for wet grip, and nearly all of them also score ‘A’ for noise.

The bespoke P Zero and P Zero Corsa tyres for the Lotus Eletre are the result of a state-of-the-art development process carried out with the help of virtual design tools. The tyre specification was defined using 3D modelling before any physical prototypes were produced, allowing much more detail to be incorporated into the design cycle, and making the interaction between Pirelli and the carmaker even more efficient.