In case you haven’t checked under your boot floor, your new EV or HEV may not have a spare tyre.
Many Malaysian customers are getting into their first electric vehicle and wondering where the spare tyre is. Well, the truth is that the whole industry has been moving away from providing spare tyres as standard equipment for some time now.
BMW were at the forefront of this trend way before they even started to offer hybrid vehicles. Back then the reasoning was that they were moving towards weight reduction and customer convenience by fitting cars with ‘run-flat’ tyres that would enable the car to be driven safely at reduced speed to a service centre should a puncture occur. This would also enable the service centre to benefit from charging your for the tyre change themselves – at the time, run-flat tyres were pricey and hard to come by. Today, they’re just pricey.
The removal of the spare tyre as standard equipment did not become an industry norm until fairly recently. And no, it was not electric vehicles that made this commonplace, but hybrid vehicles.
Why? Well, partly because of weight savings, but mostly because of packaging reasons. Hybrid batteries are often housed in the area underneath the boot floor where the spare tyre sits. Plus, most car brands that offer hybrid vehicles are not outfitting these hybrids with pricey ‘run-flat’ tyres. Instead, you’d get your regular economy tyres but in place of a spare you get a tyre sealant and inflation kit. Some common hybrid vehicles still manage to make space for a space saver spare tyre though. Cars like the Toyota Corolla Cross HEV still come with a spare tyre:
Others, like the Honda HR-V HEV do not feature a spare tyre:
When it comes to electric vehicles, many brands have managed to find even more reasons to NOT include a spare tyre. Some do it because electric vehicle batteries tend to be very heavy, so offsetting that weight by removing the spare tyre is a natural solution. EV manufacturers are also very cost-conscious, given how competitive the market can be and how expensive batteries can get. As such, spare tyres are looked at as unnecessary costs that can be cut. Sure, to the individual customer, it’s a single item that costs a fraction of the entire vehicle. However, to the company producing tens of thousands of vehicles, it’s a massive cost savings that most customers don’t even think about.
That being said, not every EV lacks a spare tyre. Often it’s not about the size or price of the vehicle that dictates the presence of a spare tyre. Take the AION Y Plus and AION ES – both very practical electric vehicles with minimal bling and both priced aggressively in our market. Both of these vehicles come with space saver spare tyres. Larger vehicles like the Leapmotor C10 and Proton e.MAS 7 don’t come with a spare tyre.
There’s another aspect to consider – the rise and prominence of Roadside Assistance. Many brands now offer roadside assistance through their own insurance or through external insurance providers. This option often includes helping customers deal with an emergency tyre change/inflation and help is just a phone call away.
