EV Tyres and Oil Prices: Why Electric Car Owners Are Not Immune

You bought an EV to escape petrol prices. No more $3.17/L fills. No more watching the pump tick past $150. Smart move.

But there is one petroleum cost you did not escape. One that hits EV owners harder than petrol drivers. And with oil prices at $99.75 USD/barrel and climbing, it is about to get more expensive.

Your tyres are petroleum products. Every single one. And because of how EVs are built, you go through more of them, more often, on bigger and more expensive sizes. When oil spikes, you feel it through your tyre bill. And the maths shows EV owners absorb more of that increase than petrol sedan drivers do.

27 Litres of Oil in Every Tyre

A standard 195/65R15 passenger tyre uses roughly 27 litres of crude oil to produce. That is not just the energy used in the factory. The petroleum is chemically transformed into the actual materials: synthetic rubber (28% of the tread), carbon black (another 28%), plus processing oils, waxes, and additives. About 50-60% of a tyre's total weight comes directly from crude oil products.

For the full breakdown, see our complete guide: How Fuel Prices Affect Tyre Prices in NZ.

Why EV Tyres Wear Out 20-30% Faster

This is not us guessing. Michelin, Bridgestone, Pirelli, and Consumer Reports have all confirmed it. Three things cause it.

1. Weight

EVs are 20-30% heavier than equivalent petrol cars because of battery packs. A Toyota Camry weighs about 1,500 kg. A Tesla Model 3 is 1,800 kg. A Hyundai Ioniq 5 tips 2,000 kg. According to Emissions Analytics, for every additional 450 kg of vehicle weight, tyre wear increases by roughly 20%.

2. Instant torque

Electric motors deliver 100% of their torque from zero RPM. Even gentle EV driving applies more rotational force to the tyre than an equivalent petrol car. Every acceleration event scrubs compound off your tread faster than a combustion engine doing the same thing.

3. No coasting

Regenerative braking means force is almost always being applied through the wheels. As Bridgestone's chief engineer Dale Harrigle puts it: "There is very little coasting that occurs in an electric vehicle." Less coasting means more tyre wear per kilometre.

The NZ EV Market Has a Tyre Size Problem

Look at what Kiwis are actually buying. Almost every popular EV in New Zealand is an SUV or crossover on large, expensive wheels.

Note on tyre prices: NZD price ranges are approximate and based on a survey of NZ online tyre retailers including Tyre Dispatch, 1010 Tires, and Google Shopping results (March 2026). Prices vary by brand, model, and retailer. Tyre sizes shown are the most common OEM fitment for each vehicle but some models offer multiple wheel size options. EV market data from Driven Car Guide, EVDB.nz, and Canstar NZ.

The only truly affordable tyre sizes are on the MG ZS EV and the older Nissan Leaf. Every other bestselling EV runs 18-inch or larger. The Tesla Model Y was NZ's bestselling EV again in 2025, and it starts on 19s. The Ioniq 5, EV6, and Sealion 7 all sit on 20s. There are very few small EVs on small tyre sizes available in NZ.

The Triple Hit

When crude oil prices spike, three factors compound to hit EV owners harder through tyres than petrol sedan drivers.

The Worked Example

Real dollars. 200,000 km. One petrol sedan versus one EV SUV.

Assumptions: Tyre prices are mid-range NZD estimates based on NZ online retail pricing (March 2026). Replacement intervals are based on manufacturer and industry data (Michelin, Bridgestone, Consumer Reports) for typical mixed driving. A "40% oil spike" pass-through to tyre retail pricing is modelled at ~3-5% tyre price increase per 10% oil increase, derived from observed NZ retail pricing behaviour during the 2022-2023 post-Ukraine oil spike. Actual results vary by brand, driving style, road conditions, and manufacturer pricing decisions. This is an illustrative comparison, not a guarantee of specific costs.

But EVs Still Save Money Overall

To be clear: nothing in this article is an argument against buying an EV. The fuel savings are enormous and dwarf the extra tyre costs.

Running cost estimates: Petrol at $3.05/L, average consumption 8.2 L/100km (NZ fleet average). Electricity at $0.30/kWh, ~15 kWh/100km. Servicing includes oil changes for petrol ($150-$250/year) and basic EV maintenance ($50-$100/year). Excludes insurance, registration, RUC, depreciation, and tyre fitting costs. Figures are rough NZD estimates for illustrative comparison.

The EV saves $20,000-$30,000+ over 200,000 km, even with the higher tyre bill. The point is that EV owners should not assume they are completely insulated from oil prices. Tyres are the hidden link. Better to understand it now than get surprised by it later.

Does Electricity Cost More When Oil Rises?

In New Zealand, mostly no. Around 80-85% of NZ electricity comes from renewable sources: hydro, geothermal, and wind. Your charging costs are largely insulated from international oil markets. Power prices rose 12% in 2025 and are forecast to rise ~5% in 2026, but that is driven by infrastructure investment and lines charges, not oil.

What EV Owners Can Do

You cannot change the weight of your battery pack. But you can manage tyre wear and costs.

1. Choose EV-specific tyres. Running standard tyres on an EV can cause 5-20% faster wear on top of the inherent penalty. Pirelli's Elect line and similar EV-optimised tyres are engineered for the extra weight and torque. See our EV Tyres Guide.
2. Rotate every 6,000-8,000 km. EVs are heavier, so alignment errors and uneven wear amplify faster. Single-motor EVs wear the drive axle faster. See our Tyre Care Guide for rotation patterns.
3. Check pressure monthly. On a 2,000 kg EV, being 3-4 PSI low matters a lot more than on a 1,400 kg hatchback. Use the placard on your door jamb. Our PSI Calculator can help.
4. Moderate the torque. Dialling back the most aggressive 10-20% of your driving can stretch tyre life without ruining the experience.
5. Get alignment checked after pothole damage. A misalignment tolerable on a light car can carve thousands of km off a set on a heavy EV.
6. Consider smaller wheels if available. Dropping from 20s to 18s or 19s (where offered) gives cheaper tyres, better ride, and longer life.

The Bigger Picture

As EV adoption grows, something odd is happening. More EVs means less fuel burned, which should push oil prices down over the long term. But heavier EVs wearing tyres faster means more tyres manufactured globally, increasing demand for the petroleum-derived materials those tyres are made from. Oil companies are already pivoting from fuel to petrochemicals as their growth market. Even if crude oil gets cheaper because people stop burning it, the petrochemical derivatives used in tyres may not follow.

The tyre industry is working on it. Silica replacing carbon black, bio-based rubbers, plant-derived oils, recovered carbon black from recycling. But mass adoption is still years away. For now, tyres remain petroleum products, and EV owners remain exposed.