Cost effective to replace new non-LRR tires?

I've had my Leaf a month, and besides the TCU upgrade issues (still not working) the only other negative I have is that the tires were replaced before I bought with a Nexen N Priz AH5, which appears to be a very low cost Walmart tire you'd buy to pass inspection either for lease return or state inspection.

Since I've only had the car in winter temperatures ranging from 10 degrees F to 60, I don't really have a feel for how the Leaf will do long term on my commute in terms of miles/kWh. So far, the Leaf is lucky to get 3.0 - 3.1 mi/kWh on average with my commute. In comparison, my Volt gets around 3.5 mi/kWh this time of year and a little over 4 mi/kWh in summer.

I don't know the relative efficiency comparison between these cars, but really expected the Leaf to do a little better than I've been able to do.

At relatively low electricity cost, would I ever make up the cost difference to change to an LRR tire like the Ecopia or Continental PureContact?

I would say no, replacing the current tires would not be cost effective. The only way it would if you couldn't make your current trips with the Leaf and therefore need to keep an ICE or even rent one for such trips.
Note I'm only getting ~2.7 to 2.8 miles/Kwh on my Leaf with moderate heat use and temps in the single digits to low 20s and thats even with fairly new Ecopias but being new I'm hoping that to climb as they break in.
I'm kind of in a similar quandary with my used '12SL where the previous owner(from So. CA) must have put on new tires, but being from that region picked summer tires! They work like crap in the winter and I don't like the idea of having to swap them with more winter tires two times/year at the cost of $80. Living in MN I'd never purchase summer tires but maybe it made sense for the previous owner.

If indeed your tires are something cheap put on to pass inspection more than likely they'll wear out quickly, my stock OEM Ecopias on my '13S only lasted ~20k so if that was the case you shouldn't have to suffer too long with them. Replacement Ecopia+ tires are much better wearing than the junk Nissan pays Bridgestone for! They are basically just meant to get you out the door and last a year or so, at which point you'll be back to purchase replacements and thats where they really make their money :idea: a win-win for everyone.......well other than the customer :x

I don't see how you could recoup the cost of the tires in electricity savings alone. Of course there are other benefits to high quality tires vs. really cheap ones--only you can decide whether the change is worth the cost. As Jeff said, the cheap tires may wear out quickly because the LEAF is a heavy car. If you need maximum range, the Ecopias are hard to beat. They have good wet traction if inflated to 44 psi (but very poor wet traction at 36 psi) and minimal rolling resistance. The sidewalls and carcasses are thin so they are lightweight, but more susceptible to road damage. Although I have only driven a Volt during a test drive, I suspect its cold weather efficiency drop might be less than the LEAF because the Volt can run the gasoline engine for cabin heat.

I was never happy with the Michelin Energy Saver A/S tires that came on my 2015 from the factory so I replaced them with stickier Continentals when the Michelins were worn out at less than 30,000 miles (Michelin makes performance tires, but the Energy Savers were not good on wet pavement with oil residue no matter what inflation pressures I tried). The Continentals perform really well wet or dry, but the efficiency and range reduction has been over 10 percent. I saw about 10 percent reduction in range with the 2011 when I replaced the Ecopias with Michelin MXM4s at about 22,000 miles.

Gerry

The best way to get better tires is to get what you want on sale, then sell the cheap tires on Craigslist for $150 for the set to recoup about half the cost. I was able to "upgrade" from Ecrapias to Good year Eagle L/S tires from a reputable Ebay tire dealer for a total cost (excluding mounting) of about $75.

If Ecopia tires with a treadwear of 640 are wearing out in 20,000 miles for folks, I shouldn't have long to worry about it. These tires are a 450 treadwear and I have them inflated in the high 40s to compensate for some of the range I'm probably losing. At least they're M+S rated and don't seem to be terrible in rainy conditions. We haven't had much snow yet.

Interesting idea on the craigslist trade. I may pursue that to save a little assuming these make it to the fall is pretty good shape.

silverone said:

If Ecopia tires with a treadwear of 640 are wearing out in 20,000 miles for folks, I shouldn't have long to worry about it....

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I don't believe the OEM Ecopia tires are anywhere near 640 treadware, I'd guess more in the 300s but could be wrong. The Ecopia+'s that most people get aftermarket are in the 600s and I expect them to last much longer than the inferior OEMs. Still not as long as the 90K Michelins I wanted to get but I was a bit worried about the higher RR and didn't really want to lose any more range than I currently have, well except for the break-in period with any tire.

The manufacturer itself rates those tires as 9/10 on fuel efficiency (whatever that means)
I could not find any euro spec ratings or independent tests of it.

Inflate them to 50psi and the range hit should be less obvious

Another option would be to replace only 2 of the treads with decent tires to reduce the hit, leave the nixons up front so they wear faster.

Inflate them to 50psi and the range hit should be less obvious

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I wouldn't do that with cheap Chinese tires. I'd stick with 40-44psi, assuming the maximum stamped on them is 44. Chinese-branded tires are often lower in build quality than international brands made in China.

LeftieBiker said:

I wouldn't do that with cheap Chinese tires. I'd stick with 40-44psi, assuming the maximum stamped on them is 44. Chinese-branded tires are often lower in build quality than international brands made in China.

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I'm at least fortunate that the Max PSI is stamped at 51PSI on this particular tire.

You don't have a good idea how your tyres are really doing. I suggest waiting for temperate weather and then go out for a out and back drive at 60 mph to measure consumption. Decent tyres on a level ground and no wind should return about 4.0 miles a kWh

My advice ? Choose by safety for your local conditions first, and money savings third.