16k and Michelin Energy Savers are BALD!

The Leaf is hard on tires. At least, that has been my experience. Mine lasted around 20,000 miles before they got almost completely bald and I was forced to replace them. I can hear the tires rubbing as they struggle to grip the pavement when the car wobbles around turns, so I think the way the suspension is tuned may have something to do with it. If you bought the car and intend to keep it long term, I might look into getting an aftermarket shop to change the suspension to improve the handling and this might also help with the tire wear.
just a thought...

My Leaf came with Bridgestone Ecopia's, but I see some came with Michelin's. Mine started to show outside edge wear (mostly at the front) somewhere b/t 15k and 20k. I paid $100 for a lineup that I may have not needed. I like the idea to increase the pressure. Anyone try any other tires (in the factory provided size)?

donald said:

Acceleration from standstill is very deceptive. There is so much silent torque that you may end up using 'too much' of it when starting off without ever realising it, and when the tyre enters the 'slip' condition where the blocks of the rubber are just pulling clear of the tarmac as they come unloaded, it is as damaging to the tyre as a 'spin' condition.

Basically, I think you are being a bit of a lead-foot at the traffic lights. Feather the throttle real nice and the tyres will last 40k miles.

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This and the fact that LEAF is actually much more capable in the handling department(due to the battery central floor placement) than the tires it's fitted with. Essentially car is overwhelming it's tires and it has premature/irregular wear as a result. This is the calculated choice taken by the Nissan in order to eek out the max possible range.

So you can get higher performance tires that will be more appropriate for the car handling ability and will wear better as a result but you will lose up to 10-15% of your range, which in EV with 90-100 mile range is a lot. Or you can drive (accelerate, corner and brake) more gently and tires will do just fine...

NasGoreList said:

...Or you can drive (accelerate, corner and brake) more gently and tires will do just fine...

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Well, depending on where you live... Those who drive in rainy areas will get much better tire wear. Those who drive a lot of freeways, especially straight ones, will do well. Those who drive a lot of stop-and-go traffic on dry roads will do less well. But, for the few of us who drive curvy mountain roads, or dirt roads, forget about it. I'm a pretty good hypermiler and am quite pleased with the 22k miles I will be getting from my OEM Ecopias. For me LRR and range are the most important factors, not miles of wear. Others are willing to sacrifice range for longer wear or better handling.

I do agree with the OP that something seems to be not right about his OEM Michelin tires. Ordinary suburban driving shouldn't cause them to wear so quickly unless it is with a heavy foot, which doesn't seem to be the case.

you also have to think about it in terms of total ownership cost.

if you have to change tires every 20-30K miles at $600 a pop it might be more financially viable to get more durable tire with higher rolling resistance but that will last 60K miles. so you trade 10% of your efficiency for the cost of one less set of tires.

I drive around 1K miles per month and spend $12 to charge my leaf, if I lose 10% of my efficiency over 60 months that would cost me only $72 vs $600 for the additional new set of LRR tires. it is no brainer :roll:

NasGoreList said:

you also have to think about it in terms of total ownership cost.

if you have to change tires every 20-30K miles at $600 a pop it might be more financially viable to get more durable tire with higher rolling resistance but that will last 60K miles. so you trade 10% of your efficiency for the cost of one less set of tires.

I drive around 1K miles per month and spend $12 to charge my leaf, if I lose 10% of my efficiency over 60 months that would cost me only $72 vs $600 for the additional new set of LRR tires. it is no brainer :roll:

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You make a valid point, although I will suggest that tires with a wear warranty will give some money back when one swaps for new ones, something you might want to factor into your calculations. (I spend nothing to charge my LEAF so fuel cost savings aren't a factor for me.)

But cost of tire wear isn't everything. Having the range to be able to get home on a long trip is far more important to me than saving a few dollars on tires that wear a bit longer (and range will become even more important as my battery capacity continues to decline — I'm down about 14%). And I can assure you that even the more durable tires will wear out well before their rated miles under my driving conditions. It's just a fact of life here.

My tires were clearly showing wear at 18,000 miles. I now have 25,000 miles and they are in desperate need of replacement. The dealer told me they wear out faster than normal because they are "eco" tires, which are made with lighter materials to help extend range. I have the Bridgestone tires. I also think weight & torque are primary causes. My boss has a Tesla and he had to change his tires at 16,000 miles. I drive very conservatively, primarily on high ways, in ECO mode.

I read on another forum that some people who lease their Leaf and replaced their tires took a heavy hit for not installing the more expensive "eco" tires, which cost about $200 each. Has anyone here ran into that problem? I'm about to turn in my car, and the dealer said I would need to replace the tires. The tires he wanted to put on were not "eco" tires. I asked if that was going to hurt me when I turn it in, and he said he had no idea - an outside third party inspector determines what to charge.

MajesticLeaf said:

I read on another forum that some people who lease their Leaf and replaced their tires took a heavy hit for not installing the more expensive "eco" tires, which cost about $200 each. Has anyone here ran into that problem?

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Last time I priced Bridgestone Ecopias for the LEAF at Costco they were around $107/ea. plus mounting and balancing. The equivalent Michelins were about $10/ea. more. Basically, the Ecopias were the cheapest things I saw there in that size.

So, I'm at 16,500 miles - same thing with the balding tires on the edges. (Bridgestone Ecopia) The Nissan dealer wants to charge $600 to replace them with new Ecopias. Quite expensive, IMO, to get only 16,500 miles out of them.

Any recommendations for other tires?

I found I needed to run @ 50 PSI on my Ecopias. They handle and wear much better. Before anyone panics, it's not like I'll ever subject my tires to long sustained high-speed (which is where the safety factor comes in). In other words, the battery is usually the limiting factor.

-Phil

Much of my driving is low-speed on winding roads. This has always lead to relatively short tread life on all my tires, on all my vehicles.

I got rapid shoulder wear on OE Ecopias, even at ~42 PSI, and after ~17 k miles, I began running ~48 PSI (up to ~51 PSI after they heat up, as reported by the battery app).

Harsher ride, but improved handling and wear, IMO.

tretola said:

...Any recommendations for other tires?

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I replaced my OE ecopias at ~29k miles, last July, with aftermarket ecopias, which (tested at ~42 PSI) may have slightly lower rolling resistance (and also slightly greater circumference) than my 2011 OE Ecopias did, when near-new.

I can't say yet if the replacement ecopias are wearing any better (or worse) than the 2011's did.

tretola said:

So, I'm at 16,500 miles - same thing with the balding tires on the edges. (Bridgestone Ecopia) The Nissan dealer wants to charge $600 to replace them with new Ecopias. Quite expensive, IMO, to get only 16,500 miles out of them...

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It is perhaps worth pointing out again that the Ecopias tend to look bald on the outside edge because the tread on that section of the tires isn't anywhere near to full depth. So, that part of the tires will look bald even though the tires still have plenty of overall tread depth. I am finding that my tires in that condition still seem to handle wet roads fairly well — no apparent hydroplaning — which is likely due to the fact that the water-channeling grooves still work fine. On dry roads bald tires should have better traction.

I want to replace mine before winter because I expect that to improve snow traction, although that's not important in some parts of the country. The tread pattern matters a lot on snow.

As always: YMMV...

dgpcolorado said:

tretola said:

So, I'm at 16,500 miles - same thing with the balding tires on the edges. (Bridgestone Ecopia) The Nissan dealer wants to charge $600 to replace them with new Ecopias. Quite expensive, IMO, to get only 16,500 miles out of them...

Click to expand...

It is perhaps worth pointing out again that the Ecopias tend to look bald on the outside edge because the tread on that section of the tires isn't anywhere near to full depth. So, that part of the tires will look bald even though the tires still have plenty of overall tread depth. I am finding that my tires in that condition still seem to handle wet roads fairly well — no apparent hydroplaning — which is likely due to the fact that the water-channeling grooves still work fine. On dry roads bald tires should have better traction.

I want to replace mine before winter because I expect that to improve snow traction, although that's not important in some parts of the country. The tread pattern matters a lot on snow.

As always: YMMV...

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Thanks for mentioning this again. My OE Ecopia's showed a lot of outer edge wear at around 20,000 and now going to replace them at 25k. I drive winding mountain roads, and although I'd like to otherwise consider myself an ECO mode driver, I do take the turns fast - surely contributing to the wear in addition to not having been aware of the tips to run at higher pressure before.

I've been researching LRR tires and noted that the Continental ProContact Eco Plus tires were highly rated by Consumer Reports for wear and handling, but I haven't been able to find too many user reviews. Does anyone have experience with these tires?

FastEddys said:

... I drive winding mountain roads, and although I'd like to otherwise consider myself an ECO mode driver, I do take the turns fast - surely contributing to the wear in addition to not having been aware of the tips to run at higher pressure before...

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I also drive winding mountain roads and my speeds around hairpin turns are higher than I would prefer because the LEAF doesn't have enough regen and I don't like riding the friction brakes all the way downhill. It is hard on tires: one sharp curve is worth a lot of freeway distance in tire wear. That's life in the mountains; I'll trade tire wear for scenic mountain vistas, wildlife, and peace and quiet!