Hankook Tire emerges as strong player in global EV tire market

Ventus S1 evo3 EV [Photo provided by Hankook Tire & Technology]

South Korea’s largest tire manufacturer Hankook Tire & Technology Co. is expanding its global presence by supplying products for major electric vehicle (EV) models and launching an EV-exclusive tire brand.

According to multiple industry sources on Friday, Hankook Tire has been supplying original equipment (OE) tires for global EV models, including Porsche Taycan, Audi e-tron GT, Audi Q4 e-tron, BMW i4, Volkswagen ID.4, Hyundai IONIQ 6, and Tesla Model Y and Model 3.

In the first half of this year, the company provided Ventus S1 evo3 EV, an ultra-high-performance tire for EVs, for Toyota bZ4X, Volkswagen ID.Buzz, and Leapmotor C11 of Chinese EV startup Zhejiang Leapmotor Technologies.

Hankook Tire has also been working with Leapmotor on several key projects, strengthening its strategic partnership and expanding presence in China, the world‘s largest EV market.

EV tires accounted for 11 percent of Hankook Tire’s entire passenger car and light truck OE tire supply last year, up from 5 percent in 2021. The company aims to increase the share to 20 percent this year.

In addition to OE tires, Hankook Tire is also making aggressive moves to target the replacement EV tire market.

The company launched its EV tire brand “iON” in Europe in May last year, in Korea in September, and in the U.S. in December.

Hankook Tire’s top-tier technology, iON Performance Technology, is recognized for its optimization for EVs with low noise, high power efficiency, and improved mileage performance.

The tire company had been focusing on securing original technologies at its high-tech research center, Hankook Technodome, to develop tires for high-performance premium EVs even before EVs were commercialized.

Industry insiders note that the company has achieved such a result by boldly betting on the future of the mobility industry.

Its efforts paid off.

Hankook Tire has become an official partner for racing tires of the ABB FIA Formula E World Championship (Formula E), the world’s premier EV racing competition, this year.

The tire company will supply iON, which has been customized for Formula E vehicles, with its accumulated technology and motorsports know-how.

“In Formula E, excellent drivers drive effectively in a variety of driving conditions, and meaningful data can be collected,” said an unnamed official from Hankook Tire. “In addition to exclusively supplying tires to Formula E, we will utilize the numerous data collected to further develop EV tires.”