Tesla-Approved Tyres
Tyres are crucial for your vehicle. Engineered to work seamlessly with Tesla’s electric vehicle drivetrains, Tesla-approved tyres are built to optimise performance, safety, reliability and durability. As Lars Moravy, our VP of Vehicle Engineering, puts it, “It is the most important thing on the car and it’s the only thing that touches the ground and it has to do everything. It has to be quiet. It has to be comfortable.”1
Tesla marks our approved tyres with a T mark, T0 as the first approved version. Subsequent updates to incorporate new tuning or technology will be marked with T1, T2 and so on.
You can schedule to replace your vehicle’s tyres with our approved tyres in the Tesla app. Our available approved tyres can also be purchased at Tesla Service Centres. Wheel and tyre packages can be purchased from the Tesla Shop.
We co-develop each tyre with our tyre suppliers. As there are vast number of variables to optimise how a tyre performs, we utilise virtual development iterations, which uses computer modeling and other tools to evaluate potential tyre designs before actually building the tyres. This process allows noise, ride, handling and efficiency to be designed and optimised in parallel, shortening the development time and integrating the latest materials available from our tyre suppliers.
We evaluate tyres across the entire noise spectrum to help create solutions that make our tyres as quiet as possible. Acoustic foam in the tyres helps dampen and absorb some objectional frequencies to make your ride quiet and smooth so that the noise coming from the road is not passed to the cabin.
The cross section of a tyre with acoustic foam
The graph below shows a Model X tyre with and without acoustic foam as measured by our Noise team. For reference, 3 dB is a doubling of sound level. Acoustic foam in the tyres reduces the peak at 6 dB at 200 Hz. With the reduction, music and conversations in the Model X sound clearer for passengers and the driver. For the Model X driver, the loudness of the tyre with foam is significantly lower compared to the tyre without foam.
Note: Hertz, Hz, is a unit used to measure sound frequency, or the pitch of a sound. Decibel, dB, is a unit used to measure sound level, or the loudness of a sound. dB(A) refers to a weighting scale that approximates the sensitivity of the human ear after taking into account that human ears hear different frequencies. For reference, levels of highway traffic noise typically range from 70 to 80 dB(A) at a distance of 50 feet from the highway and the noise generated by a conversation between two people standing 3 feet apart is usually in the range of 60 to 65 dB(A).2
Our approved tyres are built to support both the acceleration and regenerative deceleration of our vehicles. New generations of our approved tyres are designed for improvement in performance of up to 20-mile range (EPA est.) from the previous versions of the tyres.
By selecting the right tyres and properly maintaining them, you can maximise your vehicle’s range efficiency. Learn more about range and what you can do to drive efficiently to conserve range.
You should know when to replace them and which tyres will work best with your vehicle. Since not all tyres are built for electric vehicles, by choosing our approved tyres, you can expect good handling, traction and comfort in your drive along with optimised range efficiency. For example, adding new Goodyear Eagle Sport T1 all-season tyres to an early Model S equipped with original Eagle RSA2 all-season tyres can provide an improvement of up to 20 miles (EPA est.) in range.
Your vehicle’s originally equipped tyres depend on the vehicle model and market region. Know the capabilities of your vehicle’s tyres and whether they are suited for summer, all-season or winter driving.
Winter Tyres
If driving in cold temperatures or on roads where snow or ice may be present, we recommend using winter tyres. Winter tyres offer the best traction in conditions below 5˚C. For the optimal winter driving experience, we recommend fitting winter wheels and tyres just before the season’s first snowfall. Winter tyres can be identified by a mountain or snowflake symbol on the tyre’s sidewall.
Winter wheel and tyre packages are available from the Tesla Shop.
Summer Tyres
Summer tyres offer the best traction in warmer weather, especially for performance vehicles at higher speeds. Summer tyres have reduced traction and increased noise below 5˚C, and for safety reasons, should not be driven on snow or ice.
Tyres naturally change over time from the effects of ultraviolet light, extreme temperatures, high loads and environmental conditions.
We recommend rotating your tyres every 6,250 miles or if the difference of tread depth between two of your tyres is 2/32 inches or greater, whichever comes first. Aggressive driving can lead to accelerated tyre wear and may require more frequent tyre service. To maximise each tyre’s tread life, rotating them spreads the wear evenly across all four tyres.
Replacing Tyres
When you need to replace your tyres, we recommend replacing them with our approved tyres as they are designed to reduce road noise and optimise handling, comfort and range. Learn more about tyre repair and maintenance.
When needed, your vehicle will detect uneven tyre wear and inform you from the vehicle touchscreen when inspection or service is needed. To schedule and replace your vehicle’s tyres with our approved tyres, follow these steps:
- Open the Tesla app.
- Tap ‘Service.’
- Select ‘Request Service.’
- Tap ‘Tyres & Wheels.’
- Tap ‘Tyres.’
- Tap 'Replacement Tyres.’
- Follow the on-screen prompts to provide additional information.
You can also view and compare the recommended tyres for your Tesla vehicle in the Tesla Service Portal. Select your vehicle model’s service information and open the replacement tyre information to browse the recommended tyres for each type of tyre.
Note: The Tesla Service Portal is for professional automobile technicians who repair and service vehicles and who may have special techniques and certifications. It is intended to be used only in the market in which the applicable service subscription and parts are available for purchase.