SEMA Show 2024 | Hankook iON | EV Tires and More!

Hey, I'm Miguel Cortina and this is Will Colette and we're here in Vegas at the SEMA show with Hankook where it is wild and it is crazy. We're going to talk to an expert on the ION tires. This is an EV and hybrid tire that ION has and then we're going to race each other. Well, he's going to try to race. I'm going to take the W. Let's go check it out. I'm here with Robert Nazca with Hankook. Robert, thank you so much for being here. We're going to talk about the ION tire, right? This is an EV-specific tire. But a lot of people that are getting into EVs now, I mean, they're very popular cars now, are asking, why do I need an EV-specific tire? Well, there's a lot of differences between an EV and an internal combustion engine. And some of the four characteristics that we really identified is that the EV is going to be heavier, it's going to have instant torque, it's also going to have battery power, and it's going to be quiet. So we're going to need a tire that's going to be able to identify and be able to handle those different features of the EV. And the ION tire is a family of tires, right? That's right. It's an EV-specific lineup, but you're covering a lot of ground within its lineup. We are. We're the only tire manufacturer right now that has a full lineup. So we have our ION Summer, our ION Evo All-Season, also our ION Winter tire. Okay, yeah. And all kinds of sedans, SUVs, you name it. Absolutely. We fit all the applications, whether from a small, large SUV, all the way down to a smaller sedan. Absolutely. We're very excited about that. So let's dive a little bit into it. This is, I think, the All-Season tire. Yes. Right? So I have an SUV. Okay. Right? And I want to go out into the trails, but I live in the city. Yes. And it's an EV, right? This tire is going to be perfect for you, because not only can it handle the wet and also the dry road conditions, but if you're going to go up to the mountains where it might snow a little bit, this All-Season compound is going to be perfect for you. And some of the specific characteristics that we have for the ION Evo All-Season, we're going to have a knurling pattern, or like a zigzag pattern, that's going to help with the road noise. We're also going to have a stiffer sidewall. So we have sidewall technology that's gone into the tire itself. Also into the construction of the tire. And we'll also have a foam on the inside, a noise absorber, that's going to help with any road noise. That's key for all EVs, right? I mean, EVs, like you said, they're quieter. Absolutely. Right? The lack of an internal combustion engine makes the cabin even more quiet. Absolutely. And basically what you have is wind and tire noise, so road noise coming in. Absolutely. So you want to try to limit that noise from coming into the cabin. So the Hankook ION tire is going to be able to help reduce that noise coming in. The summer compound tires will be perfect if you don't have a lot of the winter weather in your area. With the ION summer, we actually have increased the stiffness of the sidewall as well to help with the rigidity. It also helps with the low rolling resistance to make sure that you get the extra charge per mile. Okay. And that's obviously super important in any EV. You want to maximise the range that you have. Yes. Right? And tires play a key role in that. They create a lot of drag, so you want to minimise that to maximise the range as much as possible. Absolutely. It actually starts with our curing process. We've optimised the curing process so we have the perfect timing on it to actually make it have a better rolling resistance and also have an even tread wear. Okay. Yeah. That's awesome. Plus, the summer tire, I'm sure it's meant for those sporty EVs, and you need something that is able to handle all that torque at the very beginning. Absolutely. To have traction right off the bat because with the instant torque from EVs, you need something like this. Not only that, we've had a lot of customers that are actually wearing out their tires super fast but would not be able to have that because of the ION technology to be able to handle that extra weight and also the instant torque that those vehicles are going to have. So, there's these two tires over here. We have a couple more tires over here. Why don't we go check them out? Yeah, absolutely. So, here we have our ION winter tire and this is going to be made specifically for EV and hybrid vehicles. One of the reasons for that is it's actually going to have increased stiffness on the sidewall to handle that extra weight and, of course, the way that the tread pattern is designed to give you the extra traction. It's completely different if you look at the tread from the other two. Absolutely. You can tell that this is meant to provide that extra traction when the weather gets tricky and when the terrain gets tricky as well. Correctly. So, we're going to have a directional pattern and with the extra 3D siding that's going to give you the traction that you're going to need for those heavy snow days. Uh-huh. And when it gets snowy, it's going to evacuate all that snow, get it out of the system, right? Absolutely. It's going to evacuate the snow and also going to give you, again, extra miles per charge. And I know a lot of the EV users during the wintertime, they have a little bit of problems having a full battery. And so, actually, our ION winter tire will help you be able to get the extra miles per charge. Now, Hankook is also a premier sponsor of the Formula E series and we have here a Formula E tire. What kind of learnings have you guys gotten from the Formula E that have trickled down to the consumer tires? Well, we're very excited to have, again, the full family of ION. So, we're excited to use some of the research and development that's gone into the Formula E that's actually trickled down into our summer compound, our all-season, and also our winter compound. We've been able to not only use the handling, the sustainability, but also the low rolling resistance that we do when we make the ION Formula E tire. And sustainability, like you were talking about, it's not something that you hear every day about tires. So, at Hankook, we have the 4E cycle. So, we like to reduce, reuse, renew, and recycle. Okay, excellent. Well, Robert, thank you so much for being here. I appreciate you giving us all the information about the ION tires. You guys have an extensive lineup, and you have every car is basically covered. Absolutely. We have an application for every vehicle that's out there. Thank you so much. Thank you. Miguel, why do you keep hitting the brake pedal? All right. I wasn't the first one to wreck. That's a plus. So, leaderboard is showing like 18 seconds per lap, and they told us that my first lap would be my slowest. I think I had 38 seconds in my first lap. I'm not here to set records. I'm at 18.7 on that last lap, though. It would really help if I'd stop hitting the wall. I heard a crash. We better stay hosts, bro. We have no future as drivers. Oh, you had the best lap. 89. 89 versus 142. Wow. I am so glad I'm good at TikTok. Let's be honest. I'll beat you fair and square on the e-sim. I need to practice a little bit more. But, in the meantime, if you want any more information about Hankook, visit HankookTire.com.