https://insideevs.com/features/750652/ev-spare-tires/
Why Don’t EVs Come With Spare Tires?
Well some do.
There is a list at the link. No Teslas except for the Cybertruck which has an option for an additional fee.
1 Like
A lot of cars, including ICE models, don’t come with a spare anymore. Deleting the spare reduces weight, yielding a slight improvement in fuel efficiency, and, more importantly, reduces cost, so more profit goes in the company’s pocket.
Steve
1 Like
They eliminate the tire, jack, and wrench, and replace with a can of fix a flat. A good saving for the manufacturer.
My new car - Mazda - came with a spare.
I would be amazed if more than 20% of the people responsible for the “who needs a spare in their car” decision have ever even changed a tire in their adult life.
2 Likes
Many probably have. I have changed a tire twice, once by the side of the road, and once in my garage. But, the “JC” calculus now is about the future, not the past: “what decision puts money in my pocket now?”
Steve
Depends on the bribe paid by the tire companies.
1 Like
Bingo! But we mustn’t forget the jostling from the instant flat repair goop can guys!
They get it from China…
Chinese can pay bribes too. It is rapidly becoming evident that bribes, extortion, and conflict of interest are the mother’s milk of Shiny-land.
Steve
1 Like
No no no, it comes with names like Mutual Research Alliance!
I would be amazed if 20% of people period have changed a flat.
When I taught my niece to drive I was going to teach her how to change a flat. Her response was she would call someone. I parried with, what if it’s 2AM and you are in a cellphone dead zone? No answer. Still don’t think she has learned.
I’ve changed a few flats and even used to rotate my own tires back when I did my own oil changes. One time, after buying new tires, went to rotate tires and the mechanic had put the lug nuts on too tight. Was almost lifting the car off the ground before they loosened. Thought about getting an extra long tire iron (Archimedes give me a lever long enough) but never did.
I imagine too many people are just physically unable to do the job.
2 Likes
I understand the desire for a spare tire for those very rare cases when it is needed. I understand the cost savings of not having it, but also the extra luggage space. This is not the days of the 185/80-15 tire anymore people. My 265/50-R20 is a HUGE tire. Even a narrow spare will have a large diameter taking up space.
1 Like
I have one of those 12V cigarette-lighter powered air pumps.
6 or 7 yrs ago, I got 3-5 punctures in the space of maybe a year (construction in the apartment complex) and that pump gave me the ability to get to a tire change place.
The “problem” was ALWAYS a nail in the sidewall, and total tire replacement.
I highly recommend carrying one of these cheap pumps in the car.
I got one at Walmart or O’Reilly’s or some such place. For under 20$.
ralph
4 Likes
Use a politician to blow it up in 10 or less seconds.
1 Like
I used to get a lot of punctures. My route to work took me down a road frequented by trucks on their way to a dump. I had two cars back then, and I ended up with punctures on both of them, in the same week. When I had new tires installed on one car, I looked at the old tires. Three of them had been patched, one of them patched twice. One evening, I had barely left home and heard something metal bounce away after one of my tires hitting it. I pulled over, and listened: sssssssssss I turned around and drove the half block back home. By morning the tire was completely flat. I put the spare on and looked at the flat: it had a tube stuck in it, like from a police “stop stick”. It would have been impossible to inflate that tire with a dime store compressor. A can of goop, like many cars come with now, probably could not have plugged that puncture either.
Steve
1 Like
Ugh!
All my punctures have been nails or screws. N a bolt or two.
The air pump is certainly not for every situation.
ralph
That’s usually what happens with me. A slow leak and the nail or screw is still there.
But a couple of years ago I got a flat from an allen wrench! Yes the short side of a ~1/8th inch L shaped allen wrench.
Mike
1 Like
Where I am now the leaks are overwhelmingly from cactus spines, and rather slow. The problem is so common that the solution, roadside tire repair shacks, are also common. You pull in, they come on like a racetrack pitstop crew, and max ten minutes later you pay about 5 bucks (100 pesos including tip) and pull out.
3 Likes
Another thing about the cans of goop: if your car uses the type of TPMS that uses direct read, in wheel, pressure sensors, the goop will probably foul the sensor, so that needs to be replaced too.
And all the goop and dime store compressors will not help at all, if you tear a sidewall, or bend a wheel, on a pothole.
Steve
3 Likes
Had 2 really bad flats in the last 4-5 years.
Both too big to patch.
One was some kids hiding out next to my car while I was in Costa Rica who decided to just make a big hole on my tire. Worse was I had custom rims that required a special socket attachment to change the wheel and put the donut on.
Second one happened when I ran over a curb late at night and it creased my tire against the rim. Worse was that the big plastic nut/handle that held my donut in place had rusted to the point that I couldn’t get it off. Daughter picked me up and next morning came back with a friend and his truck and a pipe wrench to get the nut/handle off.
In both cases can of flat fixer didn’t work, just too big a hole.
So, I vote for having a spare tire.
MS
3 Likes