Regenerative Braking and Tire Wear

I think the front tires would wear faster, faster than a regular front wheel drive car. During any regen "braking" it's the front tires only that provide resistance.

 

Both manual braking (4 wheels) and regenerative braking (front wheels only) ultimately rely on tire friction with the road surface but there is no question that for most people the former, manual application, even with ABS, is much tougher on all four tires than the latter, computer controlled schedule of regeneration, is on fronts only. In any case, you rotate tires on a non regenerative braking car just as often, especially considering the annual rotation associated with switch-over from summer to winter tire sets.

 

if you read the words carefully, they said 'the tyres wear out faster than the brakes'. that absolutely true. however, anecdotally speaking, they do not wear out any faster than any other car, and tyre rotation is important if you want fairly even wear due to suspension components and things like uneven weight. (single occupant and etc.)

 

If it is, its the first accurate statement to come out of a dealer service department.
The primary reason for rotating tires is extend wear. Front tires wear faster because they're steering, and have more weight on them.

 

and because they are driving, do 70% of the braking and have more weight of the car transferred to them when normal braking occurs.
dealers here in the UK don't usually rotate tyres, unless you ask them to, I swap front to back every 10-12K miles.

 

Tire wear is based directly on the amount of friction with the road surface. The only way your tires would wear faster with regen braking is if you stop quicker than you normally would. The real benefit is less brake pad wear.

 

And the front tires provide the drive too......and there is additional friction from turning.
The fronts will wear faster than the rears; regen braking is but a small factor.

 

All that aside, I'm the one rotating our tires, well, swapping between snows and all seasons. I check tread depth, and the difference between front and rear is never more than 1/32". We're only putting on about 10000 kms a year now though.

 

If you look at it cross wise it might be, since with regenerative braking the tires will wear at the same rate as ever, but the brake components will wear at a greatly reduced rate. Thus the tires wear faster than the brake components: 60,000 mules is a long tire life, but Prius brakes can go three times that long before being worn out. Most cars have worn out the brakes in only two sets of tires.

However, I seriously doubt that the Prius wears out tires any faster than other small Front Wheel Drive cars; it is just that the brakes wear out slower.

 

The issue is more hypothetical than real. Regenerative braking, which is always fairly light braking, would tend to wear front tires SLIGHTLY faster than conventional braking with all 4 wheels at the same deceleration level. However, Prius drivers might be better motivated or educated than average drivers to avoid unnecessary hard braking, so might end up with less tire wear due to braking.

 

Yes, the tires on a Prius wear faster than the brakes due to the regenerative braking. But it isn't because the tires wear faster. It is because the brakes basically won't wear out (although I'm saying that based on my experience with my old Gen II prius, which is all of its 162k miles (before it got nailed by a person blowing through a stop sign) never needed pads or anything else apart from brake fluid changing. Lowest maintenance car I've ever seen.

Of course, I also pump up the tires, rotate them, and corner gently. I replaced the tired on the old Prius twice. Sadly, the second time was at just under 150k, and it was mainly because my daughter was driving the car and winter was headed our way. If I had been driving it at that point, they would have remained on the car at least a year longer. So, drive gently, rotate and keep your tires pumped up. They will last a very long time.