After I rotated my tires I couldn’t get over how heavy the wheels were and I couldn’t get the idea out of my head. So I began researching, looking at aftermarket wheels, their weights and I followed the advice from EV-olution https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=faGZSImDxAU&t=7s After his video and checking my math I bought a set of Fast EV01+ wheels. It’s a lot of money but if I have the car 15 years I speculate I will recoup my expense by saving on fast charger trip usage, longer motor life (less work) and longer battery life (less charging). I don’t drive but a few 1-day 200+ mile trip per year but when I do the range is a concern. and certainly the time at the Fast Charger reading a book/magazine and deleting e-mails instead of moving is a minor nuisance.

I also contemplated changing from a 17″ wheel to a 16″ wheel and replacing the tires for a more comfortable ride but I can’t imagine that extra 1/2 inch radius would equate to a noticeable ride difference and wasn’t sure if it would be moving more mass further out from the axle or less mass (would the tire be heavier or lighter). The previous car had 205/65R15’s (Niro EV has 215/55R17) so I did loose some ride comfort in the tire absorption but I speculate the old Ford just had smoother suspension. I’ve only had the car for 2 months and I think i’m getting used to the harder ride and I didn’t want to deviate much from the original stock to ‘keep things simple’.

The wheels arrived and I had them mounted at DIscount Tire. They moved my tire pressure sensors to the new wheels (I didn’t have to buy new ones!) and they sold me some black lugnuts. I noticed when the new wheels arrived they were V wedge shaped holes and the original Kia lugnuts were flat.

Here is the original Kia wheel on the scale. 26.4 lbs which is less than what I thought they would be.

Here is the new Fast EV01+ wheel (before I added the plastic inserts) on the scale. 16.8 lbs. so right about 10 lbs per wheel. I was speculating the difference would be more like 20 lbs per wheel. Anyway, it should help but measurements will be the judge.

Here is how they look with the black lugnuts.

I’ve never purchased aftermarket wheels so I was a bit overwhelmed at the options and I was surprised to learn about so many other measurements that are critical for fitting. Anyway, if you have the same Niro EV, these are good wheels if your needing to extend your range. I had them mounted at Discount Tire and used their web site to schedule an appointment for ‘tire rotation’ then in the comment I told them what I really wanted to do, and I called and confirmed after making the appointment.

Around town they really did help which makes sense – the more stop & go the more a lighter wheel will be beneficial (think of an ice skater in a spin with arms out vs arms in – it’s the same physics). The person’s weight didn’t change but the energy to rotate something with mass further from the center of rotation is much greater than with the mass closer to the center.

I finally made a road trip with thee wheels. See my road-trip page. And for some fun with math, see my Google sheet for speculation on a 1800 mile trip.