Yokohama begins production and sales of HLC tyres

The Yokohama Rubber Co., Ltd., has begun production and sales of HLC (high load capacity) tyres to meet the needs of heavy duty passenger cars such as EVs and hybrid cars with high capacity batteries, as well as large SUVs.

Having been developed as the original equipment on new cars and for their repairs, Yokohama Rubber said it will also develop products for the replacement market in line with market needs.

In response to the increase in the number of heavy duty passenger cars, for which conventional XL (extra load) standard tyres have difficulty maintaining high load capacity and performance characteristics, HLC tyres were established as a new tyre size in the passenger car tyre category of ETRTO (European Tyre and Rim Technical Organization) standards with a higher load capacity than conventional XL tyres.

Comparing the load capacities of 275/35R23 size tyres, conventional XL tyres weigh 900 kg (load index 104), while HLC tyres weigh 1,000 kg (load index 108). HLC tyres are indicated with “HL” at the beginning of their tyre size descriptions.

HLC tyres require advanced technology to ensure quietness and handling stability while maintaining high load durability.

Through repeated simulations of failures caused by high loads, Yokohama Rubber said it has developed the dedicated profile for HLC tyres that achieves a balance between load durability and other performance characteristics, with less heat generation and strain under high loads than standard tyres.