Yokohama begins production of high load capacity tires

Hiratsuka, Japan—The Yokohama Rubber Co., Ltd., announced that it has begun production and sales of HLC (high load capacity) tires 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 (OE) on new cars and for their repairs, Yokohama Rubber 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 tires have difficulty maintaining high load capacity and performance characteristics, HLC tires were established as a new tire size in the passenger car tire category of ETRTO standards with a higher load capacity than conventional XL tires. Comparing the load capacities of 275/35R23 size tires, conventional XL tires weigh 900 kg (load index 104), while HLC tires weigh 1,000 kg (load index 108). HLC tires are indicated with “HL” at the beginning of their tire size descriptions.

HLC tire requires advanced technology to ensure quietness and handling stability while maintaining high load durability. Through repeated simulations of failures caused by high loads, Yokohama Rubber has developed the dedicated profile for HLC tires that achieves a balance between load durability and other performance characteristics, with less heat generation and strain under high loads than standard tires.

Yokohama Rubber is actively promoting the response to the electric vehicles and large SUVs, which have been increasing in recent years, and is developing tires tailored to high load capacity and various other vehicle characteristics.

Under Yokohama Rubber’s three-year (2021–2023) medium-term management plan, Yokohama Transformation 2023 (YX2023), the consumer tire business aims to maximize the sales ratios of high-value-added YOKOHAMA tires, namely the global flagship ADVAN brand, the GEOLANDAR brand of tires for SUVs and pickup trucks, and various winter tires. One of the key initiatives under this strategy is expanding sales of ADVAN and GEOLANDAR tires as original equipment on new cars.