Hankook Tire receives the International Design Excellence Awards (IDEA) 2018 for its new electric vehicle tire

• - A next generation electric vehicle tire with innovative design, the ‘Kinergy AS ev’ earns finalist recognition for IDEA
• - Combination of advanced technology to create a hyper-low noise environment and improve driving performance and comfort

October 5, 2018 (Seoul, Korea) - Hankook Tire’s Kinergy AS ev, a second generation EV tire, was recognized as a finalist in the automotive & transportation segment from the International Design Excellence Awards (IDEA) 2018.

During the past years, Hankook Tire has received numerous awards from IDEA for its futuristic concept tires – bronze in 2015, winner in 2015, finalist in 2017 – but this is the first for Hankook Tire to receive the award for its mass produced model.

Kinergy AS ev is characterized by its hyper-low noise environment optimized for electric vehicles as well as comfort, driving performance, and handling performance on par with ultra-high performance passenger tires. Particularly, its block design modeled after electric circuits and sidewall design customized for electric vehicles provide an improved aerodynamic performance and the best driving environment in all kinds of conditions.

Diverse noise reducing technologies such as technology to reduce a certain frequency that incurs when driving through optimum pitch arrangement was also applied. Aramid Hybrid reinforcement belt exclusive to electric vehicles was used to minimize tread block distortion when changing direction, maintaining optimum grip force to provide exquisite handling performance and significantly improve handling stability.

With the recognition from the IDEA 2018, Hankook Tire has been acknowledged for its design philosophy and infinite potentials to lead the future driving environment. Hankook Tire will continue its journey to lead the future tire industry, actively developing innovative designs.

Hosted by the Industrial Design Society of America, the IDEA 2018 is a world class design award and is deemed as the world’s top three design awards along with ‘iF DESIGN AWARD’ and ‘Red Dot Design Award’. Various elements including design innovation, user experience and benefit, corporate social responsibility, aesthetic, etc. are evaluated to select the best design.