I Pulled My Bolt Electric Vehicle Into a Parking Spot, Heard a Hissing Sound, Saw the Tire Was Rapidly Losing Air, and I Don’t Have a Spare - I’m a Teacher and Can’t Deal With This - I need Help

One common trait among battery-only vehicles is that the automakers almost never provide a common safety and convenience feature found in virtually every other top-selling vehicle model - a spare tire. A post on the outstanding Chevrolet Bolt EV and EUV Owners club on Facebook prompted us to dig a little deeper. What we found is that many Tesla Model Y, Chevy Bolt, Volkswagen ID.4, and Hyundai Ioniq 5 battery-electric vehicle owners are frustrated that their model has no spare tire. Our findings and the solutions follow.

Related Story: Every Top-Selling Vehicle Model In America Has Spare Tire Available Except One - We Break Down Which Popular Brands and Models Offer Spare Tires Segment by Segment, and Highlight Which Models Lack This Important Safety and Convenience Feature

MA’s Chevy Bolt Dilemma
Here at Torque News, we are huge fans of the Chevrolet Bolt and Bolt EUV. We even climbed the highest peak in the Northeast in one to test the Bolt's regen abilities. Sadly, Chevy didn’t equip this affordable and popular EV model with a spare tire. However, Chevy did fit self-seal tires. They sometimes work and can prevent a tow, but not always. They are not as helpful as a spare tire since sidewall damage is not part of what they can help with. 

Here is what MA posted in full:

I need some help. I pulled into a spot at work, heard a hissing sound, and got out of the car to see the front left tire rapidly losing air. I don't have a spare tire. I'm a teacher and can't deal with this until after school, but in the meantime, should my wife try to acquire an appropriate spare and a jack kit so I can put it on myself after work, or do I need to call my insurance and arrange for a flatbed? If getting a tire is the better choice, what exactly should I tell her to get? Do insurance companies understand that a flatbed is required? (It is, isn't it?) Buying a spare is something I thought would get to in a month or two...of course.

As you can see, a spare tire would have solved this dilemma. MA could call roadside assistance, and the technician could mount the spare, allowing MA to deal with this issue after work or on the next free day. Because the vehicle lacked a spare tire, the whole family was impacted and inconvenienced. 

Do teachers actually use spare tires while at work? Yes, they do. We took the above image of a Boston-area teacher's vehicle parked at school. 

A Tesla Model Y Owner Left Stranded Without a Spare
A Tesla Model Y owner we will call HY was left in a similar bad situation after suffering tire damage. Here’s what HY posted to a popular Facebook club with over 100,000 members:

I just went over a pothole, and my left rear tire popped. It's gushing out air and dropping pressure. I managed to get it to my garage, but I'm wondering if it's covered by some sort of tire warranty. Car only has about 13k miles purchased March 2023. Do they replace the tire when I call roadside assistance to my house? Or do they just patch the leak? The tire has a big gash on the side, and air is whooshing out.

Many of HY’s fellow Model Y owners were familiar with this scenario. They offered answers to the question, including:

• “Looks like you get to buy a new tire. Hitting a pothole is definitely not covered by any warranty.”
• “If you do replace them with new ones, replace both tires, don't just replace that one.”
• “Unless you bought hazard warranty, it’s not covered.”

That last comment caught our attention. We happened to be at a Tesla dealership in Massachusetts last week trying to see a new Model Y Juniper. We spotted the tire warranty advertisement posted on the salesperson’s desk, as shown above. As you can see, Tesla is well aware that its customers may suffer tire damage, yet the brand does not include a spare tire in its most popular models. 

Volkswagen ID.4 Flat Tires Without a Spare

One electric vehicle type that seems particularly prone to flat tires is the Volkswagen ID.4. Or at least the members in ID.4 clubs report them a lot. Owner, IP, gave us permission to use the image that you see above. Here are some ID.4 posts from owners with flat tires, often with an accompanying image of an ID.4 being towed. 

• “My turn with the flat tire within 2 weeks of purchase!”
• “Second flat tire on my ID.4.”
• “So I got a flat tire today. I have a 23 Pro S AWD. I know the recommendation is to replace all four tires. Has anyone only replaced two?”
• “I got an unrepairable flat tire and am requesting feedback on my course of action.”
• “At 30,240 miles, one of our Alenza tires failed on the highway. AAA got a recovery vehicle out.”

Volkswagen’s ID.4 has multiple different wheel and tire sizes, depending on year and trim. One even has staggered tire sizes different from front to back.

Hyundai Ioniq 5 Flat Tire Results In Towing After Repair Kit Also Fails
Many automakers who steal your spare replace it with a tire mobility kit, a.k.a. repair kit. These consist of a can of goo that you are supposed to pour into the tire by removing the valve stem. You then replace the stem, pump the tire up a bit with a 12V pump, and then drive a bit. The goo is supposed to seal the hole, and then you pump up the tire some more and drive to a tire repair store. Unfortunately, we hear a lot of stories about tire repair kits not working. As a Hyundai Ioniq 5 owner, DM had this happen. Here’s what DM posted:

Got a flat tire on Sunday. Unfortunately, it was too large for the goo to fix, and I ended up needing a tow far from civilization with no phone signal. All turned out fine, but I had to drive miles on the flat. This makes me wonder: could I buy some kind of generic compact spare and throw it in the back when I go off-grid camping again? Something that would have gotten me home. Is there such a thing?

Solutions For EVs Without Spares
DM asks a good question. ‘What can be done to deal with the lack of spares in EVs?” Here is a list of ideas we have on this topic

1. Buy an EV that has a spare. Here is a list of EV models with spare tires broken down by EV type.
2. Find a spare tire from an aftermarket supplier such as Modern Spare
3. Create your own spare tire kit using aftermarket parts from a similar vehicle
4. Carry your own puncture repair kit and pump
5. Be sure you have AAA and some supplies to deal with a tow

Have you had a flat tire with an electric vehicle? How did you deal with it? Tell is the comments section under this story so you can help a fellow EV owner.

Do you think a compact spare tire is a helpful item for electric vehicles to have?
 

John Goreham is a credentialed New England Motor Press Association member and expert vehicle tester. John completed an engineering program with a focus on electric vehicles, followed by two decades of work in high-tech, biopharma, and the automotive supply chain before becoming a news contributor. He is a member of the Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE int). In addition to his eleven years of work at Torque News, John has published thousands of articles and reviews at American news outlets. He is known for offering unfiltered opinions on vehicle topics. You can connect with John on Linkedin and follow his work on his personal X channel or on our X channel. Please note that stories carrying John's by-line are never AI-generated, but he does employ grammar and punctuation software when proofreading and he also uses image generation tools. 

Image of Chevrolet Bolt battery-electric car with flat tire used with permission of owner MA. Image of Mazda CX-5 with spare tire at a school by John Goreham. Image of Tesla tire and wheel package on display at Peabody dealership taken by John Goreham. VW ID.4 flat tire image by owner IP used with permission.