Getting a flat tire can be a huge hassle, but carrying the right equipment can make it significantly less of a headache. That includes something like a spare tire or a tire inflation kit. Now, it’s looking like more and more GM vehicles are equipped with a tire inflation kit, rather than a traditional spare tire.
Looking at a collection of General Motors vehicles offered for the 2024 model year, the distinction between which models equip a spare tire and which models equip a tire inflation kit starts to divide down as follows – while General Motors’ full-size SUVs and pickups tend to equip a full-size spare tire, a growing number of models are now equipped with a tire inflation kit, as opposed to a spare tire or a compact spare.
Many General Motors models don’t offer a spare tire at all. A few notable examples include the Chevy Corvette C8, as well as the Cadillac CT4 and Cadillac CT5 luxury sedans, all three of which ride on either self-sealing tires or run-flat tires.
Meanwhile, all-electric vehicles tend to equip tire inflation kits. In fact, consumer-oriented iterations of the Chevy Silverado EV (as opposed to fleet-oriented iterations) equip a tire inflation kit, rather than a spare tire.
Part of the decision to go with inflation kits for various all-electric General Motors models could be down to weight savings, as well as additional space savings, as a kit would take up less underfloor space, where the EV batteries tend to reside. Another possibility for General Motors’ move towards tire inflation kits could be as simple as a cost-saving measure over expensive run-flat tire options.
Further notable models include the all-electric BrightDrop Zevo 600 delivery van, which equips a full-size spare tire, while the slightly smaller BrightDrop Zevo 400 equips a tire inflation kit.
Check out the table below for a full breakdown of the 2024 GM vehicle spare tire availability:
| Compact Spare Tire | Full-Size Spare Tire | Tire Inflation Kit | Self-Sealing Tires | Run-Flat Tires | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| BrightDrop Zevo 400 | - | - | S | - | - |
| BrightDrop Zevo 600 | - | S | - | - | - |
| Buick Enclave | S | - | - | - | - |
| Buick Encore GX | S | - | - | - | - |
| Buick Envision | S | - | - | - | - |
| Buick Envista | S | - | - | - | - |
| Cadillac CT4 | - | - | - | S | S |
| Cadillac CT4-V | - | - | - | - | S |
| Cadillac CT4-V Blackwing | - | - | S | - | - |
| Cadillac CT5 | - | - | - | S | S |
| Cadillac CT5-V | - | - | - | - | S |
| Cadillac CT5-V Blackwing | - | - | S | - | - |
| Cadillac Escalade | - | S | - | - | - |
| Cadillac Lyriq | - | - | - | S | - |
| Cadillac XT4 | A | - | S | - | - |
| Cadillac XT5 | S | - | - | - | - |
| Cadillac XT6 | S | - | - | - | - |
| Chevrolet Blazer | S | - | - | - | - |
| Chevrolet Blazer EV | - | - | S | - | - |
| Chevrolet Camaro | - | - | S | - | A |
| Chevrolet Colorado | S | A | - | - | - |
| Chevrolet Corvette | - | - | - | - | S |
| Chevrolet Equinox | S | - | - | - | - |
| Chevrolet Equinox EV | - | - | S | - | - |
| Chevrolet Express | - | S | - | - | - |
| Chevrolet Low Cab Forward | - | - | - | - | - |
| Chevrolet Malibu | A | - | S | - | - |
| Chevrolet Silverado 1500 | - | S | - | - | - |
| Chevrolet Silverado EV | - | - | S | - | - |
| Chevrolet Silverado EV Fleet | - | S | - | - | - |
| Chevrolet Silverado HD | - | S | - | - | - |
| Chevrolet Silverado MD | - | A | - | - | - |
| Chevrolet Suburban | - | S | - | - | - |
| Chevrolet Tahoe | - | S | - | - | - |
| Chevrolet Trailblazer | S | - | - | - | - |
| Chevrolet Traverse Limited | S | - | - | - | - |
| Chevrolet Trax | S | - | - | - | - |
| GMC Canyon | - | S | - | - | - |
| GMC Hummer EV Pickup | - | S | - | - | - |
| GMC Hummer EV SUV | - | S | - | - | - |
| GMC Savana | - | S | - | - | - |
| GMC Sierra 1500 | - | S | - | - | - |
| GMC Sierra HD | - | S | - | - | - |
| GMC Terrain | S | - | - | - | - |
| GMC Yukon | - | S | - | - | - |
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Comments
I’d NEVER buy a vehicle without at least a compact spare. Not available? No sale. As Mitsubishi is hopefully figuring out with its Outlander.
Agree 100%. I commute 60 miles each day, mostly interstate. The majority of the flats I see are due to bad spots in the road or just low tire pressure. Good luck with that inflation kit with a low profile tire.
In the 30 years I’ve been driving I’ve only needed spare tire once but ended up needing a tow truck as the spare tire was flat, lol. Maybe it depends on where you live or the kind/use of vehicle you drive but I don’t see needing a spare tire being a requirement like it was before.
You realize whats going to happen now! LOL
Had several vettes with the run flats. Those ultra sticky summer tires collect nails. The run flats have saved me a half a dozen times. Otherwise in near 50 years of driving, only one flat with non-performance tires. The other thing with run flats is you have to have real tpms. I thought some cars use spin rate differences between the tires to detect low pressure. Without real tpms, you’d never know you need to fix it until the sidewall collapsed.
Elaborate more on REAL TPMS? Mine show pressure before driving and updates as each tire heats up increasing pressure usually up to 2psi. Is that what you mean REAL?
Some cheaper systems do not measure pressure and don’t display. They just display if it thinks the tires need to be checked. If the number of RPM’s while going straight differs between the two tires on an axle, it triggers the idiot light. The best tpms systems now display temp and pressure. I’m sure the C8 has it as my C7 does. Useful for summer tires where grip is very different at 40F compared to 100F. I believe they adjust the stability system based on tire temp.
Unfortunately…or Fortunately! The “real” TPMS do not automatically adjust the C7 or C8 Corvette’s Active Handling system,….BUT if a tire loses all pressure can limit maximum speed which is a good thing!
I have this in my XT5. I hate it. As a result I avoid taking my Cadillac to my jobsites and make it priority to take my Rav4 not only because its a less fancy car but also because it has a spare tire should I land up with a nail in one. I much rather change out the tire than figure out this stupid fix-a-flat kit.
The industry as a whole has been moving in this direction for years, BEVs are just expediting it for a number of reasons including cost, but more importantly, so people don’t damage the battery by improperly jacking up the car. All BEVs have limited lift points and generally require an additional plastic pad between it and the jack – given the intelligence of the average driver, you can guarantee that someone would use a jack and rupture an internal battery pack causing a fire, etc. Removing the spare removes liability.
I have a 2020 Buick Regal that came with a stupid inflation kit. My wife hit a monster pot hole and damaged the wheel. The inflation kit would not have done squat. Had to buy a new $700 wheel. After that I bought a mini spare, a good sized lug wrench, and a jack. A few months later I had a mishap when a car hit my right rear wheel and fender and broke the valve stem off. What good would an inflation kit do. Luckily I had the spare, got the change done, and was back on the road.
Around 2007 or so, Cadillac started giving dealers the option of replacing the spare tire with an “emergency inflation kit” (the space for the spare was still there, and you could get one, you just had to order the car that way and start paying for it – a $175 widow sticker hit – and what about a catastrophic failure of the tire – those kits don’t work if you have anything more than a small nail causing a slow leak).
When I asked the GSM why she was ordering ALL of the cars without a spare tire, she snarled, “BECAUSE PEOLPE HAVE BEEN GETTING THEM FOR FREE FOREVER! NO WAY THEY’LL EVER PAY FOR THEM! IF WE ORDER THEM THAT WAY THE CUSTOMERS WILL WANT THEM THROWN INTO THE DEAL FOR FREE AND WE’LL LOSE $100 GROSS ON EVERY DEAL!”
“Um. how much does the factory charge for a space saver spare?”
“About $125.00.”
Wow. I wonder if she could spell the word “shortsighted” and use it in a sentence with “customer satisfaction?” Or, as it would turn out, “common sense.”
Hmmm. That $125 figure also supplied you with a jack, lug wrench and some other sundry items that would be needed to safely secure said spare in the trunk. I went to the parts department to see how much it would COST to order all of the parts required separate from the vehicle (an inevitable question that I wanted the answer to before it was asked of me) : a little over $600. (!)
I passed the info on to her only to find that she didn’t really care, she was just laser-focused on not having to “give away a spare tire” to make a car deal. I asked, wouldn’t she rather be the hero, saving a car deal (and likely taking it from another dealer in an overcrowded, competitive market) for a mere $125?
By the end of the month, she had to pay $750 (cost + 25% – standard GM accounting) twice on two transactions in order to move the units because the competition had (wisely) ordered the vehicles both ways, with and without the spare tire.
She was last seen pushing a shopping cart down Santa Monica Boulevard.
It’s not the money, it’s the _______ _____!
Terrible and stupid, especially with low profile tires that are more likely to have a blowout. The can of goo they give you to seal up the tire isn’t going to work on that. Besides, it ruins the tire and I hear it can damage the rim and TPMS sensor too. It also has an expiration date of only a year or two. I’ve had several nails/screws in my tires before, so not having a spare is a no go for me. My Malibu Premier came without one, but thankfully lower Malibu trims had them so I was able to obtain all the pieces to stow neatly under the trunk floor where they belong.
Chevrolet Traverse Limited?
Did I miss this? Is Chevy going to continue selling the outgoing Traverse as a fleet model?
Well, if you’re in a situation where you do need a spare tire, hopefully have purchased OnStar. Another tactic to gain more profits.
Nothing worse than having a blowout or damaged tire and an inflation kit that will not do a thing to fix it. Had to buy a special tire and wheel from California to put in the empty spare wheel well for my 19 inch tires on 2016 Malibu Premier. Slim to no chance of a replacement tire being found while you wait on the side of the road for a wrecker. At least a spare tire or mini spare will let you get someplace with your family. Are manufacturers saving weight, space, or MONEY? I am in favor of all the safety equipment in the new cars, but a spare is and should be one of them.
I just bought an XT4 and the next day ordered a donut spare. My daily driver is a ford hybrid I’ve owned for 11 years. My first blow out was 3 months ago and I was flatbed towed home 1.5 hours. Otherwise the tire inflator worked great with nails in the tires for 11 years.
You guys forgot to put Acadia on the list
An acquaintance of mine bought a 2018 KIA Soul with 235/45/18 tires, no spare at all, just an inflation kit.
Fortunately someone sold her 2 used full size spare wheel-tire assemblies for $100.00 USD total.
It still it would have been better if the car had come with the 15.0inch diameter steel wheels and 70 aspect ratio tires.
More cushioning sidewall for dealing with road imperfections and lower cost replacement tires.
I recently bought a 2024 Chevrolet Trax. I was unaware that manufacturers were so greedy as to eliminate spare tires and jack assemblies. I worked at 2 major automakers over a period of 36 years and taking every penny out of the car was a prime driver for managers trying to get promoted. I was with my family one Thanksgiving day and driving across the Pennsylvania Turnpike on a bad weather day. If i had a sidewall failure (and I have had 2 in my lifetime) the safety of my family would have been compromised. The next time I buy a vehicle this will be the first piece of information that I gather and if the factory doesn’t offer it as standard then I will buy someone else’s product. Very simple. They want to fill the car with air bags and seat belts and now controls to limit your lane-driving and they won’t give you a spare tire and wheel plus jack that probably costs the OEM $75 or less. No Spare, No Sale. As to the dealership person who gave one of the other commentators a snarky answer. I would have taken the time to find the owner of the dealership’s name and sent that owner a letter because that is not an employee I would want on my payroll
I leased a 2021 Cadillac XT5 in April 2021. I found out the hard way that it did not come with a spare and the salesman failed to mention it. It was 5:30 am on the highway on my way to Myrtle Beach and I got a flat tire. Fortunately I was at the exit and the gas station was right off the exit. I started looking for the spare and when I found none, I went to the book and discovered there was a fix a flat kit in the trunk space. Well once you put the fix a flat gook in the tire it does not take on air, now the tire is totally flat. I had to call a flat bed to take me to the nearest place to purchase a tire. So four hours later I finally got back on the road. I’m very disappointed in Cadillac/GM! I tried to get a spare through the dealership but I was given the runaround and the Service manager stated they knew the fix a flat does not work. They also had the audacity to try and charge me $800 for one tire, rim and installation! Shame on you! This is very dangerous as well, I expected better than this from Cadillac…