Nokian Tyres says it has taken retractable studs from a long-running concept into a production-ready studded winter tyre, launching the Hakkapeliitta 01 with automatic ‘on-demand’ stud deployment.

The Finnish specialist has spent decades leaning on studs as the default answer for real ice, and it has openly been playing with variable-stud ideas for more than a decade, dating back to a 2014 concept that focused on driver-controlled deployment.

But the same studs that work so well on ice become almost unusable on standard asphalt, where they add noise within the cabin and increase wear to the road itself. More often than not, winters won’t just result in icy roads. Usually it’s a mix of water, snow and ice – and no one has time to change their tyres that frequently.

Nokian has made it as easy as possible for drivers, with the tyres adapting automatically to the temperature levels instead of the driver having to actively change the. Rather than relying on sensors or buttons in the car, the material of the tyre itself adapts.

The company calls it an “adaptive base compound” that stiffens in cold conditions and softens when warm so the studs can protrude or retract automatically when rolled over. In its own demonstration, the compound is shown resisting stud retraction at around -5°C, then allowing the stud to sink into the tyre body as temperatures rise and they’re not needed.

Nokian says it tested “thousands of prototype tires” across indoor labs, urban driving, its Ivalo arctic test centre in Finland and the Hakka Ring facility in Spain, before finalising a range it says spans 120 sizes and is certified with the Three-Peak Mountain Snowflake and Ice Grip markings.

It claims up to 10% better ice grip and up to 5% better wet grip versus its predecessor, alongside up to 30% lower road wear and as much as 1 dB less noise.

“The new Nokian Tyres Hakkapeliitta 01 represents one of our company’s biggest innovations since we introduced the first winter tire more than 90 years ago,” said Nokian Tyres President and CEO Paolo Pompei.

“This new winter tire achieves what was previously thought impossible: a studded tire that responds to temperature changes to deliver ultimate safety while protecting the road.”

Development manager Mikko Liukkula added:

“With the new Nokian Tyres Hakkapeliitta 01, we set out to rethink what a studded winter tire can be. We didn’t want to compromise between superior ice grip and low road wear, which is a common trade-off in winter tire development.

“Instead of a compromise, we developed a solution where grip adjusts automatically to the temperature, delivering maximum safety when it’s needed, and more controlled, gentler road contact when it’s not. This helps drivers account for winter weather that is less predictable than ever, while navigating new regulations related to tires’ impact on the road.”

Nokian says the Hakkapeliitta 01 will reach consumers in autumn 2026, initially focused on the Nordic countries and North America, but real-world uptake will depend on how consistently that temperature-driven “OFF” mode behaves on long dry-road stretches where studded tyres are usually at their most awkward.