MATERIALS
Copper is used in batteries, electric motors and inverters due to its durability, malleability, reliability and superior electrical conductivity
RED METAL REVIVAL
A deep dive into how car electrification and battery chemistries affect copper demand
A
s anyone who works in the scrap metal trade will tell you – copper is valuable stuff. Otherwise known as
the red metal, its value has increased exponentially in recent decades along with the growth in electrical and electronic appliances. The metal’s combination of electrical and thermal conductivity, durability, and corrosion resistance makes it an indispensable material for the automotive industry. From powering electrical systems to improving vehicle safety and efficiency, copper contributes to the performance of every vehicle on the road. Analysts are predicting that it will reach all-time record highs over the coming years, and why? Because, in large part, of the demand
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to come from electric vehicles and the batteries they contain. A recent analyst report from
industry analyst firm IDTechX, entitled ‘Copper Demand for Cars 2024-2034: Trends, Utilization, Forecasts’, is one of many to predict this exponential rise in price. It explained that the demand for copper from the automotive industry was just over 3MT (1MT = 1 billion kilograms) in 2023 but is set to increase to 5MT in 2034, marking a 4.8% compound annual growth rate (CAGR). Although it explained that today’s
vehicles contain a lot of copper, used predominantly in the wiring, cars have grown larger and more complex over the decades, causing wiring requirements to explode from a
handful of connections to thousands and literal miles of wires throughout the car. This increasing complexity leads
to even more requirement for wiring, and despite Tesla and others working towards a more efficient vehicle networking, IDTechEx predicts that the wiring harness will continue to grow over the coming years. However, the additional copper required for the ever-growing wire harness is dwarfed by the new copper demand generated through electrification. Building an electric powertrain
also requires many copper-hungry components that were previously not needed for internal combustion engine vehicles. The traction motors, high voltage cabling, inverter, and charger
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