Increased production of electric vehicles will drive future demand for copper, claims a recent study commissioned by the International Copper Association (ICA) and conducted by the Martec Group. Copper use in light-duty automotive applications will grow to more than 1.7 million tons annually by 2032. Simultaneously, overall copper demand related to EVs is expected to grow by 36 percent.
In the future, EVs may contain as much as 159 pounds of copper, which is significantly more than the amount of the electrically conductive material that’s currently used in internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles (51 pounds). According to ICA, this trend demonstrates the importance of copper as a sustainable alternative to the rare-earth metals that have traditionally been popular with vehicle manufacturers.