Antofagasta Minerals: Electric cars promise more copper and less pollution

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Antofagasta Minerals

On September 2, 1900, the Chilean Electric Company put into operation the first electric tram of Santia go. For more than half a century, the trams traveled the main streets of the capital. The last one retired in 1957.

We also had a wonderful network of electric trains and trolleybuses, which worked very well. All these vehicles had a technology without emissions, but bad decisions took these clean alternatives out of circulation and replaced them with buses, buses and highly polluting cars.

Fortunately, we are going back, and, now, electric cars will begin to replace vehicles with combustion engines.

The wonderful thing about electric cars is that they require between four and five times more copper than one for internal combustion. A conventional vehicle uses 23 kilos of copper. One electric, 83 kilos of copper.

According to recent research commissioned by the International Copper Association (ICA), the demand for copper will be substantially impacted by the growing market for electric vehicles. "All types of electric vehicles require a substantial amount of copper, it is used in batteries, windings and copper rotors that go in electric motors, in wiring and in the charging infrastructure."

It is expected that by the year 2027 there will be 27 million electric vehicles around the world. At the moment, they are around 3 million, also considering those who use hybrid engines.

Germany and Norway have already announced that they will ban the sale of gasoline or diesel models in the next decade. The DHL Group, the largest delivery and logistics company in the world, committed to having zero emissions by the year 2050. In fact, DHL has very important commitments for the year 2025: reaching 50% efficiency in carbon emissions (up to last year, they were at 30%) and operate 70% of their delivery vehicles with clean solutions.

The technology of vehicles without emissions has always had government subsidies, because it has been a way to combat pollution. In Germany they give a subsidy of 4 thousand euros for the purchase of new electric cars. In Spain, the aid is 5,500 euros.

Until a few months ago Denmark had a very high import rate for combustion vehicles, which stimulated the purchase of electric cars. But they decided to end this tax and the Danes again preferred traditional technology, which is still cheaper.

Germany announced that starting in 2030 it will prohibit the sale of gasoline or diesel models. In Norway this measure will take effect five years earlier. This country is at the forefront in the adoption of electric cars, with 33% of the automotive fleet.

Tesla was the company that changed the face of electric cars when it introduced the Tesla Roadster in the first quarter of 2008 (the first with a range of more than 300 kilometers per charge). Tesla dared with the sports models (associated with the British Lotus) and beautiful. In addition, he specialized in purely electric vehicles with a lot of autonomy. Everything that was not believed that was possible in an electric car (beauty, speed, autonomy) Tesla got it. He brought glamor.

Many other brands have joined to keep their presence in the market. The best-selling electric car in Europe this 2017 is a Renault and China is the country that produces and sells vehicles without emissions in the world. In fact, its authorities decided that, in 2025, one in every five vehicles marketed in that country must use alternative fuel.

In the presentation of Formula E, electric car circuit that will be held for the first time in Chile next February, the Minister of Energy, Andrés Rebolledo, said: "Our projection indicates that, if we already generate the regulatory, logistical and of the market, by 2050, 40% of the fleet of light vehicles and an important part of public transport will be electric, which will allow the country to reduce energy expenditure by more than US $ 3,300 million annually and avoid 11 million tons of CO2 year."

This press release was published using an automatic translation system.