The Silver Institute recently released a report on the burgeoning use of silver in vehicles and particularly electric vehicles (EV’s). From the report:
“While highly variable across different vehicle types and markets, our research suggests a range of 0.5 to 0.9 ounces (15-28 grams) is consumed in one internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicle, with higher loadings estimated for hybrid and then electric cars. Even so this may sound extremely modest, but it is worth noting that in 2021 global light vehicle (LV) production is expected to be around 85m units (source: LMC Automotive). (While this report focuses on LVs, it is important to acknowledge the use of silver components in both motorcycles and heavy duty vehicles, although in each segment silver loadings will be far lower than in LVs.) This in turn suggests that silver auto demand this year will be in the region of 61Moz (1,900t). To offer some perspective, this compares with the forecast 98Moz (3,000t) of silver that Metals Focus expects to be consumed in the photovoltaic industry in 2021”
