Copper already has a recycling industry lithium does not
Copper is the metal that carries electricity through the wiring inside a car, through the connections on its battery and through the equipment that charges it. The International Copper Study Group, the intergovernmental body that has tracked world copper statistics since 1992, states plainly that recycled copper covered about one third of global copper use in 2024. Copper recovered from scrap metal takes up to 85% less energy to produce than copper mined and refined from ore, and about two thirds of all copper ever produced worldwide is still somewhere in use today, according to the same group.
Electric cars need much more of it
Building a battery electric car takes far more copper than building a petrol car. By one industry research count, from the research firm IDTechEx, a petrol car carries about 23 kilograms of copper, mostly in its low voltage wiring, a total added here from the components the source lists separately but never sums itself. A battery electric car carries about 83 kilograms, roughly 3.6 times as much, mostly in its battery pack and its electric motor. A hybrid carries about 39 kilograms and a plug in hybrid about 60. That count comes from a 2017 snapshot of vehicle designs, not a current fleet average, but it remains the clearest available breakdown by vehicle type.
These 4 totals are a MAOWCE summation, added here from components the source lists separately but never totals itself. The underlying count is a 2017 dataset, not a current fleet average.
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| Petrol car | 23 |
| Hybrid | 39 |
| Plug in hybrid | 60 |
| Battery electric | 83 |
Where the new demand is coming from
The International Energy Agency splits total world copper demand into demand from clean technology, meaning electric vehicles, solar panels and wind turbines grouped together, and demand from everything else. Clean technology demand for copper rose from 6,002 thousand tonnes in 2021 to 7,737 thousand tonnes in 2024, and the agency projects it will reach 10,910 thousand tonnes by 2030 and 12,162 thousand tonnes by 2040.
Clean technology here means electric vehicles, solar panels and wind turbines grouped together, the International Energy Agency own grouping. The 2030 and 2040 figures are the agency own projections, not measured outcomes.
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| 2021 | 6,002 |
| 2024 | 7,737 |
| 2030 | 10,910 |
| 2040 | 12,162 |
Two industry funded studies point to where electric vehicles add to that total. A 2020 study for the International Copper Association, carried out by the research firm IDTechEx, forecasts more than 250,000 tonnes a year of copper inside the windings of electric traction motors in cars and trucks worldwide by 2030. A 2018 study for the same association, carried out by Navigant Research, forecasts that copper used in electric vehicle charging cables, charging units and the wiring that connects chargers to electrical panels will rise from 20,000 tonnes in 2018 to more than 100,000 tonnes by 2027. Both are forecasts made years ago, not measured outcomes.
The honest limit on recycling
Recycling alone will not cover all of that new demand. The International Copper Study Group cites a 2023 analysis stating that recycling could supply close to half of total copper demand by 2050 at best, which means mining new copper stays necessary even in the best case.