We’ve seen how the American car market has pushed toward aluminum with Ford and Tesla leading the way. European car makers have also made notable progress in this realm. Now, a market we don’t usually talk about has made some noise on this matter. Enter China and their commitment to aluminum-based electric vehicles as a means to address both transportation and environmental concerns. From Bloomberg:
China’s drive to build electric cars is likely to set up a greater-than-forecast surge in demand for aluminum, according to Novelis Inc., the world’s biggest supplier to automakers of sheets made of the light metal.
China, the world’s biggest carbon emitter, is mandating that at least 30 percent of new government vehicles be powered by alternative energy by 2016 in the government’s latest salvo to combat pollution and reduce energy dependence.
The use of aluminum in auto bodies by China, Japan and South Korea, Asia’s major carmaking countries, is around 50,000 metric tons and expected to grow at about 30 percent a year for at least the next decade, Shashi Maudgal, president of Novelis Asia, said in an interview in Changzhou.
We’ve seen aluminum become more than a trend with US automakers, but it looks like the rest of the world is following.