2017 tipping point for EVs?

Electric vehicles could reach their tipping point in 2017 according to the world’s largest mining company.

BHP Billiton told FT.com this is illustrated by the demand for commodities like copper and nickel, which are used when building EVs.

“I think if we look back in a few years we would call 2017 the tipping point of electric vehicles,” Arnoud Balhuizen, head of marketing at BHP, says.

“Industry forecasts are catching up, the overall consensus is becoming greener.”

The development of EVs will be highlighted in the demand for copper, he says.

“The expectation is that the next generation of electric vehicles that will have even more automation will require even more copper.”

Mining companies are also readying themselves for the EV boom, with facilities like BHP’s $43 million Nickel West project in Australia which will make battery-grade nickel sulphate the vehicles’ batteries.