SMU Steel Summit: Electric Vehicles a Growth Market for Steel

Electric vehicle (EV) sales have gotten a big boost from President Biden’s pledge to reduce harmful CO2 emissions. And the Biden administration’s infrastructure bill now under debate in Congress, which includes $7.5 billion in funding for a nationwide network of EV charging stations, could go a long way toward reducing the “range anxiety” that is keeping many consumers from embracing emissions-free cars and trucks, said John Catterall, vice president of the American Iron and Steel Institute’s Automotive Program.

Speaking to the crowd at SMU’s Steel Summit in Atlanta on Wednesday, Catterall noted that the rate of EV sales is now outpacing sales of conventional internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles. Globally, light vehicle sales for the first half of 2021 increased by 21% from the first half of 2020. In that same time frame, EV sales increased 172%. In the U.S. alone, total light vehicle sales rose 30%, while EV sales were up 168%. This spread could be slightly amplified by the tight supply of new vehicles due to the microchip shortage or excess cash that buyers have after being shut in by the pandemic, but it is showing an emerging trend in favor of EVs. Projections show that by 2030, EVs could account for 50% of global passenger car sales.