INDUSTRY WATCH
Are EVs ready to overtake fossil-fuel vehicles? There are quite a few downsides to EVs. First of all, batteries for EVs need rare metals; for example, lithium. Battery technology is improving all the time but this is a fact at the moment. The demand for copper is also much higher in the EV sector. EVs need three times more copper than conventional combustion-engine vehicles. The amount of copper used in fossil-fuel vehicles is already quite high. A conventional car contains 18 to 49 lbs of copper; a hybrid EV (HEV) contains 85 lbs of copper; a plug-in hybrid electric vehicle (PHEV) uses 132 lbs of copper; a battery electric vehicle (BEV) contains 183 lbs of copper; a hybrid electric bus contains 196 lbs of copper; and a battery electric bus contains 814 lbs of copper (Source: www.copper.org, YES Sec – Research). Wire companies must look for ways and means of offering this metal at competitive prices. In order to reduce weight and cost, some companies have star ted installing high-strength aluminum alloy wire in the engine harness instead of copper wire which has been conventionally used. Besides, electric cars are more expensive to buy. Existing standard lithium-ion batteries
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use expensive materials such as cobalt, which raises price. So, the purchase price of an electric car tends to be much higher than that of a petrol or dieselengine version of the same car. In addition, many electric cars have a range of just 100 miles or less between charges, which means they are not suited for long-distance travel. Also, there aren't enough charging points. Electric cars would gain enormous popularity once their manufacturers succeed in bringing price down through more efficient technology. Electrical design engineers are making efforts to reduce wiring mass while improving cost, safety and reliability. The gross weight of the wiring harness using a conventional electric wire is about 30 kg for a car, but weight reduction of about 30 percent is possible by using a weightsaving electric wire. Proper EV charging infrastructure also needs to be set up – and that is expected to happen soon. Interestingly, a manufacturer in the wire and cable industry is setting up a facility to grab the demand from the automotive industry and get ready for the futuristic demand for EV. Needless to say, the need for setting up EV charging
infrastructure will stand wire manufactures in good stead, as setting up this infrastructure would entail an additional demand for wires. Prospects and Demand Growth Prospects in the wire and cable industry are excellent. The wire and cable space is looking up: It is expected to double over FY18 to FY23 to Rs 1.03 lakh crores (estimate) amid a likely strong power distribution capital expenditure and the growth in the wire segment led by a number of affordable housing projects. The adoption of EV in India would also leverage demand growth, mainly because EV consumes three times more wires than a conventional vehicle. Also, an additional demand would come from the development of EV infrastructure. The revenue growth of the industry as a whole would be higher than its volume growth, as the industry is focusing on high voltage cables and housing wire manufacturers are moving up the value chain with niche, high-quality products. According to recent estimates, the size of the wire and cable industry in India is Rs 53,000 crores. The size is expected to increase in times to come. n
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Nov-Dec, 2019