One of the fastest growing sectors of infrastructure is the installation of electric vehicle (EV) charging stations. As more and more EVs hit the roads, they need power and cities are building charging stations to accommodate. White Plains, NY, a city of about 60,000, currently has 25 charging stations, with three more on the way for fall 2019. The state of Florida announced it will be adding 1,000 stations across the state.
But charging stations don’t build themselves. These installations require copper, and a lot of it. A single charging station can use up to 17 pounds of copper, and in 2016, one company’s total sale of chargers amounted to more than 295,000 lbs of copper. A report from Wood Mackenzie found that by 2030, the demand for copper for EV charging stations alone would raise consumption more than 250% compared with 2019.
Fortunately, copper is a mineral we can supply here in the United States. Freeport-McMoRan expects to sell 3.3 billion pounds of copper in 2019. Its seven copper mines lie in Arizona and New Mexico, and through exploration drilling, Freeport-McMoRan has identified a significant resource in eastern Arizona. The new project, Lone Star, is expected to have a 20-year mine life and average approximately 200 million pounds of copper per year.
Projects like Lone Star are what America needs to power our future. Copper demand is set to rise, and companies like Freeport-McMoRan will lead the way to supply that copper and keep our EVs running.