Ferrari and BMW join Tesla, China in switch from copper to cheaper aluminium

LONDON/SHANGHAI/BEIJING/DETROIT: Ferrari and BMW are rolling out new models featuring lightweight, cost-effective aluminium wiring, accelerating a shift away from copper, the dominant material in electric wiring since the invention of the electric battery two centuries ago. The decisions follow similar moves by Tesla and Chinese EV makers and reflect a broader industry trend forecast to affect around 2% of global copper demand this year, according to JPMorgan. Even more copper could be switched to aluminium in the coming years because of a structural rise in copper prices, driven by shortages of the metal and with increased demand from the green-energy sector and data centres.

Companies across several sectors are migrating ‌to aluminium because of far ⁠lower prices and ⁠comparable performance, according to Reuters interviews with 18 carmakers, cable and air conditioning companies, metals producers and consultants. Ferrari and BMW said they chose aluminium in part because of its lighter weight.

Substitution of aluminium for copper has come in waves over two ​decades, but record copper prices in late January, peaking close to $15,000 per metric ton, added weight to the case for switching to aluminium. Forecasts for global supply fall short of those for demand for more ​than the next decade.

LIGHTER AND FASTER

Ferrari, which already uses aluminium for its bodies, engines and chassis, told Reuters it started using the lightweight metal for power cables on its 296 hybrid sports car last year. Ferrari has since introduced aluminium wiring into other models, including the Luce, its first ever EV launched last month.

The move saves up to 20% of the total wiring weight, ​said Ferrari communications executive Dario Esposito.

"We are not choosing aluminium because it's cheaper, we choose the material that has better performance," ⁠he said.

But the ‌metal is, in fact, much cheaper - currently about $3,100 a ton, or about a quarter the price of copper.

Germany's BMW said it first used aluminium conductors in 2011 in its subcompact 1 series and progressively expanded substitution in hybrids and EVs. Currently, it uses a large number of aluminium cables in both high and ⁠low-voltage systems in its latest eDrive EV technology, launched last year. The world's fourth-biggest automaker, Stellantis, also recently started swapping copper wiring for aluminium, according to an industry source familiar with the matter. Stellantis declined to comment.

PRICE VERSUS PERFORMANCE

Chinese EV parts supplier ​JONVER has seen sales of aluminium wiring products jump this year to about 30% of its sales from about 20% in 2023, said sales director Feng Lu.

Norwegian aluminium producer Hydro said sales of aluminium heating-and-air tubing as a copper substitute have steadily grown in recent years. Hydro CFO Trond Olaf Christophersen said the company expects to gain market share as aluminium rapidly replaces copper in the sector in future years.

Xavier Mathieu at France-based Nexans, the world's second-biggest cable manufacturer, said manufacturers will still buy copper at higher prices because it performs better in certain applications - but they start buying aluminium when copper prices reach about 3.5 times higher.

Copper prices currently stand at more than 4.2 times the price of aluminium.

Several issues complicate firms' decisions to swap, including U.S. tariffs and the huge ‌amount of energy needed to produce aluminium , which means more greenhouse gas emissions. In addition, aluminium is cheap but less efficient: It requires more aluminium to conduct the same amount of electricity.

Still, JPMorgan outlined a scenario in which about 6% of annual demand for copper might be replaced by aluminium by 2030, compared ​to 2% this year.

CHINA ​EV MAKERS TAKE THE LEAD

The government in the world's ⁠biggest metals consumer, China, encouraged companies to make the switch to aluminium in a March 2025 policy paper seen by Reuters, and many have heeded the call.

Analysts at consultancy Zhuochuang forecast that about 25% to 30% of components currently made from copper, by metal volume, could be switched to aluminium in the power, automotive and home-appliance sectors by 2030.

Chinese EV makers that have ​switched to aluminium wiring include AVATR, XPeng and Xiaomi, said Terry Woychowski, president at engineering consultancy Caresoft Global, which takes apart vehicles and examines their components.

The three Chinese EV makers and Tesla did not respond to requests for comment.

Lightweight aluminium is especially attractive to EV makers because cutting weight allows for longer driving ranges. And saving money is crucial for EV firms in China, where a price war has left margins razor-thin. And aluminium has ample room to gain ground in autos, where about 85% of electrical wiring busbars, which connect an EV's battery to its systems, are still copper, according to Hydro.

The Chinese auto industry has benchmarked Tesla, a pioneer in using aluminium for wiring when it introduced its Model Y in 2019, and more recently in its Cybertruck, Woychowski added.