Apr 20, 2018 Guest(s): Jonathan Butler Mitsubishi Corporation
Over the next five to seven years, the combustion engine will still be the dominant form of powertrain, meaning cars will still need palladium as emissions controls catalysts, said Jonathan Butler, precious metals strategist at Mitsubishi Corporation.
"It's only in the very longer term that we start to see battery electric vehicles come in and start to displace some of that traditional platinum and palladium demand in emissions controls, because of course, battery electric vehicles don't need catalysts," Butler told Kitco News on the sidelines of the IPMI Precious Metals Mobility Symposium.
Butler noted that there may also be a chance that hydrogen fuel cell vehicles become the dominant form of powertrain. Fuel cells also require the use of platinum-group metals, including palladium.