Here’s the latest reader question, along with my reply!
Peter asks: If as you say, EVs are our mandated futures, would you expect the price of the precious metals like palladium (Pd) and platinum (Pt) to fall since EVs don’t need catalytic converters?
My reply: I expect the price of everything to rise – in part because of the costs imposed by the electric car, which is merely one facet of the “green” poison leaching into every corner of life. Even if the actual value of palladium and platinum does not increase, it is likely to take more money to buy them. And the value of that money will decrease via inflation, which is already affecting the cost-to-buy of everything.
Worldwide demand for these metals will also remain high for the near-term future because even though the EV mandates are kicking up, EVs are still a tiny fraction of the cars being produced overall. In addition, there is the replacement market and its needs, also considerable.
Finally, the whole EV thing is untenable – economically, functionally – and will not happen as a mass replacement for the current IC fleet absent a “Mr. Fusion” scenario, which strikes me as unlikely.
So, in sum, I don’t foresee the price of platinum and palladium crashing anything soon!
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Eric,
Silver will most DEFINITELY go up! Why? Because it’s used in computer chips and other electronics, both of which are present in copious amounts in EVs. There’s also rare earth materials, the ones used in smart phones, are present in EVs. Then, there are the metals for making the batteries; they’ll no doubt increase.
From your mouth to God’s ears, I hope. I haven’t figured out why silver and gold haven’t taken off already. Silver is back up to almost $27 per oz., but it reality it should be about $200 per oz. (based on my personal calculations). My only guess is market manipulation.
But gold is better for plating contacts. Silver doesn’t do as good of job at stopping corrosion as gold over nickel.