As several countries have committed to bringing in cleaner fuelled cars in a bid to reduce dependency on fossil fuels, the demand for electric vehicles (EVs) is quickly gaining traction in automotive markets around the world.

This shift towards electrification is also propelling mining and power companies to extract the essential metals used as inputs of EVs.

As a result, influencer conversations related to metals around EVs rose over 400% during the seven months from January to July, in comparison with the previous seven months from January to July 2020, finds data and analytics company GlobalData.

“The top keywords among EV conversations of influencers included mining, metals, clean technology, as well as investment and climate crisis [and] are corresponding with the rising demand of metals used in EVs.

“Following the top influencers, which includes not only industry experts, but also journalists and business professionals, helps in tracking the popular and emerging trends of the industry on a regular basis for better informed decision-making in the field of EVs,” GlobalData influencer analyst Smitarani Tripathy comments.

Copper, lithium, cobalt and nickel were the most discussed metals among the influencer conversations on EV topics on GlobalData’s Social Media Analytics Platform during January to July, while metals like neodymium (a rare earth metal), aluminium and zinc have emerged as new trends during the same time period when compared with the prior comparable period.

Several influencers believe the demand for key metals like copper, lithium and nickel required to produce EV batteries will be further propelled as consumer awareness shifts to EVs.

This demand for metals is also pushing top mining and investment companies across the globe to invest in the acquisition of key materials primarily used in the manufacture of EV batteries.