Silver

New Silver Compound Moves Electric Car Sector Forward

Silver is at the heart of the global automotive industry.

As the metal with the highest electrical conductivity, it is
found in dozens of systems in modern-day vehicles. It is
truly indispensable, and, as reported previously, demand
for silver from this sector is growing rapidly and forecast
to approach 88 Moz (2500t) by 2025.
However, there are certain applications in the sector
where silver’s other properties make it less than ideal. For
instance, as a relatively soft metal, silver and silver alloys
can wear quickly in certain applications. One example
is in electric vehicle chargers. Repeatedly inserting and
withdrawing (known as “mating”) high-power industrial
chargers can lead to wear of the silver surfaces and
severely impact the durability of the device itself. This
is why, typically, alternative coatings such as hard gold
alloys and palladium-nickel alloys have been used in such
environments. However, these materials are relatively
high-cost, making silver-based alternatives with improved
physical properties an attractive proposition.

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