When copper prices exploded by more than 13%—marking the biggest single-day gain in history—in response to President Donald Trump‘s latest tariff threat, commodity investors cheered.
But for Tesla Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA), that chart may as well have been a warning flare. With every Model Y and Cybertruck packing over 180 pounds of copper, the metal's meteoric rise just made building an EV a whole lot pricier.
Tesla's Copper Habit Just Got Expensive
Electric vehicles are copper gluttons. From motors to wiring to battery connectors, the red metal is the unsung hero of electrification. While a traditional gas-powered car uses around 50 pounds of copper, Teslas use more than three times that amount—roughly 180 pounds per vehicle.
That makes Elon Musk's production lines especially vulnerable to copper's mood swings. And right now, copper is throwing a tantrum.
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Blame The Tariff—Or The Speculators?
Jim Cramer thinks the surge isn't entirely organic.
He took to X to call the Trump administration's copper tariff "gratuitous," warning it could make both data centers and Teslas more expensive to build. And with AI infrastructure and EVs both guzzling copper like there's no tomorrow, that extra cost has nowhere to hide.
Meanwhile, traders are calling the surge a "God Candle"—a slang term for an epic breakout, noted Barcharts on X. Whether the move sticks or fizzles, companies like Tesla will feel it first.
A Shock To The Supply Chain
The irony?
Copper was supposed to be the backbone of the green transition. Now it's threatening the affordability of EVs just as mainstream adoption gains speed.
Tesla, which has long prided itself on vertical integration and margin control, may soon be forced to make some tough sourcing decisions.
For now, investors might enjoy the heat in copper miners. But Tesla? It's sweating the small stuff—180 pounds of it per car.
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