Battery electric vehicle penetration rates will probably be...

Battery electric vehicle penetration rates will probably be lower than most forecast in the medium to long term due to consequences of the Russia-Ukraine crisis, Neal Froneman, CEO of South African-based platinum group metals and gold producer Sibanye-Stillwater said March 17.

Internal combustion engine vehicles are going to be around for a lot longer than many people anticipate, and may even grow their market, as sanctions and supply disruptions impact the car industry and an economic downturn looms, Froneman said in an interview with S&P Global Commodity Insights.

"In the short to medium term we are going to see some negative impacts of what's happened in Ukraine," Froneman said. "Western companies have closed car manufacturing plants in Russia. Disruption in the supply of car components out of Ukraine is disrupting production lines in Europe... this could lead to production and capacity cuts... and I think demand from civil society will be lower."

"Just when we thought we were getting over the chip shortage we now have these impacts, which are going to have a similar dampening effect to the chip shortages we had last year," he said.

Froneman's comments follow a spurt in EVs uptake around the world.