<p>To satisfy the demand for new energy vehicles, various alloying techniques were used to improve the mechanical properties of non-oriented electrical steel (NOES) in recent research. In this paper, the Cu element was introduced in 3.2 wt&#xa0;pct Si NOES. Particular attention was paid to a comparative analysis of the magnetic and mechanical properties of copper-bearing and copper-free NOESs. The results showed that the mechanical properties increased by ~&#xa0;110 MPa with Cu addition, while the magnetic introduction B₅₀ decreased by ~&#xa0;0.07 T. The iron losses in different tested frequencies raised. After aging treatment, the yield strength improved ~&#xa0;200 MPa, while magnetic properties slightly decreased. The Cu doping inhibited the microstructure evolution and increased the recrystallization activation energy, which declined from 225.81 to 227.24 kJ/mol. Moreover, the Cu addition resulted in the narrowing of shear bands in cold-rolled sheets, where Goss grains and λ-grains nucleated. Therefore, the relatively worse magnetic properties were achieved in 1.2Cu steel and were caused by the strong <i>γ</i>-fiber (&lt;111&gt;//ND) which <i>γ</i>-grains appeared in the deformed <i>γ</i>-grains or along the boundaries of <i>γ</i>-grains. Moreover, the precipitation strengthening of Cu-rich precipitates could contribute ~&#xa0;168.4 MPa to the yield strength at the aging peak condition.</p>