rare earth metals
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As some of the world’s largest automakers ramp up production for a generation of electric vehicles, the supply of one of the most important ingredients—rare-earth elements—is surely a cause for concern. Rare-earth elements—especially neodymium—are in short supply because of their limited production locations, much of them in China. They're needed for the compact, power-dense permanent-magnet motors in many of today's EVs, and increasingly for green-energy sector uses like wind farms. Now, researchers at Oak Ridge National Laboratories are experimenting with...
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Rare-earth metals in magnets for electric-car motors: what you need to knowIt's not surprising that the powertrains of electric cars differ quite a bit from traditional internal-combustion engines. Although they have fewer moving parts, the rare-earth magnets that help power electric cars can be quite complex to fabricate. So, what is there to know about rare-earth...
Sean Szymkowski -
Could Rising Commodity Prices Kill (Or Hurt) The Electric Car?
At the time of this writing, oil has sprinted above $90 a barrel, silver has jumped 80-plus percent in the last year and China just announced an 11 percent decrease in exports of rare earth metals for 2011. Will these constraints on critical resources, and their inevitable steep rise in costs and...
Jason Hendler
