Hyundai Looking for Rare Earths

As hybrid and electric vehicles have a good chance of becoming the predominant vehicles on the automotive market in the decades to come, those who plan ahead can't help but worrying how their supply chain be affected by the lack of materials.

Since hybrid and electric vehicles rely heavily on the supply of rare earths (like neodymium, terbium, dysprosium or lanthanum), car makers are currently looking for alternatives to the main supplier of these materials, China, who at the moment is trying to control the market by capping export quantities.

Japanese manufacturer Toyota already announced plans to bypass China for the materials it needs (for instance, the Prius requires 1 kg of neodymium and 10 to 15 kg of lanthanum for the batteries and motor) by creating a new breed of electric motor for its engines.

The far smaller South Korean manufacturer, however, unwilling to invest as much in the development of new technologies, announced that it would “secure resources for the development of eco-friendly vehicles,” but failed to go into specifics.

“We will make efforts to vigorously secure rare earths and other rare resources used in cars,” a Hyundai spokesman was quoted as saying by just-auto.com.

Of course, the question is how Hyundai will secure those resources. One way would be to support the mining industries in countries like Bolivia, Argentina and Chile, where the largest deposits of rare earths are to be found. (Ironically, even if the biggest quantities of these materials aren't to be found in China, the country is responsible for the production of over 95 percent of the world supply).