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Honda Builds Electric Motor for Hybrids That Contains No Rare-Earth Metals

A few years ago it was said that the main problem with electric vehicles is going to be their dependency on lithium for the battery cells. It was claimed that the resources were dwindling already, and since the car industry was competing with the electronics one on this resource, things were only going to get worse.
Honda Accord Hybrid 8 photos
Photo: Honda
2017 Honda Accord Hybrid2017 Honda Accord Hybrid2017 Honda Accord Hybrid2017 Honda Accord Hybrid2017 Honda Accord Hybrid2017 Honda Accord Hybrid2017 Honda Accord Hybrid
Since then, Tesla has built its Gigafactory and Volkswagen has plans to erect a similar plant, so it may have been nothing more than just a flash in the pan. The issue with the rare-earth metals that go into the making of electric motors, however, is real, and it could pose a threat to the forecasted expansion of the hybrid segment.

Honda, however, has just announced the completion of a new type of electric engine to be used in hybrid vehicles that contains none of these hard to get materials. Rare-earth metals such as dysprosium or terbium are often causing bottlenecks in the manufacturing process due to them being so scarcely available. And since the laws of economics dictate that where there's a high demand and low supply, the price tends to rise, they have also become extremely expensive lately.

The market release of this newly created motor will take place this fall when it will equip the hybrid Freed version - a small minivan only available on the Japanese market that's based on the Fit (aka Jazz) platform. Honda was not alone in this breakthrough having worked together with Japanese metal supplier Daido Steel Co.

“A reduction in the use of heavy rare earth elements has been one of the major challenges needing to be addressed," read a joint press release. Indeed, by avoiding the use of these metals that go into the making of the motor's powerful magnets, Honda may be solving one of the industry's biggest issues even before it got really serious.

Without going into too much detail, we'll just say that the new method devised by Honda and Daido uses a hot deformation process to create the magnets, as opposed to the traditional sintering method. This means that the magnet's microscopic crystals can align in a much finer structure, increasing the material's heat resistance - which is what the rare-earth metals were used for before.
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About the author: Vlad Mitrache
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"Boy meets car, boy loves car, boy gets journalism degree and starts job writing and editing at a car magazine" - 5/5. (Vlad Mitrache if he was a movie)
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