Japan Develops Electric Vehicle Motors Without Rare Earths

A research team led by Nobukazu Hoshi, an associate professor at Tokyo University of Science in Japan, announced that it has developed a rare-earth-metal-free electric vehicle motor, which may reduce the cost of electric vehicles. Researchers claim that they have already manufactured such new motors with an output power of 50 kW and an efficiency of more than 95%. They call it Switched Reluctance Motor. When the power is turned on and off through the coil, the charge is generated by the rotation that produces a change in reluctance, which means that there is no need for a permanent magnet.

Japan has been particularly sensitive to the use of rare earth metals for electric and hybrid electric motors because Japan does not have a source of such materials and must import them from other countries, especially China. Therefore, Japanese researchers have been trying hard to find a substitute or method.

At the TECHNO FRONTIER trade show in Tokyo in 2011, the research team presented their new motor, the same size as the Toyota Prius motor. The team also admitted that the motor is currently not very energy-efficient, there are also obvious noise and vibration, but they believe that further research will produce a more competitive breakthrough.