HREE substitutes are already here. Alternatives:
Synchronous motor with electromagnets (external excitation)
„X No need for rare earths,
„X Higher copper demand than permanent magnet motors (factor 3),
„X Broader realisation possible in the short term or the medium term,
„X Conti is developing such a motor for a power range of 5 to 120 kW.
the German government has included the research
on asynchronous motors in its national development plan for e-mobility.
Besides the industrially available asynchronous motors, there are three other motor types
which show a potential to be an alternative to pure Nd-containing permanent motors:
An example is provided by Ames Laboratory, where researcher Bill McCallum is
investigating how to lower the rare-earth content in the permanent magnets used in the
traction motors of hybrid electric vehicles (Jenkins 2010).
Komuro et al. (2010) reports that effective processes have recently been developed to
reduce the amount of terbium by sputtering or vaporising techniques for magnets which have
a thickness of up to 10 mm. The terbium is diffused along grain boundaries in sintered
neodymium magnets. The condensed terbium atoms near grain boundaries increase the
coercivity without a large reduction of remanence. A new process for thicker magnets
whereby the surface of the magnet powder is coated before sintering is described by Komuro
.
The Northeastern University presents a new one-step production process which
might result in much cheaper SmCo magnets: “Unlike the traditional multi-step
metallurgical techniques that provide limited control of the size and shape of the final
magnetic particles, the Northeastern scientists’ one-step method produces air-stable
“nanoblades” (elongated nanoparticles shaped like blades) that allow for a more efficient
assembly that may ultimately result in smaller and lighter magnets without sacrificing
performance.”
a Toyota T and MAT jv will likely not ever see the venture through to production but is being used by Toyota as an insurance policy in the event that heavy rare earth materials should ever become useful and feasible to extract in the future. With the advent of viable substitutes already been developed, the jv with MAT is looking less and less significant with each passing month. Remember this above all , JV's are formed and JV's are abandoned quite regularly.
Shareholders as always will be taken for a ride .