Toyota Developing Electric Motors that Don’t Need Rare Earth Metals

On the surface electric cars seem simple, but the motors and batteries are actually made from rare earth elements subject to supply disruption. But Toyota is working on an electric motor that doesn’t use these rare metals.

Toyota is working to develop an electronic motor that eliminates the magnets and uses instead an “inductive motor.” This motor is supposed to be lighter and more-efficient than the current magnet-type motors, and less prone to disruptions in on the supply side

When I say supply disruptions, I actually mean China’s unpredictable export scheme. Recently, there were reports that China had suspended exports of rare earth elements necessary to building, among other fancy technologies, electric cars and batteries. China actually controls about 90% of the world’s rare earth elements. China cut export quotas by 72% in the second half of 2010, and another 35% for the first half of 2011, more than doubling the prices of some elements.

Source: Gas 2.0