Japan's new electric motor does not need China's rare earth

On April 10, Hitachi Japan High Technologies unveiled an electric motor that does not use "rare earths" to cut costs and reduce dependence on imported rare earth minerals from China.

>>> Japanese lithium-ion batteries manufactured without rare earths

This 11 kilowatts prototype does not use rare earth magnets and is expected to go into commercial production in 2014, the company said. However, the project to produce non-rare-earth engines was started by Hitachi in 2008. In addition, Toyota Motor Corporation is also aiming to produce such items due to the price of land Rare is rising.

Hitachi Japan has successfully built electric motors
Using rare earth magnets ( photo: Physorg)

Typically, permanent magnet motors typically contain rare earth species such as neodymium and dysprosium. The demand for these substances is increasing in number due to the rise of cars and electricity. Japan has sought to reduce its reliance on rare earths and diversify its resources to cut its dependence on China. China now provides more than 90 percent of the world's rare earth reserves and has issued restrictive policies on production and exports.

The United States, Japan and the European Union filed a complaint with the World Trade Organization (WTO) in March 2012 regarding China's policy. It is known that rare earth is used in a variety of high-tech products, including powerful magnets, batteries, LEDs, electric vehicles, iPods, lasers, wind turbines and rockets.