How much rare earth in prius

Other sources, such as Bloomberg , have suggested that this is more of a protectionist move to prevent rare earth minerals from being sold cheaply on the market and to ensure stockpiles for domestic use, given the current global recession. Although Toyota and other green technology manufacturers may have cause to worry, is this move by China necessarily a bad thing? China initially obtained its competitive advantage in rare earth elements by ignoring the environmental harms of rare earth extraction.

According to Alex Pasternack on treehugger. A World Resources Institute website. Login Signup. ACS values your privacy. We use the information you provide to make your reading experience better, and we will never sell your data to third party members. Log in here. Already an ACS Member?

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Credit: Shin-Etsu Chemical Electric vehicle motors turn with the help of magnets made from rare-earth elements black. Cobalt and lithium for batteries are getting most of the attention, but rare earths for electric motors are also a pinch point. Permanent magnets keep electric motors turning in all kinds of devices, from electric toothbrushes to refrigerator compressors. In electric vehicles, the magnets need to last a long time without demagnetizing.

The go-to rare earth for powerful, durable magnets is neodymium. Most of this pricey element comes from China, and Toyota says demand is expected to increase rapidly. Smaller amounts of terbium or dysprosium are added to neodymium to lend heat resistance, but those elements are even more expensive.

They then concentrated neodymium on the surfaces of the smaller grains; the grains in standard magnets have the expensive element throughout. Looking inside the grains, they found that a ratio of lanthanum to cerium is needed to prevent magnet performance from deteriorating. Contact us to opt out anytime. Toyota says the new magnets could reach the market in the first half of the s. They could also be used in robots and household appliances. Ke Han , a research scientist at the U.

National High Magnetic Field Laboratory, says Toyota is on the right path to reduce rare earths in permanent magnets. Han would like to go even further. Han is working on combinations of new materials, including manganese and gallium, but says developing non-rare-earth magnets will take years. Another approach is to skip the permanent magnets entirely.

Tesla Motors uses an electric induction motor , which was invented by Nikola Tesla and is aided by electromagnets instead. Contact the reporter. Submit a Letter to the Editor for publication. Engage with us on Twitter. The power is now in your nitrile gloved hands Sign up for a free account to increase your articles. Or go unlimited with ACS membership. Chemistry matters. Join us to get the news you need.

Sign up to receive Popular Science's emails and get the highlights. Toyota chose Detroit to deliver the world premiere of the all-new Prius, now in its third generation. In a press conference Monday morning Toyota group vice president Bob Carter said the new Prius would get an estimated combined 50 mpg, up from 41 mpg for the first generation. The powertrain, however, has been largely reworked, with a new gas engine and electric motor, inverter, and generator.