Bloomberg News reports that Toyota is developing an alternative motor for future EVs that would not need rare earth minerals in the motor. They are doing this because these minerals are at risk of supply disruptions (by guess who). They are working on a so-called induction motor that is lighter and more efficient than the PM motors now in use by the company in their hybrids. John Hanson, a company spokesman, says that their research is at an "advanced stage", but did not say when the new motors would be available.
Rare-earth minerals, such as neodymium and dysprosium are used in motor magnets in the Nissan Leaf, GM Volt, Honda's Insight, Toyota's Prius, as well as mobile phones and rechargeable batteries.
My guess is that such a motor that does not use these minerals would be a good thing for many companies manufacturing electric motors.
