The Production Engineering of E-Mobility Components (PEM) of RWTH Aachen University has successfully completed the anfaHair research project after two years. The goal of the project, which was funded by the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action, was to make the production of new types of electric motors... Read more →

Aluminum is a critical element used in thousands of important products, but it can often interfere with quick and effective extraction of valuable rare earth elements (REEs) from coal waste byproducts. Because aluminum interferes with the recovery of REEs from some sources, NETL researchers developed an effective, renewable, technology that... Read more →

Nissan unveiled its new approach to electrified powertrain development, which it calls “X-in-1”. Under the approach, core EV and e-POWER powertrain components will be shared and modularized, resulting in a 30% reduction, compared to 2019, in development and manufacturing costs by 2026. Through the X-in-1 approach, Nissan aims to increase... Read more →

Australia-based Lynas Rare Earths Limited has signed new agreements with Japan Australia Rare Earths B.V. (JARE). The new agreements will further strengthen the Lynas balance sheet and support funding of capital projects designed to meet accelerating global demand for rare earth materials. JARE was co-founded in 2011 by Sojitz Corporation... Read more →

Lamborghini has provided the first details of its first HPEV (High Performance Electrified Vehicle) hybrid super sports car, codenamed LB744, which will make its debut shortly.The LB744 features an all-new architecture with new powertrain tnat delivers 1015 CV in total, combining the power of a new 12-cylinder internal combustion engine... Read more →

The Department of Energy (DOE) is funding six research and development projects that will repurpose domestic coal resources for high-value graphitic products and carbon-metal composites that can be employed in clean energy technologies. (Earlier post.) Ohio University’s Institute for Sustainable Energy and the Environment was awarded two of the six... Read more →

H3X Technologies announced the completion of an investment by Lockheed Martin Ventures (LMV), the venture arm of Lockheed Martin Corporation. H3X designs and manufactures advanced electric motors to enable sustainable aviation and other high-performance applications. This latest funding brings the total raised by H3X to $9 million. The investment will... Read more →

Stellantis will invest a total of $155 million in three Kokomo, Indiana, plants to produce new electric drive modules (EDM) that will help power future electric vehicles assembled in North America and to support the goal of 50% battery-electric sales in the US by 2030. With more than 25 battery-electric... Read more →

US-based MP Materials Corp. and Sumitomo Corporation announced an agreement to diversify and strengthen rare earth supplies in Japan. Under the agreement, SC will serve as the exclusive distributor of NdPr oxide produced by MP Materials to Japanese customers. Further, the companies will collaborate on the supply of rare earth... Read more →

Nidec Leroy-Somer has signed an agreement with Airbus to develop an electric motor for Airbus’ hydrogen-powered fuel cell engine prototype, as part of Airbus’ ambition to bring the first zero-emission commercial aircraft to market by 2035. (Earlier post.) Image of the AIrbus fuel cell demonstrator engine Leroy-Somer, part of the... Read more →

MagREEsource, a 2020 spin-off of the CNRS-Institut Néel that is commercializing processes for recycling rare-earth magnets and then remanufacturing new magnets from the recycled powders, has secured €5 million in financing and has opened its first pilot facility in Grenoble, with a capacity of 50 tons by 2023. This first... Read more →

JFE Steel Corporation, which is expanding the electrical steel sheet capacity of its West Japan Works (Kurashiki Area) for startup targeted at the first half of the fiscal year starting in April 2024, is now planning an additional expansion targeted at a startup in the fiscal year beginning April 2026.... Read more →

In 2022, Adamas Intelligence calculated that $3.8 billion worth of magnet rare earth oxides—i.e., NdPr, Dy and Tb oxides—were consumed globally in NdFeB alloys for energy-transition-related applications, including EV traction motors and wind power generators. The total value of rare earth oxides consumed for the energy transition each year quadrupled... Read more →

The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued a Final Determination under Section 404(c) of the Clean Water Act (CWA) that blocks the development of Northern Dynasty Mineral’s proposed Pebble copper and gold mining project in Alaska. The ruling prohibits certain waters in the South Fork Koktuli River and North Fork... Read more →

Israel-based EVR Motors has signed an agreement with RSB Group, one of India’s Tier-1 automotive suppliers. The agreement with RSB is EVR’s fourth commercial agreement in India signed during the past eight months. Other agreements are in place with Badve Group, Napino, and, most recently, EKA Mobility. Each of the... Read more →

In the first half of 2022, motors with oil cooling became the dominant form in the electric car market, taking 50% market share, according to a report from IDTechEx. The downside of oil cooling is the addition of extra components and typically, the water-glycol circuit still exists to remove the... Read more →

Polestar is giving the 5-door electric performance fastback, Polestar 2, a major update. For the 2024 model year, the premium compact EV features a new high-tech front end that reflects the design language premiered by Polestar 3, substantial performance increases with all-new electric motors, even more powerful batteries, sustainability improvements... Read more →

Sweden-based international mining and minerals group LKAB has identified significant deposits of rare earth elements in the Kiruna area in the far north of Swedish Lapland (some 200 km north of the Arctic Circle). Following successful exploration, the company is reporting mineral resources of rare earth metals in the Per... Read more →

Shenge, a China-based developer, producer, and supplier of rare earth products, has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Australia-based rare-earths miner VHM to purchase 6,400 tpa of rare earth mineral concentrate (REMC) and 100,000 tpa of zircon/titania heavy mineral concentrate (HMC) products for each calendar year of the three-year... Read more →

Infinitum, creator of the air core motor (earlier post), introduced Aircore Mobility, a next-generation, axial flux propulsion and traction motor designed to sustainably power passenger and commercial electric vehicles, as well as aviation, marine, construction, agricultural machines and auxiliary applications. The Aircore Mobility motor delivers high power and torque density... Read more →

Cleveland-Cliffs is introducing the MOTOR-MAX product line of non-oriented electrical steels for high frequency motors and generators in the North American market. MOTOR-MAX High Frequency Non-Oriented Electrical Steels (HF NOES) are designed for high speed motors (operating at frequencies above 60 Hz), electric vehicle (EV) traction motors, aircraft generators and... Read more →

Toyota Motor Europe (TME) has started production of its 5th-generation hybrid powertrains for the new Corolla. The latest Toyota hybrid electric low-emission powertrains will be made at Toyota Motor Manufacturing Poland (TMMP) and Toyota Motor Manufacturing UK (TMUK) for the new Corollas manufactured at TMUK and Toyota Motor Manufacturing Turkey... Read more →

Hitachi Metals has verified in simulations that by optimizing the design of motors that use its high-performance ferrite magnet NMF 15 (hereinafter “ferrite magnet motors” earlier post), they are able to achieve the same level of output as traction motors for xEV that use neodymium magnets. Ferrite magnet motors do... Read more →

In addition to conventional drive units and components, the Mercedes-Benz Stuttgart-Untertürkheim plant is already responsible for the production of batteries and axles for plug-in hybrids and fully electric Mercedes-EQ models. The production and assembly of electric drive units from 2024 onwards was part of the plant’s vision for the future... Read more →

UK-based Electrified Automation has been awarded £6 million (US$7.4 million) in government funding to further develop its innovative process for manufacturing electric motors that are more cost-competitive, powerful and efficient than many of the products currently available in the marketplace. The grant was awarded through the Advanced Propulsion Center (APC)... Read more →

With the continued global turmoil experienced over the past few years, the prices of almost everything are rising. This has been especially true for the rare earth materials used in the manufacturing of electric motors for electric vehicles (EVs). The price of neodymium has remained fairly constant from 2013-2020, but... Read more →

Through its venture capital fund BMW i Ventures, the BMW Group has taken a stake in Colorado-based Jetti Resources. Founded in 2014, Jetti Resources has developed a pioneering process for copper extraction that utilizes previously unused ore from existing copper mines. BMW’s goal is to foster responsible and resource-conserving copper... Read more →

ABB has secured its first order from COSCO Shipping, China’s largest shipping company, for in-line permanent magnet shaft generator systems. Compared with traditional diesel generator sets (single unit), the permanent magnet shaft generator system will yield fuel savings of up to 17%. Permanent magnet shaft generators are small, light, and... Read more →

Niron Magnetics, a developer of high-performance, rare earth-free permanent magnets (earlier post), announced that the US Department of Energy’s (DOE) Advanced Research Projects Agency – Energy (ARPA-E) has awarded the company a $17.5-million grant as part of its Seeding Critical Advances for Leading Energy technologies with Untapped Potential (SCALEUP) program.... Read more →

Mazda Motor Corporation is planning to complete the electrification of all vehicle models by 2030 and is currently working together with various partner companies on a range of electrification-related research projects that are also designed to stimulate the local economy and contribute to the development of local industry and innovation.... Read more →

ZF is presenting new electric drives for passenger cars and light commercial vehicles. This latest generation of e-drives advances power density and energy efficiency due to numerous innovations at both the component and system level. These include the compact design of the drives, power electronics, and a resource-saving use of... Read more →

Israeli startup EVR Motors has partnered with India’s EKA Mobility, an electric vehicles and technology company, a subsidiary of Pinnacle Industries Limited, to design small, lightweight electric motors for their e-buses and Light Commercial Vehicles (LCVs) in India. According to the new commercial agreement, EVR will design and develop electric... Read more →

The Nikkei reports that Japan-based motor maker Nidec is planning to invest an estimated ¥100 billion (US$715 million) to build an e-axle plant in Mexico. The company is currently producing e-axles in China and Europe but will start making them in North America as well ahead of an expected surge... Read more →

ZF has reached the milestone of two million electric motors produced. The technology company supplies automotive manufacturers with electric motors for different vehicle types—from hybrid and electric axle drives for electric passenger cars to electric central drives for commercial vehicles. Already in 2008, the company was the first volume production... Read more →

Researchers from the Department of Energy’s Critical Materials Institute (CMI) and Ames National Laboratory have improved the properties of a rare-earth-free permanent magnet material and demonstrated the process can be upscaled for manufacturing. The researchers developed a new method of manufacturing manganese bismuth (MnBi) magnets based on microstructure engineering. This... Read more →

Infinitum, creator of the air-core motor (earlier post), secured $30 million in additional growth capital from Riverstone Holdings Latin America, Alliance Resource Partners, Caterpillar Venture Capital and Cottonwood Technology Fund. The funds will be used to expedite commercial and industrial motor production by expanding and fully automating assembly at the... Read more →

Global chemical company BASF and Moleaer, a developer of industrial-scale nanobubble technology, announced an exclusive partnership. This partnership will combine expertise in mineral processing, hydrometallurgy, gas transfer, and nanobubble technology to develop innovative processes for mining. The initial aim is to target the copper leaching process and improve extraction rates... Read more →

Hitachi Astemo, Ltd. will provide inverters and motors to JATCO, which will supply e-Axles to Nissan’s future e-POWER and battery electric vehicles. For Nissan’s electric axles, of which JATCO will be responsible as a Tier 1 systems integrator, Hitachi Astemo will deliver efficient, low-loss motors that use a square wire,... Read more →

Bosch has begun production of electric motors at its Charleston, S.C. manufacturing facility. Additionally, the company plans to invest more than $260 million to expand further the production of electrification products at the site, which is expected to create at least 350 net new jobs by 2025. Electric motors from... Read more →

Hitachi Astemo has developed a prototype of an anti-jerk control that improves ride comfort by reducing the back-and-forth jerk that can occur when the vehicle stops, and a motor torque control (motor ABS (anti-lock braking system)) that improves electricity consumption, driving stability and a sense of security by maintaining appropriate... Read more →

Daimler Truck AG and Gehring Technologies GmbH + Co. KG signed an agreement on a strategic partnership focusing on building up expertise in process development and prototype construction of commercial-vehicle-specific electric motors. The strategic partnership with Gehring covers the prototypical construction of so-called “truck-e-fied” e-motors as well as the further... Read more →

ZF, addressing the demand for an electrified pickup truck solution, has created the eBeam Axle, a drop-in, electrified axle that allows automakers to transform their current internal combustion engine (ICE) powered trucks into battery-electric vehicles. The eBeam’s modular solution provides 400V and 800V architectures offering flexibility for both OEMs and... Read more →

UK-based Electrofit introduced its first electric crate motor, the 100 kW CM100KW1, with a launch offer of £5,250 (US$5,800) + VAT. This compact Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) unit is a permanent synchronous magnet motor with a built-in inverter that significantly reduces cost (with a typical inverter costing around £3,000) and... Read more →

Researchers at Idaho National Laboratory have developed a dimethyl ether-driven fractional crystallization process for separating rare earth elements and transition metals. The process has been successfully applied in the treatment of rare earth element-bearing permanent magnet leachates as an atom-efficient, reagent-free separation method. An open-access paper on their work is... Read more →

General Motors will invest $760 million at its Toledo, Ohio propulsion manufacturing operations to prepare the facility for production of drive units that will be used in future Ultium-based battery electric trucks, including the Chevrolet Silverado EV, GMC Sierra EV and GMC HUMMER EVs. Toledo Propulsion Systems will be GM’s... Read more →

Volvo Trucks unveiled a completely new, fully electric rear axle at the IAA Transport show in Hannover, Germany. The new e-axle integrates the electric motors and the transmission into the rear axle, thereby freeing up space for more batteries. More batteries mean longer range, which creates opportunities for long distance... Read more →

Bosch is starting volume production of a new drive unit consisting of an electric motor and an integrated inverter for light commercial vehicles. The inverter controls the electric motor and provides the connection to the high-voltage battery. Compared to its predecessors, the new unit provides even higher power and torque... Read more →

For the first time since finalizing the acquisition of Meritor last month (earlier post), Cummins will showcase Meritor’s 17Xe ePowertrain assembled with a Cummins battery system during the IAA Transportation tradeshow in Hannover, Germany. The 17Xe is designed for heavy-duty trucks in the 4x2 and 6x2 segment, with capacity to... Read more →

Engineers at the University of New South Wales (UNSW), Australia, have built a new high-speed motor which has the potential to increase the range of electric vehicles. The maximum power and speed (100,000 rpm) achieved by this novel motor have successfully exceeded and doubled the existing high-speed record of laminated... Read more →

At the upcoming IAA Transportation trade fair in Hanover, Germany, MAHLE will premiere its new SCT electric motor (Superior Continuous Torque), which provides extremely high continuous power and is therefore especially suited to commercial vehicles. (Earlier post.) In addition, MAHLE is presenting its newest systems solutions for battery electric drives,... Read more →