British Company Unveils Electric Vehicle Motor Free of Rare Earth Magnets

A British company, Advanced Electric Machines (AEM) has released what it believes to be the world's most sustainable electric vehicle motor. Its new motor does not contain rare earth magnets, but it is said to provide all the performance and efficiency benefits, and has more advantages than conventional permanent magnet motors without considerable environmental drawbacks.

AEM is an internationally recognized designer and manufacturer of electric motors and powertrain systems, with customers globally. The company aims to design and build the most sustainable electric motors, supplying them around the globe.

Unlike today's standard Electric Vehicle motor, its High-Density Switched Reluctance Machine (HDSRM) and SSRD motors do not have rare earth magnets, so there is no need to mine materials such as neodymium and other harmful materials.

According to independent research, each ton of rare earth materials mined will produce up to 1.4 tons of radioactive waste, 200 cubic meters of acid-containing wastewater, 60,000 cubic meters of waste gas containing hydrochloric acid and 27.6 tons of carbon dioxide. Based on the global vehicle production of 97 million cars, the technology could save the production of 133 million tons of carbon dioxide per year as well as 300,000 tons of radioactive waste.

Rare earths are among to top list of most nation's lists of critical materials, these materials are long-term concerns for the security of supply. The price of neodymium, which is often used in permanent magnet electric motors, has increased by more than 240% from March 2020 to March 2021, indicating the elements are both financially unsustainable and environmentally problematic.

Besides rare earths, traditional permanent magnet motors use copper windings. At end of life, the copper must be removed from the motor before recycling, making the process kind of difficult and expensive. AEM claims its technologies can be produced using only steel and aluminum, which means it can be recycled quickly, cost-effectively and completely.

HDSRM is a next-generation Switched Reluctance Motor that, operates with standard power electronics. Unlike previous SRMs, HDSRM can operate quietly and with minimal torque ripple.

Although the HDSRM developed by the British company does not contain rare earth magnets. The electric vehicle motor has shown to match the performance of leading permanent magnet motors of the same size, while providing higher efficiency. It also has a very sturdy structure, there is no risk of demagnetization due to overheating, and it has the ability to freewheel without any electromagnetic loss.