maybe no rare earth element anxiety now

[aerohead]

ZF, the transmission folks, have come up with a motor/generator technology which may eliminate the need for rare earth elements for BEVs, Wind Turbines, etc..
They call it a ' in-rotor induction- excited synchronous motor' ( axial-flux, or radial-flux.
Rather than using 'brushes' to bring current to the rotor, as BMW is doing, ZF uses an inductive coupling, as GM-Hughes did for the Impact/ EV1, EV2 charger for rotor excitation.
https://press.zf.com/press/en/media/media_60352.html

[redpoint5]

Sending power wirelessly has got to be more efficient than sending it directly to where it's needed.

[ECO-AKJ]

Let's just hope that the braking system has some kind of mechanical link, I don't know if I would trust a bluetooth braking system.

[freebeard]

Artificial Tetrataenite:

https://phys.org › news › 2022-10-approach-cosmic-magnet-reliance-rare.html
New approach to 'cosmic magnet' manufacturing could reduce reliance on ...
Oct 24, 2022Tetrataenite is a high-performance magnet material that forms in meteorites over millions of years, but researchers have discovered a new method to make it artificially and at scale with phosphorus, a common element present in meteorites. The new technique could reduce reliance on...
...
Previous attempts to make tetrataenite in the laboratory have relied on impractical, extreme methods. But the addition of a common element—phosphorus—could mean that it's possible to make tetrataenite artificially and at scale, without any specialized treatment or expensive techniques.

[JSH]

Remember when Lithium prices shot up last year and people said EVs were doomed and we could never find enough minerals to make batteries? Lithium prices are down 83% this year right back to the 2021 prices. Turns out when battery manufacturers lay out plans for the next decades the miners get busy increasing production. (Up 31% in 2023)

[rmay635703]

Originally Posted by JSH

Remember when Lithium prices shot up last year and people said EVs were doomed and we could never find enough minerals to make batteries? Lithium prices are down 83% this year right back to the 2021 prices. Turns out when battery manufacturers lay out plans for the next decades the miners get busy increasing production. (Up 31% in 2023)

Manufacturers have been actively cutting cobalt content for years now.

Tesla has introduced cobalt free batteries which should cut a lot of raw material cost

[freebeard]

OP cited advancements in motors, not batteries.That said:

https://phys.org: Best of Last Year: The top Phys.org articles of 2023

Also last summer, a trio of volcanologists and geologists from Lithium Americas Corporation, GNS Science and Oregon State University reported evidence that the McDermitt Caldera on the Nevada/Oregon border may host some of the largest known deposits of lithium on Earth. The find showed that the U.S. would not have to rely on other countries for supplies of the highly valued soft metal used in a wide variety of batteries.

[redpoint5]

Don't know how often to believe Peter Z. is correct, but he says every country of meager size has all the most sought after elements we seek. Minerals are roughly evenly distributed about, though not thoroughly incorporated.

I imagine the US could be an island unto itself, though that's not how islanders maximize prosperity.

[Piotrsko]

They are called rare because compared to other minerals thay don't occur everywhere and in abundance so are therefore hard to gather. The other issue is that to get them purified, the oxides (?) Are extremely stable, take *potloads of energy/chemistry to purify to a commercial tolerance.

[Hersbird]

I have a friend who works in a giant Palladium mine in Montana, I think it's the 2nd biggest on earth. Palladium is used in catalytic converters and fuel cells. The price has dropped from $3000 per once in March 2022 to $1000/ounce today. I can't imagine that's due to anything more than BEVs on the rise and ICE on the decline. If fuel cells take off then the prices should return. I suppose recycling may be helping, buy so much recycling is actually stolen converters I hope they crack down on that. Here in Montana there are so many ghost towns from the silver mining days. Here one day, gone the next. The silver never ran out, it's still there, just the value went down. We also supplied America's copper or at least 51% of it from a single hole. It was 26% of the world's supply and was a key component for the industrial revolution. It's a toxic wasteland today, but hey, we got that progress! I kind of don't believe the EPA will ever allow lithium mines that probably look just like that old copper mine in today's world. We will dig up and trash somebody else's back yard, and pay them $10/day to do it.