Toyota promises cheaper electric car motor magnets within a decade

4th Generation Prius Motor

Source: © Toyota (GB) PLC

Careful material engineering enables alloys using more abundant rare earth elements than neodymium

Japanese carmaker Toyota says it can cut the cost of rare earth element-containing magnets within the motors of electric vehicles by replacing up to half the neodymium in them with the more abundant, lower-cost rare earths lanthanum and cerium.