Future electric vehicles which are using traction motors will face a tough time ahead with the burgeoning cost of rare earth magnets, according to IDTechEx report.
The report Electric Vehicles 2012-2022 revealed that about 128 million EV's will be manufactured in 2022, delivering an expected business of about $260bn
The report insists the development of non magnetic motors, due to the rise in prices for rare earths in the magnets such as dysprosium, neodymium and terbium.
According to the report, three new approaches have been developed and the suppliers now have or are preparing to deploy one such version of which two are synchronous motors and one is asynchronous.
The switched reluctance motor, currently being deployed, is a type of synchronous motor with no magnets, which is claimed to reduce cost, increase reliability and facilitate operations in hazardous environments.
Second is a Synchronous motor with new magnets which will replace the magnets with the motors that do not contain rare earths and is expected to deliver same output density as a traditional rare-earth permanent-magnet motor for a hybrid vehicle.
Asynchronous motors are the third option, which do not have permanent magnets as they are rotating transformers invented by Tesla, and are now the opted for heavy electric vehicles including both electric and hybrid, including buses, trucks, forklifts and earthmoving equipment.
Though there are several options being opted by the vehile makers the focus will be on longer life, less maintenance and greater reliability reducing the cost of these componets to few percent of vehicle cost which has increased up to 20% or more in some cases.
The report has analysed 120 traction motor manufacturers and it claimed that none of the manufactures be able to grow in the electric vehicle business without an alternative motor which dispenses with rare earth magnets.
