Proterial (formerly Hitachi Metals, earlier post) announced that by optimizing the design of a motor that uses proprietary high-performance ferrite magnet NMF-15 (ferrite magnet motor), it is possible to obtain the same level of output as an xEV drive motor that uses neodymium magnets.

Rotor with ferrite magnets.

As a result of prototyping and evaluating an actual ferrite magnet motor based on the simulation results, Proterial has confirmed an output exceeding 100 kW—which can be applied to his BEV and PHEV.

Simulation results of drive motor for xEV and measured values of actual machine

	Neodymium magnet (baseline comparison)	Ferrite magnet (simulation result)	Use of ferrite magnet
– Neodymium magnet – High performance ferrite magnet NMF-15G
Maximum rotation speed	10,000 rpm	15,000 rpm	15,000 rpm
Maximum output	110 kW	105 kW	102 kW

The ratio of xEVs in the global vehicle parc will increase further in the future. Along with this, the production volume of neodymium magnets used in xEV drive motors and generators is expected to increase. On the other hand, neodymium magnets use neodymium, which is classified as a light rare earth among rare earths, as well as dysprosium and terbium, which are heavy rare earths whose resources are particularly limited.