South Korea’s POSCO, one of the world’s top steel producers, is carrying forward a transition of its business structure to focus on “Green & Mobility”, based on various automotive capabilities in the group. In the transition phase of the megatrend represented by low-carbon and eco-friendly environment, POSCO group should go... Read more →

The US Department of Energy (DOE) awarded $19 million for 13 projects in traditionally fossil-fuel-producing communities across the country to support production of rare earth elements and critical minerals essential to the manufacturing of batteries, magnets, and other components important to the clean energy economy. Facing persistent shortages in domestic... Read more →

UK-based Pensana plans to build, subject to funding, a US$125-million sustainable rare earth separation facility at the Saltend Chemicals Park (“SCP”) in Humber, UK. Targeted production is around 12,500 annualized tonnes of rare earth oxides, including 4,500 tonnes of magnet metal rare earth oxides (NdPr), which would represent approximately 5%... Read more →

Tula Technology, Inc., the developer of Dynamic Skip Fire (DSF) and diesel DSF cylinder deactivation technology for combustion engines, reported at the International Vienna Motor Symposium that its product Dynamic Motor Drive (DMD) (earlier post) mitigates efficiency losses of electric motors while significantly reducing reliance on rare-earth materials. DMD’s application... Read more →

Allison Transmission and Emergency One (UK) Ltd, the market leader in the United Kingdom in the manufacture, service and support of fire and rescue vehicles, announced a strategic Memorandum of Understanding (MoU). The two companies will integrate the Allison eGen Power 100D electric axle into Emergency One’s fire rescue and... Read more →

UK-based Aeristech, a developer of high-speed electric motor and controller technology (earlier post), closed a £5.15-million (US$7-million) private funding round led by investors Sabien Technology, Vela Technologies and SAIC Venture Capital, the venture capital arm of China-based automaker SAIC Motor. The funding round will supercharge the company’s investment in its... Read more →

Yamaha Motor has developed an electric motor reaching the industry’s highest class in output density. This unit is aimed at use in hyper-EV models and other offerings in the high-output mobility segment; Yamaha is accepting orders for commissioned prototype development from April this year. Since 2020, Yamaha Motor has been... Read more →

To support the future of green automotive manufacturing and accelerate the UK’s transition to net-zero emission vehicles, the Advanced Propulsion Centre (APC) has guided £9.4 million (US$13 million) in public funding to 22 feasibility studies looking to scale up the industrialization of low-carbon emission vehicle technologies. In the second round... Read more →

Linamar Corporation has entered the evaluation phase for the first Fuel Cell Electric Vehicle Delivery Vans in their technology contract with the Center for Transportation and the Environment (CTE). CTE is managing the Next Generation Fuel Cell Delivery Van Deployment Project for the California Air Resources Board (CARB), awarded to... Read more →

The e-Drive division of Integral Powertrain Limited (IP), manufacturer of electric motors and inverters, has entered a Technical Partnership with the NIO 333 Formula E Team. Having been involved with the motorsport sector, in particular, electrified motorsport for the past decade, IP is well-positioned to deliver and to support the... Read more →

Mercedes-AMG laid out its new electrified drive strategy, which is based on two pillars: Performance hybrids with a completely independent drive concept under the technology label E PERFORMANCE. Battery-electric AMG derivatives based on the new Mercedes Electric Vehicle Architecture (EVA) for luxury and premium-class vehicles. Extensive modifications to the drive,... Read more →

Schaeffler has secured a volume production order to supply electric motors to a key manufacturer in the commercial vehicle sector, starting in 2023. The 800 V motor, used in pairs in battery-powered vehicles, delivers a maximum continuous output of 180 kW and generates a maximum torque of 950 N·m. It... Read more →

With the conclusion of Phase 2 of the project, the Triumph TE-1 partners—Triumph Motorcycles, Williams Advanced Engineering, Integral Powertrain Ltd, and WMG at the University of Warwic—have revealed the battery, powertrain, and design sketches for the electric motorcycle concept. The project is funded by the UK Government’s Office for Zero... Read more →

The US Department of Energy (DOE) will award up to $30 million to support scientific research that will ensure US businesses can reliably tap into a domestic supply of critical elements and minerals—specifically rare earth elements (REE) and platinum group elements (PGE)—needed to produce clean energy technologies. (DE-FOA-0002483) Currently, the... Read more →

Israel-based REE Automotive (REE) revealed 5 new and improved REEcorner architecture designs and the technology behind its EV platforms designed to support a broad range of commercial electric vehicles. REE intends to provide a comprehensive range of technical configurations to fulfill specific B2B customer needs, including EV platform size selection... Read more →

Geologists and materials scientists at Friedrich-Alexander Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg (FAU) have discovered a new way of finding new and previously unknown deposits of rare earth metals, worldwide. They have published the findings of their study in the journal Geology. The researchers discovered that fayalite crystals (pictured) can contain large amounts of... Read more →

Magna is introducing a scalable solution enabling automakers to electrify their pickup trucks and light commercial vehicles without sacrificing utility and functionality. eBeam is a drop-in replacement for traditional beam axles, using existing suspension and chassis architectures. It integrates with a battery electric or hybrid powertrain system and offers a... Read more →

Draper (officially, The Charles Stark Draper Laboratory, a US-based not-for-profit R&D organization based in Cambridge, Mass.) is developing a new family of electric motors and generators based on electrostatic, rather than electromagnetic principles. Underpinning the initiative is a recent patent on aspects of the technology. Almost all electric motors today... Read more →

High-voltage batteries, electronics, and other vehicle components are exposed to a variety of punishing environmental influences during their life cycle. FEV, a leading global service provider in vehicle and powertrain development for hardware and software, supports manufacturers and suppliers with a comprehensive test facility capable of accounting for virtually all... Read more →

Rolls-Royce’s technology will power Vertical Aerospace’s flagship Urban Air Mobility (UAM) aircraft. A Rolls-Royce electrical power system will be integrated into the VA-X4 piloted all-electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) vehicle, which will carry up to four passengers and the pilot for 120 miles at cruise speeds of more than... Read more →

Swiss industry leading EV powertrain and power electronics development specialist BRUSA Elektronik AG, and Austrian EV motorsport frontrunner STARD have taken take their close cooperation to the next level by signing an agreement to co-develop and market current and next-generation high-performance e-motors, inverters, DC-DC converters, and development services for motorsport... Read more →

Neo Performance Materials and Energy Fuels Inc. are launching a new rare earth production initiative spanning European and North American critical material supply chains. The initiative will produce value-added rare earth products from natural monazite sands, a byproduct of heavy mineral sands mined in the southeastern United States. Energy Fuels... Read more →

China has increased its production quota for rare-earth metals by close to 30% for the first half of this year, according to a report by the Nikkei. China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology and Ministry of Natural Resources jointly announced that the production quota for the first half of... Read more →

The University of Birmingham is working with Bentley Motors and others on a three-year research project to deliver a sustainable source of rare earth magnets for electric and hybrid vehicles. The £2.6-million (US$3.6-million) RaRE (Rare-earth Recycling for E-machines) project is funded by the Office for Low Emission Vehicles (OLEV) and... Read more →

Australian rare earths exploration and development company RareX Limited entered into a non-binding Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the leading global rare earths producer, China-based Shenghe Resources Holdings. Shenghe, listed on the Shanghai Stock Exchange, has a market capitalization of approximately US$4.6 billion. It is a leading producer of rare... Read more →

Nidec Corporation’s Board of Directors approved a resolution to acquire the shares of Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Machine Tool Co., Ltd. , a company that designs, manufactures, and sells machine tools, cutting tools, and related products. The acquisition of the machine tool business complements Nidec’s existing businesses and strategy. Nidec has... Read more →

In its new report Rare Earths, Outlook to 2030, Roskill forecasts that rare earth magnet applications will account for ~40% of total demand by 2030, raising the potential for a tight supply-demand balance for key magnetic rare earth elements, as well as providing the opportunity for new production capacity to... Read more →

Dana Incorporated has introduced an expanded family of Dana TM4 SUMO HP electric motors and inverters, including the HV1000 and HV2500. The TM4 SUMO family is specifically designed for battery-electric, range-extended, and fuel-cell vehicles. These high-performance motors and inverters are engineered to offer maximum flexibility, enabling direct-drive, series-hybrid, or parallel-hybrid... Read more →

ArcelorMittal is investing €13 million in its Saint Chély d’Apcher plant in France, which specializes in iCARe electrical steels for the automotive sector. The investment means the plant will be able to produce cutting-edge non grain-oriented (NO) iCARe electrical steel grades, through production upgrades and new production capabilities, to meet... Read more →

Researchers from Trinity College Dublin have shed new light on the formation mechanisms of a rare earth-bearing mineral that is in increasingly high demand across the globe for its use in the green energy and tech industries. Their discovery has important economic implications because there are no substitute alternatives to... Read more →

Toshiba Corporation has developed a new magnetic material with characteristics that deliver major improvements in motor efficiency at minimum cost, and with the potential to win significant reductions in power consumption. The company says the material is suitable for train drive systems, automobiles, robots and other applications requiring high reliability.... Read more →

LG Electronics and Magna International announced a joint venture (JV) to manufacture e-motors, inverters and on board chargers and, for certain automakers, related e-drive systems to support the growing global shift toward vehicle electrification. The new company, tentatively called LG Magna e-Powertrain, combines Magna’s strength in electric powertrain systems and... Read more →

Aeristech, a developer of electric motor technology, is expanding into aerospace. Aeristech’s aerospace facility will enable the company to begin offering its expertise in market-leading power-dense electric motors and motor controllers to the aerospace sector, including for hydrogen fuel-cell compressors, which will make it possible to reduce aviation emissions. Aeristech’s... Read more →

Porsche has produced its first complete housing for an electric drive using 3D printing. The engine-gearbox unit produced using the additive laser fusion process passed all the quality and stress tests without any problems. This proves that additive manufacturing with all its advantages is also suitable for larger and highly-stressed... Read more →

Rio Tinto unveiled a pathway for the ongoing development of the underground project at Oyu Tolgoi in Mongolia, one of the largest known copper and gold deposits in the world (earlier post). The definitive estimate details how Oyu Tolgoi underground will achieve sustainable production for Panel 0 by October 2022... Read more →

Tula Technology, Inc., a tech leader in improving propulsion efficiency and reducing emissions in passenger cars and commercial vehicles, announced that the one-millionth vehicle utilizing its award-winning Dynamic Skip Fire (DSF) technology (earlier post) was produced in November 2020. Unlike cylinder deactivation strategies that shut off a fixed number of... Read more →

Chinese medium and heavy rare earths producer Southern Rare Earth has continued to raise its weekly prices for terbium, holmium, gadolinium and dysprosium, supported by a shortage of spot supplies and firmer magnet demand, according to Argus. Restocking demand from magnet manufacturing plants started to recover from mid-October because of... Read more →

UK-based electrified powertrain engineering consultancy Drive System Design (DSD) announced a strategic expansion of its test facilities, adding two further test cells for high-performance hybrid axles and e-machines. The move reflects a growing demand for outsourced test capacity suitable for electrified powertrains, as the industry prioritizes its development in response... Read more →

MAHLE has commissioned a test bench for electric drives in Stuttgart/Germany. This equipment will be used to develop and test e-axles and e-drive units for a wide range of electric and hybrid vehicles. The first test on a unit was successfully performed on behalf of a customer just a few... Read more →

REE Automotive (REE), the developer of an electric vehicle platform, and Iochpe-Maxion, a multi-billion dollar global leader in the production of automotive wheels and a leading producer of automotive structural components in the Americas, announced a partnership to co-develop and manufacture an exclusive wheel design and chassis solution for REE’s... Read more →

Infinitum Electric, developer of the printed circuit board (PCB) motor (earlier post), announced an agreement with a leading US automotive supplier to support the development of a hybrid vehicle. Under the agreement, Infinitum Electric will validate performance of its IEm Series motor using oil cooling techniques before building a purposefully... Read more →

UK-based tech company Saietta has won a major grant, through the UK’s Advanced Propulsion Center (APC) that will fast-track the first stage of the production process ramp-up for its innovative Axial Flux Traction (AFT) electric motor. Saietta says that its unique AFT technology delivers class-leading performance at the price points... Read more →

While there has been much publicity and technical development towards rare-earth reduction in vehicle motors, in practice the market is seeing an increase in the number of permanent magnet motors. The new IDTechEx report “Materials for Electric Vehicles 2020-2030” finds that in recent years, there has been an increased shift... Read more →

Volvo Cars says that it is making significant investments that allow for the in-house design and development of electric motors for the next generation of Volvo models, as the company continues to move towards becoming a fully electric car maker. The company has opened a new electric motor lab in... Read more →

The 2022 GMC HUMMER EV Edition 1 will be the first vehicle in production with GM’s all-new Ultium battery architecture and will offer a large range of on- and off-road features and vehicle dynamics and performance features. This new architecture provides the framework to integrate advanced technologies for optimal driving... Read more →

The US Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) Critical Materials Institute (CMI) announced selections totaling up to $4 million for four research and development projects to partner with industry to address challenges in establishing domestic supply chains for critical materials. Critical materials are used in many products important to the US economy... Read more →

Researchers at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) have increased the conductivity of copper wire by about 5%—a development that can increase motor efficiency. Higher conductivity also means that less copper is needed for the same efficiency, which can reduce the weight and volume of various components for EVs. Using a... Read more →

Linear Labs has raised an additional $6 million in funding to further develop manufacturing capabilities and grow its employee base. The new capital comes shortly after Linear Labs’ $68.9 million partnership with the City of Fort Worth, Texas, was announced, which includes an incentive package involving Linear Labs’ plans to... Read more →

The US Department of Energy’s (DOE) Office of Fossil Energy selected 13 projects to receive approximately $1.95 million in federal funding to develop conceptual designs of commercially viable technologies that will extract rare earth elements (REEs) from US coal and coal by-product sources. Each project will receive up to $150,000... Read more →

Allison Transmission, the largest global manufacturer of medium- and heavy-duty fully automatic transmissions and a supplier of commercial vehicle propulsion solutions, including electric hybrid and fully electric propulsion systems, launched eGen Power, Allison’s new series of fully integrated electric axles. The eGen Power product family, previously referred to as AXE... Read more →