Slide 1: Introduction.

            This chapter develops the use of rare earths in electric vehicles, what exactly they are, what their applications are, and the implications for fleet management. 

Slide 2: What are rare earths?

         Rare earth elements are a group of 17 chemical elements that include 15 elements from the lanthanide group, plus scandium and yttrium.

            Despite what it may seem from their name, they are not lands.

         Arranged by their atomic number, the chemical symbol in parentheses, the rare earth elements are:

            Scandium (Sc), Yttrium (Y), Lanthanum (La), Cerium (Ce), Praseodymium (Pr), Promethium (Pm), Samarium (Sm), Europium (Eu), Gadolinium (Gd), Terbium (Tb), dysprosium (Dy), holmium (Ho), erbium (Er), thulium (Tm), ytterbium (Yb), and lutetium (Lu).

         These elements are known for their magnetic, optical, luminescent and electrochemical properties.

            Which makes them indispensable for a wide range of modern technological applications. They are essential for consumer electronic devices, electric motors, batteries, optical instruments, medical instruments, catalysts, radars, lasers and in the aeronautical industry in airplane engines, among other applications.

         Despite their name, they are relatively abundant in the Earth's crust.

            It is estimated that there are three times as many rare earths as copper and twice as many as zinc. However, it is difficult to find them in pure form and their extraction and processing are expensive due to the difficulty of separating them from the minerals that contain them.

            Furthermore, its geographical dispersion must be taken into account: only a few countries have important deposits. China controls around 90% of the world's rare earth production.

Slide 3: Main rare earths and their applications.

         The first rare earths were discovered at the end of the 18th century.

            It was not until the 1950s and 1960s that they began to be used to a greater extent, first in the military industry and later in consumer electronics.

            The real boom in rare earths arrived in the 21st century, due to their importance in high-tech products and consumer electronics.

            Not all lands have the same uses, neither in qualitative nor quantitative terms.     

         Among the most used, we can highlight neodymium, praseodymium, lanthanum, terbium and dysprosium.

            Below we are going to delve into each of them in more detail.

         Neodymium: key for electric motors.

            Neodymium is surely the most important rare earth for electric and hybrid vehicles, due to its application in the manufacture of high-performance permanent magnets.

            The magnets of permanent excitation synchronous electric motors are made of neodymium, in addition to iron and boron due to their great magnetic power and high resistance to demagnetization.

            Neodymium offers one of the highest energy densities of all magnetic materials, allowing motors to be designed with more power and torque, smaller and more efficient. The latter is essential to stretch the autonomy of the vehicles. For electric traction motors alone, estimates suggest that demand in 2040 will be twenty times what it was in 2018.

            Neodymium is also used in wind turbines, where its high efficiency improves energy production. After all, the generator that converts the mechanical energy of the wind into electrical energy is still a large electric motor.

            Neodymium magnets are also essential in hard drives, mobile phones and speakers and headphones, providing greater performance in a compact size.

         Terbium.       

            Terbium is also very important in the automotive sector. It is used to improve the thermal resistance of permanent magnets present in electric motors, as well as in generators. To improve the resistance of engines to high temperatures, an alloy of neodymium, terbium and dysprosium is used.

            It is also used in sensors and actuators for control systems in electric vehicles, improving their efficiency and performance, and for electronic device displays. The applications of terbium do not end there, as it has important uses and applications in other sectors such as defense and the naval industry, for example for sonar systems.

         Lanthanum, present in hybrid car batteries.

            Lanthanum is used in fields as diverse as medicine, metallurgy or optics, for camera lenses and telescopes. In the automotive industry, lanthanum is an essential component in nickel-metal hydride (NiMh) batteries, used in hybrid cars, as well as portable electronic devices and power tools. The negative electrode, cathode in nickel-metalhydride batteries is a mixture of metal hydrides, one of which is lanthanum hydride.

            Nickel-metalhydride batteries have been used by Toyota for decades and have amply demonstrated their durability and good performance. A Toyota Prius with a nickel-metalhydride battery uses about 10 kilos of lanthanum, which led this model to earn the title of the largest consumer of lanthanum on the planet.

            Lanthanum is also used to make night vision goggles, infrared absorbing glass, in camera lenses and telescopes. For its part, lanthanum carbonate is used medically to reduce blood phosphate levels in patients with kidney disease.

         Praseodymium.

            Praseodymium is used in the creation of neodymium-praseodymium magnet alloys, which improve corrosion resistance and high temperature performance. These alloys are very interesting for electric vehicle motors and wind turbines.

            It also has a very prominent use in the aeronautical industry, specifically in magnesium alloys for the manufacture of aircraft engines and other components. When mixed with magnesium, a very high resistance metal is obtained.

            It is also used in the telecommunications sector, for the production of high-quality glass, lasers, screens and fluorescent lamps.

         Dysprosium.

            Dysprosium is another vital element for the manufacture of permanent magnets, particularly those that must operate at high temperatures, such as those used in electric vehicles and wind turbines. Its ability to increase the thermal resistance of magnets makes it indispensable in these technological applications.

Slide 4: Implications for the electric vehicle.

         Rare earth elements are of fundamental importance for electric vehicles.

            Although there are manufacturers that do not use these elements in their motors, asynchronous motors do not need it, there are many others that do.

         Why permanent magnets are preferred.

            There are two main factors that influence the choice of engine technology.

         Performance and cost.

            Permanent magnet motors offer higher power and torque density, high efficiency and low manufacturing costs. Its main disadvantage is the cost of materials. Magnets represent approximately a third of the total.

            Since the 2022 price peak, rare earth costs have stabilized, making them competitive again and reducing the urgency to look for alternatives.

            Currently, most suppliers offer both permanent magnet motors as well as the externally excited synchronous motor (EESM), leaving the final decision in the hands of the manufacturers.

         The automotive industry is exploring technological alternatives to electric motors with permanent magnets, which rely on rare earths.

            The scarcity of these materials and their high price are becoming a significant problem.

         The options include two possibilities.

            Adopt more complex technologies, such as externally excited motors that do not require these magnets, or continue with current technology, but using combinations of different and more abundant magnetic materials in nature.

            Research continues in search of alternative materials that can reduce dependence on rare earths, as well as in the development of more efficient recycling techniques to recover these elements from products at the end of their useful life.

            Among alternative developments without rare earths, Renault has used externally excited synchronous motors (EESM) in a model such as the Zoe. Other manufacturers, such as BMW, have also adopted this technology. Although these motors reduce costs on the materials side, their manufacture is usually more complicated due to the copper windings of the rotor and the need to excite it externally, making them more expensive to manufacture.

            Another solution is magnets without rare earths, with different levels of commercial preparation. Companies like Proterial claim that their ferrite magnets "deliver the highest standards in the world." Niron Magnetics is developing iron nitride magnets, with future versions planned to match the performance of neodymium.

            The European PASSENGER project is working on strontium-manganese ferrite, aluminum and carbon alloys. Although these materials are unlikely to completely replace rare earth magnets in the short term, their lower cost and stability of supply could tip the market in this direction.

         China has dominated global production of refined rare earths in recent years, accounting for almost 90% of global production.

            However, in 2021 its market share dropped to 61%. This decrease was not due to a drop in Chinese production, but rather to an increase in rare earth production in other countries such as Brazil, Vietnam and Russia, among others.

            It creates significant dependence on China and poses geopolitical risks. Security of supply is a constant concern for electric vehicle manufacturers and other technology industries.

            China has announced a raft of new regulations on rare earths aimed at protecting its supplies, citing national security concerns.

            These standards cover the mining, smelting and marketing of these critical materials, essential for the manufacture of high-tech products, from magnets for electric vehicles and wind generators to consumer electronics.

            China's rare earth regulations coincide with the European Union's imposition of new tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles.

         The European Union has set ambitious targets for 2030 for domestic production of minerals crucial for the green transition.

            Particularly rare earths.

            EU demand is forecast to increase six-fold in the decade to 2030 and up to seven-fold by 2050.

            One of the objectives of the Critical Raw Materials Law is for the European Union to extract at least 10% of its annual demand for rare earths by 2030.

            Norwegian mining company Rare Earths announced the discovery of the largest deposit of rare earth elements in Europe. This deposit, one of the few not under Chinese control, could provide a vital boost in Europe's effort to reduce Chinese dependence.

Slide 5: Implications for fleet management.

         It is recommended to purchase electric vehicles with as few rare earths as possible for the following reasons.

            Rare earths are difficult to find in pure form and their extraction and processing are expensive due to the complexity of separating them from the minerals that contain them, but the main reason is all the impacts on the environment of the mines and the polluting emissions that are produced. in its production and recycling.

            The goal of an electric fleet is to have zero or the lowest possible emissions during the manufacturing, use and recycling of the vehicle.

            To know if the vehicle has rare earths there are different options, the first is the information provided by the vehicle manufacturer, you have to know if the engine, the battery, etc. It has rare earths.

            Another source of information is to search the Internet about the vehicle and its rare earth content. 

         Acquisition of the vehicle.

            You can ask the manufacturer if it is possible for the vehicle to have an electric motor without rare earths; since it is a fleet, it can be purchased in large batches to have more negotiating power.

            In public tenders by public administrations, a requirement may be that the vehicle does not have rare earths, or awarding the vehicle with the least amount of rare earths.

         Risk of price increase.

            Rare earths are scarce and there may not be a supply for market demand, which is why the price of electric vehicles and their spare parts increases.

         Risk of shortages.     

            If we need a replacement made with a rare earth such as an engine, it may be that due to shortages the delivery period is very long, so we will not be able to use the vehicle to provide the service.

            There may also be long waiting times from the acquisition of the vehicle to its delivery.

Slide 6: Thank you for your time.

            In this chapter, the use of rare earths in electric vehicles has been developed, what exactly they are, their applications, and recommendations for fleet management, see you soon.