EV List Lackey via EV wrote:
On 5 Apr 2023 at 18:17, (-Phil-) via EV wrote:
This doesn't bode well for almost all EV makers outside of China:
https://japannews.yomiuri.co.jp/world/asia-pacific/20230405-101753/
The sensible ones are already on it:
https://www.reuters.com/business/autos-transportation/china-frictions-steer-
electric-automakers-away-rare-earth-magnets-2021-07-19/
or https://v.gd/SnnDcU
Big corporations tend to favor monoculture solutions (*one* way to do
everything). Economies of scale, marketing pressures, monopolies, and
good old "we've always done it this way" tend to push everyone into
using *one* technology, even when there are viable alternatives. This
is, after all, why we're still stuck on ICEs despite the alternatives.
But what happens when over-use of that one solution leads to shortages
in a key component? History shows that corporations tend to force new
supplies to be exploited (more mining, more environmental destruction,
more revolutions, even more *war*).
The more rational option is to use something else, or find a better
alternative. But this only seems to be tried after the brute-force
methods fail. To paraphrase Winston Churchill, "You can always count on
corporations to do the right thing, after they have exhausted every
other possibility."
There are plenty of other types of motors that don't need magnets. EVs
have been using induction and series motors successfully for decades.
There may be some minor performance reductions (slightly bigger,
heavier, or a bit less efficient). But we rarely allow the "perfect" to
drive out the "good enough". For example, silver is a better conductor,
but we use copper instead because it's cheaper and more available.
Magnets can also be made without rare earths. Material science is
advancing at a rapid pace, so it is likely that alternatives will be
found that are just as good, perhaps even better.
Recycling can of course provide another source of supply. Magnets don't
"evaporate"; instead of being dumped in a landfill, they could be
recovered and re-used.
Note that all these arguments apply as well to other "scarce" materials,
like lithium for batteries.
Lee Hart
--
"All children are born engineers. Watch them at play. They're not
just playing; they're experimenting, building and learning. That's
engineering! Then we get them in school and squash it out of them."
(Geoffrey Orsak, Southern Methodist University dean of engineering)
--
Lee Hart, 814 8th Ave N, Sartell MN 56377, www.sunrise-ev.com
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