Toyota Developing new Electric Motor in Response to Rising Rare Mineral Costs

The electric car is one of those futuristic promises that has had many false starts but has yet to enjoy widespread adoption. The expensive rare metals that are required for current generation electric motors have stifled the widespread adoption almost as much as horsepower minded consumers. Toyota Motor Corp is now stepping up to develop a motor that would eliminate the electric cars dependency on China controlled rare earth minerals.

After diplomatic sparring last year, Bejing blocked the Japanese tech-sector’s ability to import rare earths. Prices have grown increasingly prohibitive as China continues to put limits on the amount of minerals it exports. "Toyota is always looking for a reduction in resources and in terms of costs," said spokesman Paul Nolasco.

Toyota has already won big with its Prius hybrid vehicle and aims to further corner the renewable energy market with this entry. Though no timetable for the new motor has been given yet, Toyota is hoping to make a fully electric vehicle available in major markets by 2012. The company is also working to offer an electric SUV in conjunction with Tesla shortly after.

Chinese media stated earlier this month that the country would be shoring up its environmental standards, which is likely to further raise the price of exotic materials. China's 2010 exports were already a 30 percent reduction from the previous year, and this will likely reduce them further.

Though China only controls about 30 percent of the worlds exotic mineral reserves, excavation elsewhere has slowed since the 90’s because of China’s willingness to undercut costs. Unfortunately this has also meant the closure of most rare earth processing plants outside of China and has left little room for competitors looking to get started.

Chris DiMarco is a Web Editor for TMCnet. He holds a master's degree in journalism from Quinnipiac University. Prior to joining TMC (News - Alert) Chris worked with e-commerce provider Suresource as a contact center representative and development analyst. To read more of his articles, please visit his columnist page.

Edited by Chris DiMarco