Yesterday was held the annual conference dedicated to Tesla investors, and the company took advantage of it to announce an important change for ecology, since it indicates that it no longer wants to use rare earths in its engines.
On the occasion of its Inverstor’s Day, Tesla announced many changes to come for the design of its electric cars. Citing the health and environmental risks involved in mining this material, Colin Campbell, a Tesla official, said his “next power unit” will use a permanent magnet motor that does not use rare earths.
As a reminder, “rare” earths, also called “strategic metals”, are metals and metallic compounds used in a large number of high-tech manufacturing processes, including batteries in particular. These are 17 elements, 15 of which belong to the lanthanide family (lanthanum, cerium, praseodymium, neodymium, promethium, samarium, europium, gadolinium, terbium, dysprosium, holmium, erbium, thulium, ytterbium, and lutetium), to which it add yttrium and scandium.
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Tesla no longer wants rare earths in its electric cars
As you can imagine, rare earths are expensive, produce a lot of waste and pose various operational problems, especially with regard to mining conditions. As the industry accelerates the move towards renewable energy, the cost of rare metals has recently risen dramatically, resulting in more expensive electric vehicles.
During his conference, Tesla said that between 2017 and 2022, it succeeded in reducing the use of rare earths in the new propulsion units of the Model 3 by 25%, because it increased the efficiency of the powertrain. By reducing the amount of rare earth metals needed, Tesla can thus save both money and reduce its impact on the environment.
Now, Tesla’s goal is to succeed in create a permanent magnet motor, but without rare earth elements. Currently, the Tesla Model Y uses three main rare earths in varying amounts. We find less than 500 grams of a first element, and less than 10 grams for the second and the third. Tesla hopes its next-generation motor will be rare-earth-free, but the company hasn’t said when it will be ready.