Honda going easy on rare earth metal as it looks away from China

Honda began working on distancing itself from heavy rare earth metal usage in motors about a decade ago — a journey that reached a significant milestone this week.

The automaker, along with Daido Steel, a Japanese company, has developed a hybrid motor that does not use heavy rare earth metals. The two companies said that this is the first time such a motor will be used in hybrid vehicles.

Honda’s motivation for reducing heavy rare earth metal use in hybrid motors was born out of a need to decrease depen-