Not enough

For many EV drivers, range anxiety may not be an issue.

‘‘Most people are driving less than 100 miles [160km] a day, so for that you can have a less efficient motor,’’ researcher Jurgen Gassmann. at Fraunhofer IWKS in Germany. said.

Even so, manufacturers in the West have adopted a range of strategies. Some, such as Toyota, still use permanent magnets but have trimmed use of rare earths, developing a magnet that needs 20%50% less neodymium.

Others, such as BMW, have undertaken major redesigns: The German carmaker said it overhauled its drive unit to combine motor, electronics and transmission in a single housing, cutting down on space and weight.

‘‘Our goal for the future is to avoid rare earths as much as

possible and to become independent of possible cost, availability and — of course — sustainability risks,’’ BMW’s vicepresident of raw material management Patrick Hudde said.

Tesla started in 2019 to combine engine types. Its S and X models have two motors, one with rare earth magnets, one without.

The induction motor provided more power, while the one with permanent magnets was more efficient, Tesla said.

Including a rare earth motor boosted the models’ driving range by 10%.

Volkswagen also uses both types of motors on its new ID.4 crossover SUV, it said.

The use of nonrareearth electric motors is set to jump nearly eightfold by 2030, according to Claudio Vittori, senior analyst of emobility at data analytics company IHS Markit. But he said permanent magnet motors would still dominate, mainly because of their power and efficiency.

If the forecasts are correct, it is not certain that even these tweaks can cool the market.

‘‘I think we need these innovations to help balance the really strong demand growth that we’re looking at,’’ Castilloux says. ‘‘There’s almost no scenario where supply will be enough.’’ — Reuters