Indian scientists achieve breakthrough in rare-earth-free EV magnets
ARCI develops rare-earth free EV magnet; commercial production of Nd-Fe-B is likely to commence after pilot plant studies
Scientists from India’s Centre for Automotive Energy Materials at the International Advanced Research Centre for Powder Metallurgy & New Materials (ARCI) have achieved a breakthrough in developing low-cost efficient magnets specifically for use in Electric Vehicles (EV).
Currently, over 90% of EVs use brushless DC (BLDC) motors made up of rare earth Neodymium Iron Boron (Nd-Fe-B) magnets with rare-earth alloy.
ARCI scientists succeeded in enhancing the coercivity of Niobium (Nb)-containing Nd-Fe-B melt-spun ribbon, which allows the magnets to function amid high temperatures without using the expensive Dysprosium (Dy) as an alloy, which is the current practice. This could significantly reduce magnet imports and costs of EVs.
According to the Ministry of Science and Technology, ARCI will set up a pilot plant for manufacturing of “near net shaped” Nd-Fe-B magnets, which will be funded by the Science and Engineering Research Board (SERB) under the Atmanirbhar Bharat mission of the Government of India.
“The new strategy could also be used for commercial production of Nd-Fe-B magnets in India, reducing imports that meet the major requirements of the automotive sector,” said a government statement.
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