Automakers Seek to Produce EV Vehicles with Fewer Rare Earths

2023-11-24 18:08:24来源：网络

Automakers Seek to Produce EV Vehicles with Fewer Rare Earths

汽车制造商寻求生产使用较少稀土的电动车

【原文听力】

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

　　By Bryan Lynn

　　23 November 2023

　　Major automakers are seeking new ways to make electric vehicle (EV) motors that depend less on rare earth minerals.

　　China controls most mining and processing of a group of 17 metals known as rare earths. These minerals are used to produce permanent magnets. Many experts consider permanent magnets to be the most effective way to power EVs.

　　But new motor designs show that permanent magnets are not necessary to produce a commercially successfully EV. And some Western EV makers are finding new solutions to produce motors that avoid rare earth minerals.

　　EV market leader Tesla announced earlier this year it planned to remove rare earths from its next-generation EVs.

　　Other automakers are also in the process of researching or developing EV motors that use little or no rare earth minerals. These include General Motors, Jaguar Land Rover and BMW.

　　Nissan says it plans to develop newer motors with low rare earth content, as well as permanent magnet motors that will one day no longer need the minerals.

　　German technology supplier ZF has developed a new kind of motor the company says is very similar to the size and performance of permanent magnet motors. This kind of motor, known as EESM, uses electricity to produce a magnetic field.

　　ZF's Chief Technology Officer, Otmar Scharrer, told Reuters news agency such development is "an important contribution to making us a little more independent of China."

　　ZF is in talks with U.S., European and Chinese automakers to supply the motor and could start producing EV models within two years, Scharrer said.

　　Besides being mostly controlled by China, some rare earth development produces poisonous waste that can harm people and the environment. The problem could also be helped by using motors that do not depend on rare earth minerals.

　　"If you get it right, you've got a much more sustainable product," said Ben Chiswick. He directs engineering business development for Detroit-based Drive System Design. The company is working to create rare earth-free motors with three different automakers.

　　Some companies, like BMW, say they have already made great progress after years of research. "It was not a home run... but it works very well without rare earths," said Uwe Deuke of BMW's latest development efforts. He leads engineering efforts for the company's EESM motor planned for its next-generation EVs.

　　I'm Bryan Lynn.

　　Reuters reported this story. Bryan Lynn adapted the report for VOA Learning English.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

　　作者：Bryan Lynn

　　日期：2023年11月23日

　　主要的汽车制造商正在寻找新的方法来制造对稀土矿物依赖较少的电动车(EV)电机。

　　中国控制着一组被称为稀土的17种金属的大部分采矿和加工。这些矿物被用来生产永磁体。许多专家认为永磁体是驱动电动车最有效的方式。

　　但新的电机设计表明，永磁体并不是生产商业成功的电动车所必需的。一些西方电动车制造商正在找到新的解决方案来生产避免使用稀土矿物的电机。

　　电动车市场领导者特斯拉在今年早些时候宣布，计划在其下一代电动车中去除稀土。

　　其他汽车制造商也在研究或开发使用很少或不使用稀土矿物的电动车电机。这些包括通用汽车、捷豹路虎和宝马。

　　日产表示，计划开发含有低稀土含量的新型电机，以及将来不再需要这些矿物的永磁电机。

　　德国技术供应商ZF开发了一种新型电机，该公司表示，这种电机的尺寸和性能与永磁电机非常相似。这种被称为EESM的电机，使用电力产生磁场。