Nissan is developing a new low-cost EV motor magnet

Nissan is developing a new electric vehicle (EV) motor magnet to support its low-cost EV dream by the end of this decade reports Nikkei Asia. This new magnet uses an alloy called “samarium-iron” and its commercialization is planned for fiscal year 2030.

The Japanese automaker aims to achieve a 30 percent cost reduction in EV manufacturing. That would eventually contribute to cutting the prices of new energy vehicles.

EV motors use strong magnets to generate increased torque and mechanical energy. These magnets are made of neodymium, a rare-earth metal with heat-resistant properties. However, the neodymium supply chain is vastly dominated by China.

Samarian-iron magnets don’t use these rare earth metals but Nissan has yet to reveal the composition. However, the car company is accessing samarium as a byproduct of neodymium, which is more accessible than neodymium and dysprosium.

Samarium is primarily used in samarium-cobalt magnets in aircraft engines. It would make Nissan the first company to use this metal in EV products. The market price for samarium is below neodymium and would meet Nissan’s aim to reduce production costs.

Turning toward this alloy will allow Nissan to eliminate procurement risks and reduce production costs. However, this metal has its development challenges. Nissan has developed a new compression method based on exhaust catalysts to improve the magnet performance.

Further information reveals that this iron manget brings magnetic-flux capacity and it can match neodymium’s heat resistance. For now, the samarium iron magnet remains a lab test and requires a large-scale development for commercial production.