VOA慢速英语2021--电动汽车制造商寻求稀土金属的替代品

Electric Car Makers¹ Seek Substitutes for Rare Earth Metals

Western electric vehicle (EV) makers are trying to reduce their dependence² on rare earth metals from China. As tensions rise between that nation and others, including the United States, makers worry that supplies might become limited.

Electric vehicles use special magnets to power their engines.

Most are made from rare earth metals.

The metals are not really rare. But they can be dirty and difficult to process. And, China has become the leader in producing them. Demand for the magnets is growing for all forms of renewable energy. Experts say a real shortage may lie ahead.

Some automobile⁴ companies have been looking to replace rare earth metals for years.

Automakers in the West say they are concerned not just about securing supply. They are also worried about huge price increases and environmental damage that happens during production.

Over the past twenty years, Western countries mostly stopped producing rare earth metals. Production involves complex processing and often dangerous byproducts.

High costs for carmakers and environment

Rare earth magnets are mostly made of neodymium. The magnets are widely seen as the most effective way to power electric vehicles (EVs). China controls 90 percent of their supply.

Prices for neodymium oxide⁵ more than doubled during a nine-month period last year and are still up 90 percent.

Companies trying to stop using the magnets include Japanese carmaker Nissan. The company told Reuters it is ending its use of rare earths from the engine of its new Ariya model. Germany's BMW did the same for its iX3 electric sport utility vehicle this year. And the world's two biggest automakers -- Toyota and Volkswagen -- told Reuters they are also decreasing use of the minerals.

Rare earths are needed for the electronics, renewable energy and defense⁶ industries. Because some can generate a continuous magnetic force, the magnets they make are known as permanent magnets.

Electric cars with permanent magnets need less battery power and can drive farther than those with usual magnets. The special magnets were the clear choice for EVs until about 2010 when China threatened to cut the rare earth supply during a conflict with Japan. Prices rose sharply.

Now, supply concerns are opening a divide between Chinese EV producers and their Western competitors.

Though automakers in the West are cutting down, the Chinese are still making vehicles using the permanent magnets. A Chinese rare earths industry official told Reuters that if political risks are set aside, China can "fully⁷ meet" the world's need.

Now companies are developing electric engines without the metals or recycling more of the magnets from existing vehicles.

BMW says it has redesigned its EV technology to make up for a lack of rare earths. Carmaker Renault has made its Zoe model without rare earths for a growing number of city cars that do not need long battery life.

The U.S. electric car company Tesla will be using both kinds of motors.

EVs and wind turbines

Even though auto³ sales dropped during the pandemic, demand for neodymium magnets in EVs went up 35 percent last year alone.

The magnets are also in demand for wind power equipment called turbines.

For many EV drivers, distance worries may not be an issue.

"Most people are driving less than 100 miles a day," so for that you can have a less capable motor, said researcher Jürgen Gassmann. He is with the Fraunhofer Institute for Material and Beam Technology in Germany.

Yet, some companies, like Toyota, still use permanent magnets but have lowered use of rare earths. They developed a magnet that needs 20 to 50 percent less neodymium.

The use of electric motors without rare earth metals is expected to jump by almost eight times by 2030, says Claudio Vittori. He is an expert from the American-British information provider IHS Markit. But he said permanent magnet motors will still rule, mainly because of their power and efficiency.

If the predictions are right, it is unclear that even these changes can affect the rare earth metals market.

Words in This Story

byproduct - n. something that is produced during the production or destruction of something else

battery - n. an electric cell or connected electric cells for providing electric current

recycle - v. to use (something) again

efficiency - n. the ability to do something or produce something without wasting materials, time, or energy : the quality or degree of being efficient

motor - n. a machine that produces motion or power for doing work

1 makers   

n.制造者，制造商（maker的复数形式）

参考例句：

• The makers of the product assured us that there had been no sacrifice of quality. 这一产品的制造商向我们保证说他们没有牺牲质量。
• The makers are about to launch out a new product. 制造商们马上要生产一种新产品。 来自《简明英汉词典》

2 dependence   

n.依靠，依赖；信任，信赖；隶属

参考例句：

• Doctors keep trying to break her dependence of the drug.医生们尽力使她戒除毒瘾。
• He was freed from financial dependence on his parents.他在经济上摆脱了对父母的依赖。

3 auto   

n.(=automobile)(口语)汽车

参考例句：

• Don't park your auto here.别把你的汽车停在这儿。
• The auto industry has brought many people to Detroit.汽车工业把许多人吸引到了底特律。

4 automobile   

n.汽车，机动车

参考例句：

• He is repairing the brake lever of an automobile.他正在修理汽车的刹车杆。
• The automobile slowed down to go around the curves in the road.汽车在路上转弯时放慢了速度。

5 oxide   

n.氧化物

参考例句：

• Oxide is usually seen in our daily life.在我们的日常生活中氧化物很常见。
• How can you get rid of this oxide coating?你们该怎样除去这些氧化皮？

6 defense   

n.防御，保卫；[pl.]防务工事；辩护，答辩

参考例句：

• The accused has the right to defense.被告人有权获得辩护。
• The war has impacted the area with military and defense workers.战争使那个地区挤满了军队和防御工程人员。

7 fully   

adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地

参考例句：

• The doctor asked me to breathe in,then to breathe out fully.医生让我先吸气，然后全部呼出。
• They soon became fully integrated into the local community.他们很快就完全融入了当地人的圈子。