Reducing dependence on China: Ricardo has created an electric motor without rare earth metals and copper

British engineering company Ricardo has developed and tested a new prototype of the Alumotor synchronous electric motor. The main feature of this unit is the refusal to use rare earth metals and copper.

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The Alumotor is a "low-cost, reliable and [environmentally] sustainable alternative" to conventional permanent magnet and copper winding motors. This synchronous motor is free of rare earth metals and critical raw materials such as cobalt. The stator winding is made up of aluminium studs. This winding has lower conductivity and heats up more, so oil is used to cool the unit.

The output power of the prototype was 214 kW (292 hp) and the maximum efficiency is claimed to be "more than 92%". Ricardo says such figures make the Alumotor suitable for light commercial vehicles and off-road vehicles, with scalability for other usage scenarios.

Ricardo draws attention to the environmental aspect of using rare earth elements (REEs). While yttrium, neodymium and other rare earth elements are not geologically rare, they are difficult to extract and purify.

However, these are also political and economic issues. According to the International Energy Agency, China will account for 61 per cent of global rare earth element production in 2023. Meanwhile, according to the U.S. Geological Survey, 72 per cent of rare earth metals were imported from China in 2022.

European Union data shows that China covered 40.3 per cent of the bloc's REE needs in 2022. Malaysia supplied 30.6 per cent and Russia 24.5 per cent.

The Alumotor project was realised with funding from Innovate UK to promote sustainable mobility. The development aims to address the environmental impact of materials for electric motors.

Source: Ricardo