4-min read
Supporting the Drive for Affordable, Sustainable EV Motor Magnets
Investing in companies and new technologies underscores Magna’s drive to tap into a network of thought-starters, generate ideas, collaborate, and develop products for the Car of the Future. Bridging the mindset with startups and industry breaks down barriers and injects new ways of thinking.
We invest in technologies that have the potential to enhance our competitive position, meet the needs and expectations of our customers, and, when relevant, align with our sustainability goals. Supporting advances in safer, smarter and more efficient mobility technologies is part of Magna's purpose. One element of this is our support for vehicle electrification, a strategy that supports future electrification-focused product innovation.
Our recent investment in Minnesota-based Niron Magnetics has potential to provide a core building block to our product line as demand skyrockets for rare earth-free magnets that help power electric vehicles. Permanent magnets are essential components in all automobiles, from fuel pumps to EV drivetrains. But rare earth mining harms ecosystems and the supply of rare earth minerals is challenged by geopolitical and human rights issues. Niron Magnetics’ Clean Earth Magnet® is made from iron and nitrogen ‒ affordable and abundant materials ‒ bypassing the need for rare earth mining.
Niron Magnetics’ Clean Earth Magnet® is made from iron and nitrogen ‒ bypassing the need for rare earth mining
Potential for Commercial Use
The magnets in electric devices help to convert electrical energy into mechanical force, and vice versa, turning mechanical force into electrical energy. Magnets are used in a wide range of applications, from wind turbines and audio systems to refrigerators and vacuums. However, it is the demand for magnets in EV drivetrains that is driving an unprecedented growth in global magnet demand. They are an essential part of the vehicle and typically made with a high composition of rare earth minerals such as terbium and neodymium, which are expensive and limited in supply.
Magna hopes its collaboration can lead to further development of these Clean Earth Magnets, which could have similar or better performance characteristics to their rare earth counterparts. Additionally, being rare-earth free, Clean Earth Magnets could offer recyclability benefits and reduce reliance on rare-earth materials. These Clean Earth Magnets could also reduce the cost of EVs and speed their adoption by consumers. Finally, Clean Earth Magnets could be developed with locally available material rather than being dependent on global supply chains.
Good Chemistry
Our investment and collaboration with Niron Magnetics reflects a Magna core value: think big. Turning this core value into action has been a hallmark of my 25 years engineering clean powertrains and is present more than ever in my current role leading the development and coordination of Magna powertrain’s global engineering and future product portfolio.
Growing up in the industrial heart of Germany, an area that was filled with factories, smog and noise, I became committed early on to clean mobility. My career has been dedicated to playing an instrumental role in the development and launch of electrified vehicles, from different types of hybrids to full battery-electric and fuel-cell vehicles. Earning a Ph.D. in thermodynamics from Bochum University in Germany turbocharged my passion for turning physics and chemistry into products and processes that benefit current and future generations.
Today, I encourage the Magna team and our partners to “do everything possible to make emissions impossible.” With every step we take, from EVs to Clean Earth Magnets, we are making progress – and making a difference.
To learn more about Magna’s approach to technology investments, visit www.magna.com/magna-technology-investments.
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