Dr. Brien Seeley alerted your editor to this breakthrough from Honda Motors and Daido Steel. Martyn Williams, writing for CIO.com, asserted that Honda’s announcement of its new electric motor, “…Is a big deal, not just in terms of technology but of geopolitics, too.” The motor is the world’s first for hybrid cars “that doesn’t use heavy rare-earth metals – a major step forward in the development of motors that are free from the political whims of the Chinese government.” This is a big deal in that China is the primary source for heavy rare earth metals, controlling as much as 80-percent of those materials used in electronics and motors*. China has blocked access to the materials in the past, stopping Japan from receiving exports for two months over a territorial dispute. That caused Honda and other Japanese companies to find ways to replace rare earth metals in their products. Traditionally, the neodymium magnets used in hybrid and electric car motors included …
