Ford creates the world's first eco-friendly electric motor from 'waste'

A consortium led by the British company Ionic Technologies, with the participation of Ford, has successfully completed tests of an electric motor with magnets made from 100 percent recycled rare earth metals. Tests conducted at Ford's R&D center in the UK showed that the performance and durability of such motors are on par with units made from primary raw materials. This is reported by Ixbt.com reports .

This is the first instance in the world where recycled rare earth elements have fully met the strict commercial standards of the automotive industry on the first attempt. The technological process consisted of several stages: first, Ionic Technologies extracted high-purity neodymium, dysprosium, and terbium oxides from neodymium-iron-boron (NdFeB) magnet scrap at its Belfast plant.

In the next stage, the company Less Common Metals (LCM) converted these oxides into a special alloy, while the German company GKN produced finished permanent magnets from them. In the final stage, Ford engineers assembled two test rotors at the Halewood plant and conducted resource tests on a test bench.

This project is of strategic importance for the European market, as China currently dominates the rare earth metals sector and is tightening export controls. Elements such as dysprosium and terbium are crucial for the high-temperature resistance of automotive magnets.

Ionic Technologies is currently preparing to make a final decision on building a commercial plant in Belfast worth 85 million pounds sterling. This facility will have the capacity to produce up to 400 tons of refined rare earth metal oxides per year.