Rare Earth materials create enabling technologies which are found throughout Hybrid Electric Vehicles (HEV), Plug-in HEV’s (PHEV), all-Electric Vehicles (EV) as well as in standard gasoline or diesel vehicles.  Powerful Neodymium-Iron-Boron (NdFeB) magnets are vital in the electric motor and regenerative braking systems found in the above electric vehicle categories and are also crucial to several other systems in the vehicles. Virtually all HEV, PHEV, and EV on the road today also rely on Rare Earths (primarily lanthanum)) in the battery pack which stores energy normally wasted during coasting and braking and saves it until needed by the electric motor.
 
To estimate positive impacts to our environment, the U.S. EPA assumes each HEV will have twice the mpg and only half the emissions as an equivalent gas or diesel vehicle.  For every 100,000 HEV’s (such as the Toyota Prius) that replace existing vehicles we save well over 1 million pounds of CO2 emissions per year and 4.8 million gallons of fuel.

HEV, PHEV, and EV contain from 20 to 25 pounds of Rare Earths where a standard vehicle can contain on the order of 10 pounds.  Demand for energy-efficient electric vehicles is growing significantly.  Global demand is projected to be 4 to 6 million vehicles b per year by 2013 so the impact to the Rare Earth market could be staggering. Additional Rare Earth supply sources must come on line to support this growing industry.