Research into rare earths from electric motors

Germany – A new research project, conducted by a German-led consortium of major industrial organisations, aims to investigate the extraction of rare-earth metals from electric vehicle motors. The partners in Project MORE (Motor Recycling) will consider the entire value chain from design and manufacturing of engines to reverse logistics and reuse in vehicles.

The project is funded by the German Federal Research Ministry (BMBF) and the consortium itself will be led by industrial conglomerate Siemens. The main focus will be permanent magnets with their high percentage of rare-earth metals, which are needed for electric and hybrid vehicles. Results of the initiative are scheduled to be presented in 2014.

The project will involve experts from Siemens, Daimler, Umicore and Vacuumschmelze, the University of Erlangen, the Technical University of Clausthal, the Öko-Institut Darmstadt and the Fraunhofer Institute for Systems and Innovation Research. It is thought that the technologies developed as a result of the project might benefit applications in which rare earths play a key role, such as wind turbines.

Under the new project, researchers are using different approaches to recycling of electric motors, such as: the dismantling of the magnets; the repair, refurbishment and subsequent reuse of the electric motor or its components; and the recycling of magnetic materials and rare earth recovery from pre-sorted and shredded material. In addition, concepts like design for recycling for electric engines, as well as eco-efficiency measurement, will be taken into account.