本田开发出新型汽车电池，不再需要中国稀土

日本本田汽车已经联合其他公司开发出了世界上第一台不使用重稀土的混合动力汽车电动机。本田称这会降低它对这种主要产自中国的昂贵材料的依赖。

在许多发达国家，集汽油发动机和电动机于一身的混合动力汽车越来越受欢迎，但镝和铽等稀土元素的稳定供给一直是个问题。

受领土主权纠纷影响，中国曾在2010年临时禁止向日本出口稀土矿。

作为日本第三大汽车厂商，本田本周二表示，该公司的新电机采用了大同特殊钢有限公司开发的不含镝和铽的磁体。

本田指出，这使作为电机关键部件的磁体的生产成本下降了10%左右，还将其重量减轻了近8%。

新电机将用于下一代Freed小型MPV，后者定于今年秋季发布，目前Freed的销售范围包括日本和其他亚洲市场。

本田表示，它从10年前开始着眼于减少重稀土的使用，2011年稀土价格猛涨则促成了该公司和大同特殊钢公司的合作。

本田一位高层对记者说：“这项技术将降低我们的成本，并减少价格波动对我们的影响。”

重新设计的电机仍使用了轻稀土元素钕，北美、澳大利亚和中国都有这种矿藏。

包括油电混合动力车、插电式混合动力车、充电电动汽车以及燃料电池汽车在内，新能源汽车目前占本田所有产品的5%左右，该公司的目标是到2030年把这个比重提高到三分之二。 （财富中文网）

译者：Charlie

校对：詹妮

Japan’s Honda Motor Co  HMC 1.12%  has co-developed the world’s first hybrid car motor without using heavy rare earth metals, which it says will reduce its dependence on the expensive materials mainly supplied by China.

Hybrid vehicles combining a gasoline engine and electric motor have become increasingly popular in many developed countries, but sourcing a steady supply of rare earth elements such as dysprosium and terbium has been a challenge.

In 2010 China imposed a temporary ban on exports of rare earth minerals to Japan as the two nations engaged in territorial disputes.

Honda, Japan’s third-largest automaker, said on Tuesday that its new motors used magnets developed by Daido Steel Co that do not contain dysprosium and terbium.

This reduced the cost of producing the magnets, a key component in motors, by about 10 percent while making them nearly 8 percent lighter, Honda said.

The new motors will be used in the next Freed minivan, which is sold in Japan and other Asian markets, to be unveiled in the autumn.

Honda started looking to reduce the use of heavy rare earth metals 10 years ago, but a spike in prices around 2011 prompted the tie-up with Daido, the company said.

“This technology will lower our costs and reduce our exposure to price fluctuations,” a Honda official told reporters.

The redesigned motor still uses the light rare earth element neodymium, which is found in North America and Australia, as well as China.

Honda is aiming for new-energy vehicles, including gasoline-electric hybrids, plug-in hybrids, battery-electric and fuel cell vehicles to account for two thirds of its line-up by 2030, from around 5 percent now.