Commercial
Electric Vehicles
What it is
Roughly 30% of a sintered NdFeB magnet's mass is rare earth. That single ratio is what connects a Chinese clay hill to a German traction motor.
The material bill
Scale it up →Quantities are per kg of finished magnetindicative range
Read these as “about this much, give or take”. Every manufacturer’s design differs, and the numbers fall over time as engineers learn to use less of the expensive things.
| Material | Low | High | Unit | Basis |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Iron Ore | 0.6 | 0.7 | kg | Iron balance of the alloy |
| Neodymium critical Often supplied as mixed NdPr. | 0.2 | 0.3 | kg | Rare-earth content of the alloy |
| Praseodymium critical | 0.04 | 0.08 | kg | Part of the NdPr fraction |
| Dysprosium critical Grain-boundary diffusion cuts this sharply. | trace | 0.06 | kg | Added for heat resistance |
| Terbium critical | trace | 0.02 | kg | Added for the hottest grades |
| Boron critical | 0.008 | 0.012 | kg | About 1% by weight |
Indicative range compiled from published technology studies and chemistry; verify against a manufacturer specification before use. Rows marked “trace” contain the material in quantities too small to state usefully as a mass — the constraint there is purity or supplier count, not tonnage.
The alternatives
Substitution is the most underrated force in materials. When a metal gets expensive or politically difficult, engineers design around it — and demand for a whole mine can evaporate.
