22-07-2025
Japan's carmakers developing rare-earth recycling technology
Nissan Motor is developing technology with Waseda University to recycle rare earth metals from magnets in scrapped electric vehicle motors.
The project has taken on a new urgency since China announced in April it will restrict exports of rare earths.
The process involves melting the motor in an electric furnace with other chemicals to separate off the rare earths. The metals are essential to manufacturing EVs.
Nissan Motor Senior Engineer Ogawa Kazuhiro says the technical challenge is to increase the amount of rare earths they can recycle from the magnets.
"We hope to have the system in practical use for when more scrapped electric motors are available," he said. "That is expected to be around 2030."
Toyota Motor is also testing a technology to recycle rare earths from hybrid car motors.
