Advanced Electric Machines warns automotive industry’s rare earth dependency risks EV production disruptions. White paper urges adoption of proven rare-earth-free motor technology, which has logged four million kilometers and cuts environmental impact by over 50%.
UK automotive manufacturers are being urged to adopt rare-earth-free electric motor technology to avoid a supply chain crisis that could derail the country’s EV transition.
Advanced Electric Machines (AEM), based in Northeast England, has released a white paper warning that the automotive industry’s reliance on rare earth permanent magnet motors creates a vulnerability comparable to the semiconductor shortage during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The company notes that most EVs rely on up to one kilogram of rare earths within their motors. With one country controlling the majority of rare earth processing capacity, recent export licensing restrictions have already forced production shutdowns across Europe.
“We’ve been here before,” says Dr James Widmer, chief executive and co-founder of Advanced Electric Machines. “The semiconductor crisis showed how quickly a hidden dependency can shut down production, damage confidence, and cost the industry billions. Rare earths represent an even greater risk because the dependency is deeper, the supply chains are more concentrated, and the disruption is no longer hypothetical. The technology to remove this vulnerability already exists. What’s missing is the urgency to adopt it.”
The white paper highlights that proven alternatives already exist. AEM’s rare-earth-free motor technology has accumulated more than four million kilometers in real-world operation across buses and light rail vehicles, delivering comparable performance at lower costs.
Lifecycle analysis cited in the report shows magnet-free motors can cut environmental impact by more than half compared to conventional permanent magnet designs, while also removing exposure to volatile rare earth pricing.
With the UK’s Zero Emission Vehicle mandate requiring 80% of new car sales to be zero-emission by 2030, AEM argues that current supply trajectories cannot support the required growth in EV production.
The white paper calls for immediate pilot programs by UK manufacturers, coordinated supply chain risk assessments, and targeted government support to accelerate domestic production of rare-earth-free motors.
AEM was founded in 2017 as a spin-out from Newcastle University’s electric motor research team. The company’s technologies are covered by 46 international patents.
