New Delhi: China’s curbs on rare earth exports are accelerating a global shift toward electric vehicle (EV) motors that use little or no rare earth materials, according to a recent report, which also noted that the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Delhi is developing similar alternatives.
“With China attempting to hold the world hostage through rare earth supply restrictions, major automakers in the US, Germany, Japan, and India are advancing EV technologies that do not rely on rare earths for their batteries or motors,” the European Times report stated.
In India, IIT Delhi is leading research efforts to design motors that minimize or eliminate the use of rare earth elements, it added.
Globally, several major carmakers—including Tesla, BMW, General Motors, BorgWarner, Jaguar Land Rover, ZF, Vitesco, Renault, Nissan, Mercedes-Benz, Toyota, and Bentley—are developing rare-earth-free or low-rare-earth EVs.
Tesla has already reduced its use of heavy rare earths by 25% per vehicle, while BMW and others are progressing toward magnet-free designs. Mercedes-Benz, meanwhile, has brought the heavy rare earth content in its next-generation EVs “close to zero,” the report said.
Beijing’s latest export restrictions, announced on October 9, followed similar actions in 2018 and 2023. These curbs have disrupted the supply of key materials such as neodymium and dysprosium—critical for permanent magnet motors—and heightened geopolitical and supply-chain risks.
In April 2025, after US President Donald Trump imposed new tariffs on Chinese goods, Beijing retaliated with export controls on several heavy rare earth materials, affecting the US, India, and other countries, and creating challenges for India’s automobile industry.
China controls roughly half of the world’s rare earth reserves, which it has been accused of using as leverage in global trade, the report said.
Although Beijing lifted its export restrictions on rare earth magnets to India in August, as of September 9, not a single Indian import application had been approved, the report added.
