In electric vehicle motors, rapidly shifting magnetic fields spin a rotor made with magnets that contain “rare Earth minerals” such as terbium and dysprosium. China accounts for a large percentage of the world’s rare Earth minerals supply, according to the United States Geological Survey. And among those minerals used for EV motor magnets, China is responsible for about 90%, according to Niron.
“Our teams will co-develop iron nitride motor magnet technology, which we will plan to use in future GM EVs,” said Kai Daniels, supervising principal of GM Ventures, GM’s venture capital arm. Niron also identified Stellantis Ventures and Volvo Car Tech Fund as investors. Stellantis is the parent company of Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep and Fiat, among other auto brands.