Major automakers are seeking new ways to make electric vehicle (EV) motors that depend less on rare earth minerals.
主要汽车制造商正在寻找新的方法来制造对稀土矿物依赖较少的电动汽车发动机。
China controls most mining and processing of a group of 17 metals known as rare earths. These minerals are used to produce permanent magnets. Many experts consider permanent magnets to be the most effective way to power EVs.
中国控制着17种稀土金属的大部分开采和加工。这些矿物被用来制造永磁体。许多专家认为永磁体是驱动电动汽车最有效的方式。
But new motor designs show that permanent magnets are not necessary to produce a commercially successfully EV. And some Western EV makers are finding new solutions to produce motors that avoid rare earth minerals.
但新的电机设计表明，生产商业上成功的电动汽车并不需要永磁体。一些西方电动汽车制造商正在寻找新的解决方案来生产不含稀土矿物的电机。
EV market leader Tesla announced earlier this year it planned to remove rare earths from its next-generation EVs.
电动汽车市场领导者特斯拉今年早些时候宣布，计划从下一代电动汽车中去除稀土。
Other automakers are also in the process of researching or developing EV motors that use little or no rare earth minerals. These include General Motors, Jaguar Land Rover and BMW.
其他汽车制造商也在研究或开发几乎不使用稀土矿物的电动汽车发动机。其中包括通用汽车、捷豹路虎和宝马。
Nissan says it plans to develop newer motors with low rare earth content, as well as permanent magnet motors that will one day no longer need the minerals.
日产表示，计划开发低稀土含量的新型电机，以及有朝一日不再需要稀土的永磁电机。
German technology supplier ZF has developed a new kind of motor the company says is very similar to the size and performance of permanent magnet motors. This kind of motor, known as EESM, uses electricity to produce a magnetic field.
德国技术供应商采埃孚开发了一种新型电机，该公司表示，这种电机的尺寸和性能与永磁电机非常相似。这种被称为EESM的电机利用电力产生磁场。
ZF's Chief Technology Officer, Otmar Scharrer, told Reuters news agency such development is "an important contribution to making us a little more independent of China."
采埃孚首席技术官奥特玛·绍尔告诉路透社，这类研制成果是“使我们更加独立于中国的重要贡献”。
ZF is in talks with U.S., European and Chinese automakers to supply the motor and could start producing EV models within two years, Scharrer said.
绍尔表示，采埃孚正在与美国、欧洲和中国的汽车制造商就供应这款电机进行谈判，并可能在两年内开始生产电动汽车。
Besides being mostly controlled by China, some rare earth development produces poisonous waste that can harm people and the environment. The problem could also be helped by using motors that do not depend on rare earth minerals.
除了主要由中国控制外，一些稀土开发项目还产生有毒废物，可能危害人类和环境。这个问题也可以通过使用不依赖稀土矿物的电机来解决。
"If you get it right, you've got a much more sustainable product," said Ben Chiswick. He directs engineering business development for Detroit-based Drive System Design. The company is working to create rare earth-free motors with three different automakers.
本·奇西克说：“如果实现了，就会得到一种更可持续的产品。”他在底特律驱动系统设计公司指导工程业务开发。该公司正与三家不同的汽车制造商合作开发无稀土电机。
Some companies, like BMW, say they have already made great progress after years of research. "It was not a home run... but it works very well without rare earths," said Uwe Deuke of BMW's latest development efforts. He leads engineering efforts for the company's EESM motor planned for its next-generation EVs.
宝马等一些公司表示，经过多年的研究，他们已经取得了巨大进展。乌韦·德乌卡在谈到宝马的最新开发工作时说：“这不是一次本垒打……但它在没有稀土的情况下运行得很好。”他领导该公司计划用于下一代电动汽车的EESM电机的工程工作。
I'm Bryan Lynn.
我是布莱恩·林恩。(51VOA.COM原创翻译，请勿转载，违者必究！)