On January 8th, the latest disclosure on the website of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology showed that in order to strengthen the collaboration between the industrial chains of new energy vehicles, drive motors, and rare earth permanent magnet materials, and promote joint research and development among upstream and downstream enterprises, on January 5th, 2018, the China Association of Automobile distributor and wholesaler and the China Rare Earth Industry Association organized the establishment conference of the upstream and downstream cooperation mechanism for rare earth permanent magnet materials for new energy vehicle drive motors in Beijing. Representatives from more than 20 units including BAIC New Energy, Yutong Bus, Geely Automobile, BYD Automobile, Northern Rare Earth, Xiamen Tungsten Industry, Harbin Institute of Technology, etc. attended the meeting.
At the meeting, Li Wei, Director of the Department of Raw Materials Industry, pointed out that the drive motor is the “heart” of new energy vehicles, and rare earth permanent magnet materials are the preferred material for drive motors. Rare earth permanent magnet drive motors can significantly reduce motor weight, shrink motor size, and improve work efficiency. Establishing upstream and downstream cooperation mechanisms is conducive to breaking through the development barriers between industries such as new energy vehicles, drive motors, and rare earth permanent magnet materials, and achieving mutual benefit and win-win results throughout the entire industry chain. He stated that the current country attaches great importance to the development of the new materials industry, which brings unprecedented opportunities for the development of upstream and downstream cooperation mechanisms for rare earth permanent magnet materials.
In addition, Qu Guochun, Deputy Director of the Equipment Industry Department, also stated that in recent years, China’s new energy vehicle industry has achieved significant results in development. However, compared with traditional fuel vehicles, it has not yet formed a competitive advantage in terms of vehicle cost-effectiveness and ease of use. Multinational automobile companies such as Europe and the United States are also closely catching up and need to consolidate their first mover advantage in new energy vehicles. Establishing upstream and downstream cooperation mechanisms is necessary for promoting product performance improvement and scale application.
He also emphasized the need for mechanism innovation, vehicle traction, and the formation of collaborative innovation and good cooperation driven by the coordinated development of new energy vehicles and motors to drive the development of key components of motors and magnet materials. This will solve the problems of low utilization rate of permanent magnet materials and incomplete standard system, thereby achieving improved performance and cost reduction of drive motors.
November 11, 2021
