Battling rare earth magnet crisis

STARTUPS ARE DESIGNING ALTERNATIVE SOLUTIONS TO TRADITIONAL MAGNETIC MOTORS

- SANDEEP BUDKI

The recent rare earth magnet crisis, triggered by China's export restrictions, has created supply chain disruptions across global automotive, defense, and consumer electronics sectors. But there is also an upside. A new bunch of motor makers is designing solutions that replace rare earth magnets, particularly neodymium, most of which is mined and processed in China. The idea is to replace it with ferrite-based or magnet-free technologies that offer performance without geopolitical risk.

Among them is Chara Technologies, a Bengaluru-based startup that builds synchronous reluctance machines (SynRMs), motors that operate without any rare-earth elements. "Most high-performance motors today use permanent magnets, but we've taken a different route," said Bhaktha Keshavachar, CEO and co-founder of Chara. He said the company's motors generate torque by guiding magnetic flux through preferred paths, avoiding magnetic attraction altogether.

While rare earth-free motors have historically faced trade-offs in weight and efficiency, Chara says its designs are closing the gap. "Our motors are about 15% heavier than typical permanent magnet motors," Keshavachar said. "But for a 600 kg vehicle, an extra 3 kg is negligible. What you gain is cost predictability and supply chain resilience."