双语新闻：汽车制造商寻求用更少的稀土生产电动汽车

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(EV)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种被称为稀土的金属的大部分开采和加工。这些矿物被用来制造永磁体。许多专家认为永久磁铁是为电动汽车提供动力的最有效方式。

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，永久磁铁并不是生产商业上成功的电动汽车所必需的。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使用稀土的发动机。

EV market leader Tesla announced earlier this year it planned to remove rare earths from its next-generation EVs.

电动汽车市场的领导者特斯拉今年早些时候宣布，计划在下一代电动汽车中不使用稀土。

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使用很少或不使用稀土的电动汽车发动机。这些公司包括通用汽车、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，计划开发稀土含量较低的新型电机，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(ZF)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。这种电动机被称为EESM，它利用电力产生磁场。

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Otmar Scharrer对路透社表示，这样的发展是“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.

Scharrer表示，采埃孚正与美国、欧洲和中国的汽车制造商就提供该发动机进行谈判，并可能在两年内开始生产电动汽车车型。

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，一些稀土开发产生的有毒废物会危害人类和环境。这个问题也可以通过使用不依赖于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.

“如果你做对了，你就会得到一个更可持续的产品，”本·奇斯威克说。他指导底特律驱动系统设计公司的工程业务开发。该公司正在与三家不同的汽车制造商合作生产不含稀土的发动机。

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(BMW)等一些公司表示，经过多年的研究，他们已经取得了很大进展。“这不是本垒打……但不使用稀土也能很好地工作，”宝马最新研发项目的Uwe Deuke表示。他负责该公司下一代电动汽车EESM发动机的工程设计工作。