China controls a great amount of rare earth metals.

In another thread on China tonight, we covered the fact they control 99% of one of the rare earth metals, and 95% of the rest of the rare earths some of which are used in wind generators, hybrid cars The concern I put forth in my comment was that in a trade war, since they are already cutting exports to supply their own factories, they could really hurt our high tech industries here that need rare earths. But, now I am even more upset. MolyCorp has the only mine for rare earths in the U.S. but

Shortage of Rare Metals for Hybrids Is Overblown

China is tightening grip on its rare earth metals, which may derail production of hybrid and electric cars, according to The New York Times and Bloomberg. Hybrid cars use rare metals, especially neodymium for magnets in electric motors, and lanthanum in nickel metal hydride batteries.

Rare Earth Minerals Making Hybrid Cars Even Rarer?By Angel HsuChina, Clean Fuels + Vehicles, Innovation + Technology, Sustainable TransportAdd comments

China announced this week that it would tighten production and exports of rare earth minerals – a misnomer for a category of about 15 metallic elements on the periodic table that are, in fact, not actually scarce. The rarity of these elements comes from their concentration in only a few parts of the world, mainly Australia, North America, and China. According to a recent NY Times article, China produces 93 percent of rare earth elements, many of which are used for green technologies, including

As hybrid cars gobble rare metals, shortage looms

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – The Prius hybrid automobile is popular for its fuel efficiency, but its electric motor and battery guzzle rare earth metals, a little-known class of elements found in a wide range of gadgets and consumer goods. That makes Toyota's market-leading gasoline-electric hybrid car and other similar vehicles vulnerable to a supply crunch predicted by experts as China, the world's dominant rare earths producer, limits exports while global demand swells. Share and Enjoy:

China set to tighten grip on key minerals

The International Herald Tribune, September 1, 2009 Tuesday - China is reducing its quota for the tonnage of certain minerals that can be exported, requiring manufacturers of products with high-strength magnets for wind turbines and hybrid cars, to move production to China.

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