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Honda's new hybrid will cut use of rare-earth metals

Honda will start selling a hybrid vehicle later this year that will reduce the use of rare-earth metals in the hybrid-electric motor's magnets. The Japanese automaker worked with Japanese metal supplier Daido Steel Co. to develop a process that eliminates the use of rare-earth elements such as terbium or dysprosium. The first vehicle to feature this process will be the Honda Freed subcompact minivan, which is based on the platform of the Fit and will go on sale in Japan later this year. The new technology will help free Honda from its dependence on China, which produces about 90 percent of the world's rare-earth metals. The new process uses what's called the "hot deformation method" to eliminate the need for the heavier metals and likely reduce hybrid-engine costs. Honda's new hybrid motors use a lighter rare-earth material called neodymium. With both electric and hybrid vehicle production forecast to grow within the next few years, rare-earth metal demand is forecast to rise by 14 percent a year to more than $9 billion by 2019, Automotive News says, citing an estimate from technology-research company Technavio Research. Honda estimates that the new process cuts the cost of making the motors' magnets by about 10 percent while reducing their weight by about eight percent, Reuters says. Additionally, neodymium is found in Australia and North America, as well as China. Honda has been selling a gas-powered version of the Freed in Japan since 2008. Three years later, Honda started selling a hybrid version of the minivan, which was rated to get 51 miles per gallon on the Japanese driving cycle. Related Video: This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings. Daido Steel and Honda Adopt World's First Hybrid Vehicle Motor Magnet Free of Heavy Rare Earth Elements – Honda Freed, on sale this fall, will be the first hybrid vehicle to adopt new magnet – Daido Steel Honda TOKYO, Japan, July 12, 2016 - Daido Steel Co., Ltd. and Honda Motor Co., Ltd. became the world's first companies to achieve practical application of a hot deformed neodymium magnet containing no heavy rare earth*1 and yet with high heat resistance properties and high magnetic performance required for the use in the driving motor of a hybrid vehicle. This heavy rare earth-free hot deformed neodymium magnet will be applied first to the all-new Honda FREED, scheduled to go on sale this fall.

180,000 new vehicles are sitting, derailed by lack of transport trains

If you're planning on buying a new car in the next month or so, you might want to pick from what's on the lot, because there could be a long wait for new vehicles from the factory. Locomotives continue to be in short supply in North America, and that's causing major delays for automakers trying to move assembled cars.
According to The Detroit News, there are about 180,000 new vehicles waiting to be transported by rail in North America at the moment. In a normal year, it would be about 69,000. The complications have been industry-wide. Toyota, General Motors, Honda and Ford all reported experiencing some delays, and Chrysler recently had hundreds of minivans sitting on the Detroit waterfront waiting to be shipped out.
The problem is twofold for automakers. First, the fracking boom in the Bakken oil field in the Plains and Canada is monopolizing many locomotives. Second, the long, harsh winter is still causing major delays in freight train travel. The bad weather forced trains to slow down and carry less weight, which caused a backup of goods to transport. The auto companies resorted to moving some vehicles by truck, which was a less efficient but necessary option.

Five vehicles named Top Safety Pick+ including new Civic, MKZ

In an attempt to help push vehicle safety to a higher level, the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety created a stricter Top Safety Pick+ rating last year, which incorporates a brutal small overlap test and requires cars to get Good ratings in four out of the five categories (and no less than Acceptable in the fifth). Joining the list of the safest cars of 2013, the 2013 Volvo XC60, Lincoln MKZ, Honda Civic (sedan and coupe) and the 2014 Mazda6 have all received the coveted TSP+ rating.
The Mazda6 and Lincoln MKZ have both been completely redesigned, and both received Acceptable ratings in the small overlap test. The Honda Civic, coming off its emergency refresh for 2013, is the first small car to be subjected to the small overlap test, and IIHS says that one of the car's many upgrades includes a stiffer front structure allowing it to receive Good ratings in all categories. Similarly, the XC60 gets all Good ratings thanks to, according to IIHS, Volvo updating the airbag software allowing the side airbags to inflate during the small overlap test.
The 2014 Subaru Forester has not yet been subjected to the small overlap test, so it must make do with just a Top Safety Pick rating until the IIHS tests small utility vehicles, which is expected to happen later in the spring.