General Motors (GM) has entered a strategic partnership and investment in Niron Magnetics, a company that has developed a sustainable magnet material free of rare earth minerals for use in electric vehicle (EV) motors. The technology aims to reduce the cost and environmental impact of materials currently used in EV motor magnets, GM said.

“We believe Niron’s unique technology can play a key role in reducing rare earth minerals from EV motors and help us further scale our North American-based supply chain for EVs,” Anirvan Coomer, president of GM Ventures, said.

Niron Magnetics, based in Minneapolis, MN, utilizes iron nitride in its proprietary “Clean Earth Magnet” technology. This affordable and abundant material can enable high-performance magnets without rare earth elements like terbium, dysprosium, praseodymium and neodymium, Niron said.

The strategic partnership between GM and Niron will co-develop this sustainable magnet technology for potential use in future GM EVs. GM Ventures also has made an investment in Niron to support the scaling and commercialization of its manufacturing.

“GM invented rare earth permanent magnets nearly 40 years ago, and now we’re working together to bring the next generation of automotive magnet technology to market,” Jonathan Rowntree, CEO of Niron Magnetics, said.