The end goal is to make sure hybrids also enter recycling programs

Sep 11, 2012 15:18 GMT  ·  By
Honda and Mitsubishi materials team up to recover rare earth magnets from hybrids
   Honda and Mitsubishi materials team up to recover rare earth magnets from hybrids

As of lately, drivers worldwide seem to have really taken a liking towards hybrid vehicles, and many such cars have been introduced to some very proud owners.

However, no vehicle can be driven for an eternity, which means that sooner or later hybrids will also get discarded by their present owners.

Seeing how manufacturing these vehicles requires that rare earth magnets be used, Mitsubishi Materials and Honda saw it fit to team up and make sure none of these precious resources gets wasted once the car makes its way into the junkyard.

Thus, they are to develop a technology intended to extract drive motors and then remove said magnets, which can later on be used to manufacture other vehicles.

Sources report that 400,000 hybrids are expected to be junked until the year 2020, so this endeavor comes as good news indeed.