Airbus is working on electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) concepts for its CityAirbus NextGen air taxi, and the company has announced a partnership with California-based MAGicaALL to provide the MAGiDRIVE electric motor.

The MAGiDRIVE is a brushless, lightweight and high-torque (50Nm/kg) motor. Direct drive permanent magnet motor technology, such as the MAGiDRIVE, has underpinned technological advances across new-energy applications ranging from energy reduction in air-conditioning and elevators to optimising energy capture in wind turbines and traction motors. The magnet of choice that far outperforms its competitors is neodymium iron born (NdFeB), which is used in EV drivetrains to optimise energy usage. In aviation, light-weighting is critical as it is in land-based vehicles, making high power magnets important for reducing carbon emissions in the aerospace industry.  While the type of magnet used in the MAGiDRIVE has not been specifically mentioned, the high-torque and lightweight specifications suggest that it will likely be a NdFeB magnet.

Compared to traditional uses, NdFeB magnets used in wind, electric motors and energy-saving applications have increased in market share from just above 10% in 2010 to over 30% in 2021, highlighting the magnets’ integral role in the energy transition. Project Blue estimates that EV drivetrains alone have increased in market share from less than 2% a decade ago to over 10% in 2021 and will account for close to 50% of global NdFeB demand over the 2050 net-zero horizon.

NdFeB magnets are gaining a lot of attention from a supply chain risk perspective, with China accounting for over 95% of production. The rare earths industry still remembers China flexing its muscles in 2010/11, which resulted in soaring prices and prompted substitution where possible. Price risks vary between rare earth elements as well as within individual applications. Wind turbines have the highest intensity of use of NdFeB per unit and are critically at risk against neodymium and praseodymium (NdPr) price fluctuations. Meanwhile, EV traction motors use relatively small volumes of NdFeB magnets and these offer cost savings vs battery costs making EVs less exposed to NdPr price risks.  In aerospace applications, the economics will be similar to that of EVs, with the benefits of rare earth magnets far outweighing the magnet cost.

The market is still in its infancy, and the scale of NdFeB demand in aerospace will depend on several technological and deployment factors.  Nonetheless, air taxis such as the CityAirbus NextGen have the potential to drive significant rare earth demand.