> need rare earth metals, almost all of which is mined and refined in China
This is usually presented as an ace up the sleeve that China has secured through shrewd strategic thinking. In reality, rare earth metals are neither particularly rare, nor are they expensive, nor are they in high demand.
Rare earth metals are more common than silver or mercury, somewhat rarer than cobalt. The ones with excellent magnetic quantities go for ~$50 per kilo (allegedly only 200g is required per electric car), the ones used for catalysts and alloy making go for as low as $2 per kilo, cheaper than copper.
They're not nearly as much of a constraint as claimed.
This is my understanding as well; one of the reasons why China has such a high percentage of that market isn't because no one else can, but rather that they don't want to. The environmental damage is often horrendous [1][2] so everyone that can outsources it. I believe there's also been a lot of work on reducing or replacing relience on those materials in quite a few areas, as I believe a parent comment mentioned.
This is usually presented as an ace up the sleeve that China has secured through shrewd strategic thinking. In reality, rare earth metals are neither particularly rare, nor are they expensive, nor are they in high demand.
Rare earth metals are more common than silver or mercury, somewhat rarer than cobalt. The ones with excellent magnetic quantities go for ~$50 per kilo (allegedly only 200g is required per electric car), the ones used for catalysts and alloy making go for as low as $2 per kilo, cheaper than copper.
They're not nearly as much of a constraint as claimed.