Bentley has announced that it will be undertaking a research study spanning three years, with the aim of revolutionizing the sustainability of electric motors, further supporting a previous commitment made by the company to only offer hybrid or electric vehicles by 2026.
Named Rare-earth Recycling for E-machines (RaRE), the study will draw on work carried out at the UK’s University of Birmingham, in which magnets were extracted from waste electronics devices. Bentley is planning to upscale this project by extracting larger amounts of magnetic material, and then repurposing it as magnets for use in ancillary motors.
Matthias Rabe, member of the board for engineering at Bentley Motors, said, “As we accelerate our journey to electrification, offering only hybrid or electric vehicles by 2026 and full electric by 2030, it is important that we focus on every aspect of vehicle sustainability, including sustainable methods of sourcing materials and components.
“RaRE promises a step change in electrical recyclability, providing a source of truly bespoke, low-voltage motors for a number of different applications and we are confident the results will provide a basis for fully sustainable electric drives.”
Running alongside the RaRE study, Bentley is also participating in the OCTOPUS research program, which aims to develop an e-axle electric powertrain free from rare-earth magnets for use in the OEM’s upcoming EV variants.