These fears of shortage have been aired in the past, but towards key battery elements lithium and nickel. However, now, with Toyota projecting sales of 100,000 units of its mild child this year, it's becoming increasingly important to look at the more unusual mined elements in a hybrid, where they're used, and how much of it it takes to make just a single Prius.

Rare Earth Element: Neodymium
Amount per Prius: 1 kilogram (2.2 lb)
Use: Powerful magnetic element used in compact electric motors. The shiny button magnets that keep little motors going an clasp clever covers. In large enough quantities, as in one kilo of magnet, there's plenty of force to crush your little piggies with great vengeance.
Trouble: Neodymium is a magnificent material with a high magnetism to volume rating. So for every cubic something of neodymium, you get a great bang for the buck in magnetism compared to traditional magnets. It also means there's a lot of competition with the consumer electronics biz, which is in a brutal competition to modernize and micro-size any and all components, including magnet-based speakers, as a start. Add to that the recent surge in interest over wind power from turbines, which also use neodymium magnets, and you've got the makings of market trouble.

Rare Earth Element: Lanthanum.
Amount per Prius: 10 to 15 kg (22-33 lb)
Use: The intermetallic element in nickel-metal hydride batteries, the amount of lanthanum is proportional to the number of cells per battery. Also alloyed with neodymium to stabilize the high magnetic field.
Trouble: The volume of material used in the Prius battery is only an estimate, but it puts into stark contrast the production capability of current suppliers. It's been estimated there's a total of 40,000 kg mined per year

The current mining giant is China as this graph representing rare earth element mining shows, however, it's difficult to say exactly how much material is being mined at any given time as there's no formal trading market. With the previous juggernaut of Mountain Pass planned to be reopened in some capacity in California in 2012, along with Avalon mines in Canada's Northwest Territories there will be additional supplies opening up, but only to the tune of about a 2-5% increase.

Not all of the 15 rare earth elements are appropriate for automotive use, only the two we've mentioned are used in any quantity along with terbium and dysprosium used in trace amount for alloying. Like other cars, the Prius grabs its fair share of precious metals like platinum, gold, silver, palladium as well as the common elements and refined petroleum products like plastics. When taken in context, a years worth of material to supply production for any mass market automobile takes on staggering proportions. Calling any car "green" over any other is an exercise in self-delusion, it's just that ironically, the "greenest" of publicly perceived cars is one that may drive some commodities markets to the brink.

(Thanks to Jack Lifton, independent commodities consultant and strategic metals expert, for assisting with this article)

The B.O.B. is built predominately from found and reused components - the front and rear differentials come from Pintos, the brakes are old Yamaha bike units and the twisting/steering mechanism comes from a helicopter's tail rotor gearbox.

Each differential is connected to two motors, one for each wheel, while the vehicle mimics the action of a two-speed gearbox by switching voltage between 36 and 72 volts.

Retired auto mechanic Robert Lange built all this in his backyard and, once he figures out the time investment, reckons he spent less than $500 on the whole thing. [via Diseno-Art]

What we call "Lithium Ion" batteries these days are actually using a lithium-cobalt cathode acting against a graphite anode in most circumstances. They work great for high density energy needs but suffer from somewhat sluggish charge times, reduced power capacity over successive charges and the nasty habit of blowing up when things go bad. Toshiba's SCiB batteries use a lithium titanate-based cathode which unfortunately reduces energy density, but achieves significantly faster charge times and suffers much less capacity degradation over time. It's also completely inert compared to lithium cobalt batteries — you can drive a nail through a cell and it doesn't care. The initial versions charged in about five minutes but Toshiba has announced improvements which slashes charge time down to 90 seconds per cell.

Cell charging times are multiplied over the entire battery pack, so the total charging time is dependant on how many cells are involved. However, the capability to charge in such short times still exists, so achieving a super short charge time is possible with a big enough power supply. We're talking organ liquefying amperage, but the danger could certainly be mitigated as it is with today's charging systems. Toshiba is talking about aiming the technology at EV bikes, motorcycles and hybrids.

Charge time is our primary barrier to being head over heels about electric cars. If we can get recharging to look more like refueling we'd be all over some zero-emissions, instant-torque, high-RPM action. [Business Green]

Number 1: This is the electric motor. Running on AC power, it can rev up to 13,000 RPM while producing 248 HP and 200 lb-ft. Maximum torque is available all the way from 0-6,000 RPM

Number 2: The one-speed transmission. After reliability problems with a two-speed design, Tesla settled for this stronger, simpler one-speed. The 8.27:1 drive ratio allows for a 0-60 time of around 4 seconds and a top speed of 125 MPH.

Number 3: The Power Electronics Module. In addition to capturing the power from regenerative braking and using it to recharge the batteries, it also smooths out power delivery under hard acceleration.

Number 4: The battery pack. 6,831 Lithium-Ion cells are arranged in 11 series-connected modules and surrounded by sensors and cooling systems designed to prevent catastrophic cell failure. A full 53 kW-h charge takes about 3 1/2 hours, while all the batteries together weigh somewhere between 900 and 1,000 LB. Life expectancy is in excess of 100,000 miles.

Number 5: The body and frame. The Tesla roadster shares its extruded and bonded aluminum frame with the Lotus Elise while wearing its own, superlight carbon fiber bodywork. [via Treehugger]

Matt: Come November, what do you think we'll be paying for a gallon of gasoline?
Crazy Old Coot: I'm not sure. Part of it depends on how it looks like we are making advances to alternative energy.
Matt: Can we make advances in that short time?
Crazy Old Coot: I think we can certainly show some progress in development of a battery that'll take us 100 miles or so before we have to plug it in. We need concrete plans with nuclear power. I don't think it'll [gas prices] be dramatically changed [in November], but...I don't think it's going much lower.

While the hybrid reminds us of the epic horror of the AMC Pacer and the electric car looks nothing like the upcoming Tesla roadster, we have to give it to the books writers for their accuracy. Take a look at the super huge version here for all the thrilling details as well as a peek at the semi truck of the future. [via Pointless Museum]

Johnson Controls is a supplier of automotive batteries and Saft is a big manufacturer of nickel-cad and lithium-ion batteries, so together they are the perfect couple to produce lithium-ion batteries for electrics and hybrids. Will the creation of this plant increase the production speed or lower costs of electrics and hybrids? Not likely, but at least someone out there is trying to get the ball rolling. [Financial Times via Autopia]

The idea is the brainchild of former SAP exec Shai Agassi, who sees this as an opportunity to revolutionize car ownership and usage. Initially, power for the cars will come off the regular grid. But the firm plans to build a fully solar system once usage creates the capital and reason for such an investment. [Haaretz]

Carlos "Guitarlos" Ghosn is pushing his company's dedication to lighter, more compact battery units. While Nissan's current hybrid system is based on NiMH batteries with powertrain tech licensed from Toyota, Renault's Japanese brothers are hammering on lithium ion cells in hopes of gaining a competitive advantage in electrical propulsion; in fact, Ghosn says he'd love to see Nissan in the ring with a viable electric vehicle. With GM having offered up a full-boat commitment to the Volt project and Toyota continuing to be well, Toyota, the melee in the hybrid market's only going to get more interesting before it gets codified. – Davey G. Johnson

Nissan developing smaller, lighter car batteries for hybrids and electric cars, CEO says [IHT]

Related:
Nissan Rolls Out First Fuel Cell Car-For-Hire [Internal]