Canada's New Motor Could Make Rare Earth Magnets Obsolete

There is a car on your street hiding rare earth magnets in its wipers, seats and doors, and if it is electric, the biggest ones spin inside the motor that drives it. A team in Hamilton, Ontario, has built a motor that needs none of them, and Canada is the reason it exists. Since GM and Sumitomo invented the neodymium magnet in 1984, one country has taken over the business: by 2024 China produced 94 out of every 100 sintered magnets, and in April 2025 it began licensing exports of seven rare earths. McMaster University answered with a federal research chair for Professor Ali Emadi, who arrived in 2011 and built a group of more than 250 people. His spinout Enedym turned the old switched reluctance motor, loud and jerky for most of its life, into a quiet machine run by software, and can design a new motor in about two weeks. A 45 kilowatt partnership with Toyota Tsusho Canada put a magnet-free tow tractor to work at Hamilton Airport in May 2024. In May 2026 a McMaster Cadillac Lyriq with an Enedym rear motor placed second in the EcoCAR EV Challenge and drove into Detroit. Honda invested in October 2025, and Sustainable Development Technology Canada backed its wind turbine pitch motor with 2.4 million dollars. What makes this different from every other "lab breakthrough" story: the government funding is already committed, the patents are already filed and the contracts are already signed. For a hundred years Hamilton was Steeltown. Now its steel is starting to do the job that China's magnets used to do. 🔔 Subscribe to Ion Frontier for more deep dives on Canadian innovation that the rest of the world hasn't caught up to yet. #RareEarthFree #SwitchedReluctance #EVMotors #CanadianInnovation #IonFrontier Photos: Wikimedia Commons — authors by license (file names and links on each author's Commons page): CC BY-SA 4.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0): Alexander-93; Matti Blume; Oleg Yunakov; Elizbeth smith; Mdausin; FordPhotographer; Dllu; BMW Werk Dingolfing Öffent; Akonnchiroll; Captain108; Jokehoe; EelamStyleZ; Laslovarga; DXR; Raimond Spekking; IlCommenda; Saimon (Researcher); Squishyhippie; Tmy350; Renardo la vulpo; wbaiv; Lawrence monkhouse; Bouchecl; Kazyakuruma; Dillan Payne; Panegyrics of Granovetter ; Emmanuel5601; Arnaud.guirouvet; Coolomon Tetris (also know; Ethan Llamas; Tokumeigakarinoaoshima; Mister rf; Fil22plm CC BY-SA 2.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0): Joanna Poe from Munith, MI; John Hill for Argonne Nati; Reinis Inkēns, Saeimas Adm; Ken Lund from Reno, Nevada; jockrutherford from Owen S; Martin Cathrae from Charlo; Tom Raftery; Daniel Garcia; LHOON from Mechelen, Belgi; Philip Jeffrey; JThomas; David Smith; Richard Dorrell CC BY 3.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0): Dwight Burdette; Marek Ślusarczyk (Tupungat Public domain: Argonne National Laborator; Nhl4hamilton | Chit-Chat; Nhl4hamilton (Rick Cordeir; Nhl4hamilton | Chit-Chat; Rick Cordeiro; Tremaster at en.wikipedia; No machine-readable author; Peggy Greb, US department ; NASA/GSFC/METI/ERSDAC/JARO; TTTNIS CC BY 2.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0): IAEA Imagebank; LunchboxLarry; Akos Kokai; GillyBerlin from Spain; Adelphi Lab Center CC BY 4.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0): 9yz; Steve Jurvetson; 4300streetcar; Julian Herzog (Website); LukaszKatlewa; Ashley Pomeroy; Gabriela P. CC0: Nheyob; Pedalito; CAPTAIN RAJU; Lulupakaika; Kazyakuruma CC BY-SA 3.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0): Rs1421; JustSomePics; WWSS1 at German Wikipedia; Zureks; S.J. de Waard; Marrrci; Richard Wheeler (Zephyris); Wtshymanski; Suradnik50; Inc ru; Plazak; CEphoto, Uwe Aranas; Akademie věd České republi; w:en:Rune.welsh CC BY-SA 3.0 it (creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0): Pava