Carmakers face challenges making clean, green, mean electric machines

The tasks they face range from using cleaner processes to finding less environmentally damaging battery chemistries

An electric car is a clean car, right? If only it were so simple.

From motor magnets with toxic histories to batteries made using copious fossil-fuel power, many challenges face carmakers seeking to purge dirtier materials from their supply chains to satisfy regulators and investors.

These obstacles represent opportunities for a growing group of companies in the electric vehicle (EV) ecosystem that bet they can capitalise on that demand.

They include Advanced Electric Machines (AEM) in northern England, which is working with Volkswagen luxury brand Bentley and others in the auto industry to develop recyclable electric motors free of rare