EV Motors Without Rare-Earth Permanent Magnets: How They Work and Which Cars Use Them

Yes—an EV can use a traction motor without neodymium, praseodymium, dysprosium, terbium, or any other rare-earth permanent magnet. This is already happening in production cars. BMW, Renault, and Nissan use electrically excited synchronous motors, while Audi and Mercedes-Benz have sold EVs with induction motors. Earlier Tesla Model S configurations also combined induction and permanent-magnet motors.

That does not mean rare-earth-free motors have universally replaced permanent-magnet synchronous motors. Permanent-magnet motors still generally offer the best combination of peak efficiency, compactness, and power density. The reason to choose an alternative is usually a trade-off: a manufacturer may accept a larger rotor, more copper, additional control complexity, or a different efficiency map in exchange for lower rare-earth supply-chain exposure, controllable rotor flux, high-speed capability, or the ability to switch an idle axle off.

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First, define what “rare-earth-free” means

Several motor descriptions are often treated as interchangeable even though they are not:

Removing dysprosium or terbium is therefore not the same as removing all rare earths. For example, Nissan distinguishes reduced heavy-rare-earth use in some motor development from its magnet-free Ariya motor.

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Why most EVs still use permanent-magnet motors

An EV motor must deliver high launch torque, sustained power, repeated acceleration, regenerative braking, a broad speed range, low noise, and years of reliable operation. It must also fit into a tightly packaged axle alongside an inverter, reduction gear, differential, cooling system, and structural components.

High-performance permanent magnets—usually based on neodymium-iron-boron, with neodymium and praseodymium as key rare-earth ingredients—provide rotor magnetic flux without a continuous electrical connection to the rotor. Dysprosium or terbium may be added to improve resistance to demagnetization at elevated temperature. The result is a motor that can produce substantial torque from a relatively small rotor.

That arrangement has two important advantages:

• No rotor excitation current: the motor does not need to send electrical power into a rotor field winding, avoiding the associated copper losses.
• High torque and power density: strong permanent magnets allow a compact motor to produce high output, which is valuable in passenger cars and especially in performance or all-wheel-drive applications.

The U.S. Department of Energy describes internal permanent-magnet motors as highly efficient across a broad operating range and high in power density. The International Energy Agency estimates that more than 90% of EVs marketed today use permanent-magnet synchronous motors. That is a market estimate, not an audited count of every vehicle or motor variant, but it shows how dominant the design remains.

Permanent magnets are not automatically the best choice in every operating condition. They continue producing rotor flux when the driver does not need much torque, and their fixed field creates high back electromotive force at high speed. In practice, the meaningful comparison is not just motor peak efficiency. It is the efficiency of the complete motor, inverter, cooling system, gearbox, and vehicle over the intended duty cycle.

Five ways to build an EV motor without rare-earth permanent magnets

1. Electrically excited synchronous motors: the leading production alternative

An electrically excited synchronous motor is called an EESM, separately excited synchronous motor, wound-rotor synchronous motor, or—in some manufacturer terminology—a field-synchronous motor. It replaces permanent magnets on the rotor with copper field windings.

The operating sequence is:

1. The inverter supplies three-phase alternating current to windings in the stationary stator.
2. A separate field-current system energizes coils on the rotating rotor.
3. The rotor’s electromagnetic field synchronizes with the stator’s rotating field and produces torque.
4. The controller varies the rotor field according to speed, torque demand, and temperature.
5. At high speed or during low-load operation, the field can be reduced. When the motor is used for regeneration, the same machine operates as a generator.

Because the rotor field is controllable, an EESM can reduce field strength at high speed, lower induced voltage, and potentially reduce magnetic drag during coasting or low-load operation. This is a major difference from a permanent-magnet motor, whose rotor field is always present.

Advantages

• No permanent magnets and no rare-earth magnet supply exposure.
• Adjustable rotor flux and potentially strong high-speed performance.
• Good opportunity to optimize efficiency for different vehicle operating conditions.
• No risk of permanent-magnet demagnetization in the usual sense.
• Can be designed for high continuous output with suitable cooling.

Compromises

• Rotor field windings add copper, mass, and manufacturing complexity.
• Electrical current in those windings produces rotor copper losses.
• The design needs a method to transfer field power to the rotating rotor.
• Conventional versions may use brushes and slip rings, which add wear and service considerations.
• Brushless or inductively excited versions avoid some of that hardware but require additional engineering and electronics.
• Compared with a similarly optimized permanent-magnet motor, an EESM can need more space or have lower power density.

Despite those compromises, EESM is not a laboratory-only concept. Renault Group says it has mass-marketed wound-rotor electric motors since 2012, beginning with the Kangoo Z.E. and Renault Zoe. Renault identifies the technology in vehicles including the Mégane E-Tech, Scenic E-Tech, Alpine A290, Renault 5 E-Tech, and Renault 4 E-Tech, although exact motor assignments can vary by version and market. Renault’s next E7A motor generation is targeted for 2027 rather than being a current production specification.

BMW says its fifth-generation eDrive current-excited synchronous motors generate the rotor field electrically and avoid rare-earth metals in the rotor. The technology has been used in the BMW i4, iX, i7, and i5 families, subject to model, axle, drivetrain, and market differences.

BMW’s Gen6 architecture continues this approach. BMW announced that series production of its new electric motors began in August 2025, and its 2026 iX3 materials identify an EESM rear motor. Some Gen6 xDrive configurations use an asynchronous motor on the front axle. This is a good example of why the motor on a particular axle—not merely the vehicle name—must be checked.

Nissan’s technical and sustainability material says the 2022 Ariya uses an electrically excited synchronous motor without permanent magnets. Buyers should still verify the precise trim and axle configuration when applying that statement to a specific vehicle.

2. Induction motors: mature, rugged, and already used in EVs

An induction motor, also called an asynchronous motor, has neither permanent magnets nor a normal electrical connection to the rotor. The stator’s rotating magnetic field induces current in conductive rotor bars, commonly made from aluminum or copper. The induced rotor field interacts with the stator field to produce torque.

Advantages

• No permanent magnets or rare-earth magnet materials.
• A robust rotor with no magnets to retain or demagnetize.
• No brushes or slip rings in the usual squirrel-cage design.
• Mature industrial manufacturing and control technology.
• Good overload and high-speed capability.
• The motor can be de-energized when its axle is not required, avoiding much of its operating loss.

Compromises

• Rotor current creates additional electrical losses and heat.
• It generally has lower peak efficiency and power density than a well-designed internal permanent-magnet motor.
• The inverter must provide magnetizing current as well as torque-producing current.
• Copper rotors can improve efficiency but cost more and complicate production compared with aluminum rotors.
• Continuous high-load operation places significant demands on rotor and stator cooling.

DOE describes induction motors as reliable and capable of high starting torque, but generally less efficient and less power-dense than internal permanent-magnet motors. Their controllable field remains useful, particularly in a secondary all-wheel-drive axle. An automaker can use an induction motor for extra traction or peak acceleration, then de-energize it during ordinary cruising when the primary axle can handle propulsion.

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The first-generation Audi e-tron used asynchronous motors on both axles. Audi explicitly stated that its electric motors used no rare-earth elements and highlighted the lack of electrically induced drag when the asynchronous motors were de-energized. Mercedes-Benz’s EQC environmental documentation likewise describes asynchronous motors on both axles.

Tesla’s early Model S architecture is another important historical example. Tesla documentation for the 2012–2020 Model S identifies an AC induction motor in the rear motor used in relevant configurations, while some dual-motor versions paired that rear motor with a front permanent-magnet motor. It should therefore be described as a mixed drive unit, not as proof that every Model S—or the entire vehicle—was rare-earth-free.

3. Synchronous-reluctance motors: torque from shaped steel

A synchronous-reluctance motor, or SynRM, has a rotor made from shaped steel laminations containing flux barriers. The rotor naturally aligns with the stator’s magnetic field along the direction with the lowest magnetic reluctance—the least resistance to magnetic flux.

A pure SynRM has no permanent magnets and no rotor electrical winding. It therefore avoids both magnet material and rotor copper excitation losses.

Potential benefits

• Magnet-free and rotor-winding-free operation.
• No rotor copper loss in the pure design.
• Robust rotor construction and potentially good high-temperature tolerance.
• Opportunity for high efficiency with careful electromagnetic and control design.

Engineering challenges

• Lower torque density than a high-performance NdFeB permanent-magnet motor can mean a larger motor.
• Torque ripple can create vibration and audible noise.
• Power factor and dynamic response can be challenging.
• The rotor’s flux-barrier geometry is demanding to design, manufacture, and balance at high speed.
• Large-scale passenger-EV evidence for pure SynRM remains limited.

The OECD classifies pure synchronous reluctance as an early-commercial technology and identifies dynamic performance and speed control as continuing challenges.

Do not confuse a pure SynRM with a permanent-magnet-assisted synchronous-reluctance motor. PM-assisted SynRM uses a small amount of permanent-magnet material to improve torque and power factor. It can reduce rare-earth consumption compared with a conventional IPM motor, but it is not magnet-free or rare-earth-free if those magnets contain NdFeB.

4. Switched-reluctance motors: a simple rotor with demanding control

A switched-reluctance motor, or SRM, uses a salient, toothed steel rotor and electronically switched stator windings. The controller energizes each phase at the appropriate rotor position, pulling the rotor toward the aligned position and producing torque.

Why engineers continue to study SRMs

• No permanent magnets.
• No rotor windings, slip rings, or rotor electrical connections.
• A mechanically simple and potentially rugged rotor.
• Good tolerance of high temperature and high rotational speed.
• Potentially fault-tolerant operation and low rotor material cost.

Why SRMs are difficult in passenger cars

• The switching process can produce torque ripple.
• Torque ripple excites the stator and housing, creating vibration.
• Electromagnetic noise can be especially noticeable in a quiet EV cabin.
• Precise rotor-position sensing or sensorless estimation is required.
• Current waveform shaping, commutation, and calibration are complex.
• The inverter and acoustic treatment can offset the apparent simplicity of the rotor.

DOE identifies noise, vibration, lower efficiency, additional sensing, and complex control as obstacles to SRM adoption. A 2024 review of SRM research likewise identifies torque ripple and acoustic noise as central barriers. The basic lesson is that mechanical simplicity moves complexity into the inverter, software, position estimation, housing, and NVH development.

5. Ferrite permanent-magnet motors: rare-earth-free, but not magnet-free

Ferrite magnets are ceramic, iron-based magnets and contain no rare-earth elements. A ferrite motor can therefore eliminate Nd, Pr, Dy, and Tb while retaining the basic benefit of permanent-magnet excitation.

The problem is magnetic energy density. Ferrite is substantially weaker than high-performance NdFeB, so a motor producing the same torque may need more active volume, a larger rotor, more steel, or a flux-concentrating geometry. Spoke, multilayer, concentrated-flux, and flux-switching designs can make better use of ferrite, but they add electromagnetic, mechanical, and manufacturing challenges.

Benefits

• Abundant, relatively inexpensive, iron-based raw materials.
• No exposure to rare-earth mining, refining, alloy, or sintered-magnet supply.
• Some permanent-magnet advantages remain, including the absence of rotor excitation current.

Limitations

• Lower magnetic energy density than NdFeB.
• Potentially greater motor mass and volume for equivalent output.
• More demanding demagnetization and temperature design.
• Complex rotor geometries may create mechanical-stress and production problems.

In 2016, Oak Ridge National Laboratory reported a 103-kW ferrite-based prototype and said it produced 75% more power than a comparable commercial motor of similar size. That is a laboratory prototype comparison, not evidence that ferrite motors have displaced NdFeB motors in mass-production EVs.

Researchers are also investigating materials such as MnBi, Fe-Sn, and CeCo. The Ames Laboratory MnBi work and ORNL’s CeCo technology are promising materials programs, but a promising magnet compound still has to meet automotive requirements for temperature stability, mechanical integrity, manufacturing yield, cost, and long-term durability.

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How the main motor types compare

These broad classifications align with the OECD’s 2026 comparison of motor technologies: induction motors are fully commercialized, EESMs are commercialized in some EVs, synchronous reluctance is early-commercial, and switched reluctance remains developmental.

Production EVs that demonstrate the technology

The following examples show that magnet-free traction motors are commercially real. They do not show that one topology is best for every vehicle.

Primary evidence for these examples includes BMW’s fifth-generation eDrive description, Renault’s motor history, Nissan’s Ariya technical review, Audi’s e-tron technical material, Mercedes-Benz’s EQC environmental check, and Tesla’s Model S owner documentation.

What changes when rare-earth magnets are removed?

Efficiency: peak numbers are not enough

A permanent-magnet motor can be exceptionally efficient because its rotor does not consume excitation power. But a vehicle does not drive at one operating point. It spends time accelerating, coasting, cruising, climbing, regenerating, and sitting at low torque.

Induction motors lose energy in their induced rotor currents, especially when they must produce a magnetic field at modest loads. EESMs incur rotor-field copper losses, but they can reduce field strength when full torque is unnecessary or when high-speed operation makes a strong field undesirable. An induction motor may also make sense on a secondary AWD axle if it can be fully de-energized when traction demand is low.

A fair comparison should examine:

• Peak motor efficiency.
• Average efficiency over EPA, WLTP, highway, towing, or fleet duty cycles.
• Motor-and-inverter efficiency rather than motor efficiency alone.
• Energy consumed by pumps, fans, and cooling systems.
• Gearbox, bearing, and standby losses.
• Efficiency during regenerative braking.
• Whether an unused AWD motor can be disconnected or de-energized.

There is no universal rule that an EESM or induction motor gives either better or worse real-world range. The result depends on the complete vehicle calibration, gearing, cooling, aerodynamics, battery voltage, and operating cycle.

Power density and packaging

Rare-earth magnets are difficult to beat on magnetic energy density. A manufacturer moving to a magnet-free design may compensate with a larger active volume, more copper, higher current density, stronger cooling, higher rotational speed, more elaborate laminations, or flux-concentrating geometry.

Those solutions can work, but packaging matters. A larger motor may require changes to the axle housing, gearset, driveshafts, crash structure, or cooling loops. A high-speed motor may reduce size but increase rotor-burst, bearing, balancing, and acoustic requirements.

DOE’s Electric Drive Technical Team roadmap treats wound rotors, high-speed machines, better thermal management, advanced electrical steels, non-rare-earth magnets, and high-slot-fill windings as parallel development paths—not as one proven replacement that wins in every category.

Cost: eliminating magnets does not automatically reduce the bill of materials

A rare-earth-free motor can remove magnet material cost, price volatility, magnet insertion, bonding, and some supply-chain exposure. It may add copper, rotor windings, excitation electronics, slip rings or inductive couplers, larger quantities of electrical steel, stronger cooling hardware, or a more capable inverter.

The relevant comparison is the cost of the motor-inverter-cooling-gearbox system, not just the price of its magnet. A manufacturer may accept a higher motor cost if it gains supply security, production flexibility, simplified sourcing, or a better AWD operating strategy.

Thermal behavior moves around the machine

Every topology has a different heat map:

• PMSM: stator-copper and iron losses, plus magnet temperature limits and demagnetization risk.
• Induction: stator-copper, iron, and rotor-bar losses.
• EESM: stator-copper and iron losses, plus rotor-field copper losses.
• Pure SynRM: stator-copper and iron losses, with no rotor copper or magnets.
• SRM: concentrated stator losses, iron losses, and thermal cycling associated with switched operation.
• Ferrite PM: stator and iron losses, along with magnet temperature and demagnetization limits.

A motor that looks impressive at peak power may not be suitable for sustained highway driving, towing, hot-weather climbing, or repeated acceleration unless the vehicle can remove the resulting heat. Continuous power is often more revealing than a short peak-power number.

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Noise, vibration, and harshness become decisive

EVs remove much of the noise formerly produced by an internal-combustion engine, so electromagnetic noise can become easier to hear. This is particularly important for switched-reluctance motors and some reluctance designs, where torque ripple can excite the stator, housing, gearset, and vehicle structure.

Controlling NVH can require optimized rotor and stator geometry, current-waveform shaping, precise rotor-position data, structural damping, acoustic insulation, and extensive vehicle-level calibration. A rugged rotor is not automatically a quiet motor.

High-speed operation and field weakening

EESMs and induction motors can vary their rotor field. That helps reduce induced voltage at high rpm, extend the constant-power speed range, manage thermal loading, and reduce magnetic drag during coasting. Permanent-magnet motors use current-based field weakening and sophisticated inverter control, but their magnets continue to produce rotor flux.

Regeneration is possible with all of these motor types. The important differences are generator efficiency, field control, inverter limits, thermal behavior, and how much energy can be accepted by the battery—not whether the motor can regenerate at all.

Why automakers care about rare-earth-free motors

The concern is not simply that rare earths are geologically unavailable. The strategic issue is the concentration of economically recoverable resources, separation capacity, refining, alloy production, and high-volume magnet manufacturing.

The IEA reports that in 2024 China accounted for approximately:

• 60% of mined magnet rare earths.
• 91% of refined magnet rare earths.
• 94% of sintered permanent-magnet production.

The concentration became a direct automotive issue in April 2025, when China introduced export controls affecting several heavy rare earths and related magnets. The IEA reports that the disruption forced some automakers outside China to cut utilization or temporarily halt production before licenses and supplies recovered.

Eliminating rare-earth magnets can therefore provide supply-chain resilience even if it does not deliver the lowest motor cost or highest peak efficiency. It can also give an automaker more freedom to source copper, steel, aluminum, and electronics from different suppliers and regions.

But a rare-earth-free motor is not resource-independent. It still requires some combination of:

• Copper or aluminum conductors.
• Electrical steel and structural steel.
• Silicon and other semiconductor materials.
• Insulation, resins, bearings, and lubricants.
• More active material if the motor must be larger.
• Additional power electronics or cooling hardware in some designs.

A motor claim also does not make an entire EV rare-earth-free. Rare-earth materials may appear in speakers, sensors, displays, actuators, and other small components. A conventional lithium-ion battery is a separate material system; its major materials may include lithium, graphite, nickel, manganese, cobalt, iron, and phosphate rather than rare earths. The DOE separates rare-earth applications in electric motors from lithium, cobalt, and nickel used in energy storage.

Hybrids require an additional qualification: some older nickel-metal-hydride batteries use lanthanum-containing materials. A hybrid with a rare-earth-free motor is not necessarily a rare-earth-free vehicle.

Reducing rare-earth use is a different strategy

An automaker does not have to abandon permanent-magnet motors to reduce supply risk. It can remove heavy rare earths such as dysprosium and terbium, use less total magnet material, improve magnet geometry, use grain-boundary diffusion, increase temperature capability through cooling and control, or combine a smaller permanent magnet with reluctance torque.

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These approaches may be easier to industrialize than a completely new motor topology. They can reduce exposure to the most supply-constrained materials while preserving much of the power density and efficiency of an IPM motor. They do not, however, meet a strict requirement for zero rare-earth permanent magnets if the motor still contains neodymium or praseodymium.

Recycling helps, but it does not eliminate the issue

Recovering rare earths from end-of-life motors can reduce the need for newly mined material. In practice, recycling is complicated by magnet coatings, adhesives, sintered structures, contamination, disassembly labor, and the relatively small amount of magnet material distributed through a large vehicle assembly.

The OECD reports that global rare-earth recycling remains low and that motor-magnet recycling is technically and economically difficult. Recycling is therefore a useful part of a supply strategy, not a complete substitute for new magnet production.

What is being developed next?

Suppliers are pursuing several routes rather than betting on one universal replacement:

• ZF I²SM: a brushless, inductively excited synchronous motor intended to transfer rotor-field energy without conventional brushes and slip rings. It is a development-to-production-maturity program, not a confirmed production-vehicle application without a later automaker announcement. ZF describes the technology here.
• Valeo high-voltage rare-earth-free motor: an EESM with a hairpin-wound stator. Valeo lists a 2027 start-of-production target and claims a 30% power-density improvement over its current EESM generation. Those are supplier claims and future targets, not independent vehicle results. Valeo’s product page provides the stated figures.
• MAHLE and Valeo iBEE axle: a magnet-free EESM program for 220–350 kW upper-segment applications. The companies announced prototype testing; that is not confirmation of series production. The joint announcement describes the program.
• Non-rare-earth permanent magnets: ferrite, MnBi, Fe-Sn, CeCo, and other materials may preserve some PM benefits, but they still need automotive-grade temperature endurance, mechanical strength, production scale, and cost competitiveness.
• Flux-switching and axial-flux designs: DOE-supported research is investigating additional rare-earth-free motor architectures. A project result or laboratory design should not be treated as a mass-market vehicle motor until production and durability evidence exists. DOE’s project information illustrates this development stage.

When reading a claimed efficiency, power-density, or carbon-reduction figure, identify whether it is an independent dynamometer result, an OEM production specification, a supplier claim, a laboratory prototype, or a planned target. A 95% motor-efficiency claim, a 30% future power-density improvement, or a prototype’s 103-kW output does not establish vehicle range, towing performance, durability, cost, or mass-production yield.

How to check whether a particular EV really uses a rare-earth-free motor

Vehicle nameplates are not enough. The same model may use different motors on the front and rear axles, or different designs by battery size, trim, factory, model year, market, or all-wheel-drive configuration.

1. Define the claim. Does rare-earth-free mean the motor rotor only, the complete drive unit, or the entire vehicle? Does it mean no rare earths, no permanent magnets, or only no heavy rare earths?
2. Identify the topology. Look for terms such as EESM, wound-rotor synchronous, separately excited synchronous, induction, asynchronous, SynRM, SRM, ferrite, or PM-assisted reluctance.
3. Identify the axle. A vehicle may have an EESM rear motor and an induction front motor, or an induction rear motor paired with a permanent-magnet front motor.
4. Check the model year, market, and trim. A manufacturer’s general technology page may describe one generation while a current vehicle configurator lists another.
5. Ask for drive-cycle evidence. Peak efficiency does not reveal highway efficiency, towing performance, thermal derating, or AWD standby losses.
6. Separate production from development. A supplier prototype, planned SOP date, or research result is not a current production specification.
7. Check the complete system. Compare motor, inverter, cooling, gear ratio, battery voltage, vehicle mass, and software—not only magnet content.

Is a rare-earth-free motor better for an EV buyer?

It depends on what matters most. A buyer prioritizing maximum power density, a small drive unit, and peak efficiency may still prefer a vehicle using a permanent-magnet motor. A buyer or fleet operator concerned about supply-chain resilience, high-speed operation, controllable field strength, or an efficiently disconnectable AWD axle may benefit from an EESM or induction design.

For most buyers, the motor topology is less important than the vehicle-level results:

• Real-world highway consumption.
• Cold- and hot-weather range.
• Continuous power under load.
• Towing and sustained hill-climb performance.
• Cabin noise and vibration.
• Warranty and service support.
• Availability of the exact drivetrain in the buyer’s market.

There is no reason to reject an EV because it uses permanent magnets, and no reason to assume a rare-earth-free motor automatically delivers longer range or lower lifetime environmental impact. The correct choice depends on the full vehicle and its use.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can an EV motor work without any permanent magnets?

Yes. Induction motors, electrically excited synchronous motors, pure synchronous-reluctance motors, and switched-reluctance motors can all produce traction torque without permanent magnets. Several of these designs are already used in production EVs.

Are rare-earth-free and magnet-free EV motors the same thing?

No. A ferrite motor is rare-earth-free but still uses permanent magnets. An EESM or induction motor is both rare-earth-free and permanent-magnet-free. A motor that is only dysprosium- and terbium-free may still contain neodymium and praseodymium.

Which production EVs use magnet-free motors?

Examples include BMW models using current-excited synchronous motors, Renault EVs using its wound-rotor EESM family, the Nissan Ariya as described in Nissan’s 2022 technical material, the first-generation Audi e-tron with asynchronous motors, and the Mercedes-Benz EQC with asynchronous motors. Exact motor assignments vary by model year, trim, axle, and market.

Do rare-earth-free motors give an EV more range?

Not automatically. Permanent-magnet motors often have an efficiency and power-density advantage, while EESM and induction motors offer controllable fields and can sometimes reduce losses at high speed or when an AWD axle is not needed. Range depends on the complete motor-inverter-cooling-gearbox system and vehicle duty cycle.

Does a rare-earth-free motor make the entire EV rare-earth-free?

Usually not. The claim may apply only to the motor rotor or drive unit. Other vehicle components can contain rare-earth materials, and some hybrid vehicles use nickel-metal-hydride batteries with lanthanum-containing materials.

The Bottom Line

Bottom line: EVs can and do use traction motors without rare-earth permanent magnets. Electrically excited synchronous motors are the most visible current production alternative, while induction motors remain mature and useful—especially for secondary AWD axles. Synchronous-reluctance, switched-reluctance, ferrite, and other non-rare-earth designs are credible development paths, but each gives up something in size, efficiency, noise, cost, control complexity, or manufacturing maturity. Rare-earth-free does not mean universally better; it is a system-level trade-off between vehicle performance and supply-chain resilience.

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