Downtown-headquartered CorePower Magnetics has received an approximately $1.2 million investment as part of a push from the Department of Energy.
The funding is to help CorePower develop and prototype a high-performance electric motor free of rare earth metals. Throughout the development process, the company will compare several rare earth element free magnet technologies.
The goal of the broader program is to reduce the country's dependency on foreign imports. The U.S. Geological Survey found that more than 95% of rare earth elements come from foreign sources. Additionally, 50% of most critical minerals come from foreign sources and 12 "critical minerals" come exclusively from foreign sources.
There's also a second, less direct way this investment could shape foreign competition. One technology CorePower has pushed to work with is the improvement of electric vehicle powertrains and charging. The Biden-Harris administration has pushed to compete with the Chinese electric vehicle market, putting steep tariffs on imported electric vehicle technologies. But China is responsible for over half of global EV production and according to the International Energy Agency, China has approximately 85% of the world's fast chargers.
"Building a clean energy and industrial economy requires strategically tapping into our nation's own reliable domestic resources to meet this demand and strengthen energy security," U.S. Secretary of Energy Jennifer Granholm said in a prepared statement. "We are investing in alternative products that will be developed using more abundant and accessible materials, reducing our import dependency while lowering costs, increasing U.S. competitiveness and enhancing our national security."
The funding breaks down to $958,722 in Department of Energy funding and $241,080 in non-Department funding for a total of $1,199,802.
CorePower and the Department of Energy are no stranger to each other — the department's Office of Manufacturing and Energy Supply Chains provided the company with $20 million in funding to establish a manufacturing facility in the region.
CorePower could not be reached for comment in time for publication.
