I came across this interesting article on use of rare earth elements in automotive industry. One of few that provide an objective look at REE. RARE EARTH ELEMENTS IN TRANSPORTATION Steve Constantinides An informative article. I can't post a link (newbie), so search on above title. In particular, the main rare earths in the prius battery are lanthanum and cerium (Table II). But the majority of global consumption of lanthanum for the auto industry is used in the cracking of fossil fuels to make petrol, and likewise catalytic converters. The majority of cerium for glass. Rare earth mining is still an important impact of hybrid technology, but this keeps it in perspective.
Nice discussion of uses for rare earths. I would think the historic catalytic uses in industry are going for as low as possible rare earths for a reason (reduce cost of the catalyst). Moly Corp U.S. is in the news this week: maybe going belly up as the only non-China source. Overall conclusion is a little politics: rare earths are sustainable, safer, greener, better all-the-way for cars. Also note the industrial uses numbers I saw are from 2008 so before EV's, so he is trying to say automotive uses tiny but we got wind turbines etc I feel like I was getting a little slant. However, I found the history and uses very interesting.
