Well... Western carmakers do innovate to bypass neodymium magnets by using magnet free motors.
From Grok, for example:
The BMW iX3 and other next-generation EVs utilize a magnet-free externally excited synchronous machine (EESM), which generates a magnetic field using electric current instead of permanent magnets containing REEs like neodymium and dysprosium. This technology has been in production since at least 2023 and is expanding across their EV lineup.
EESM is just a variation of induction motor with coils actively driven by a DC source so it can achieve higher field strength than just by induction, but like induction motors its still basically using an electromagnet in place of PM, it still need to dissipate massive amount of power in the electromagnet coils, requires much greater cooling, and thermal limits inherently still limits the actual achievable field strength and torque. This is esepcially a problem since field strength is proportional to current, not voltage, and conduction loses is proptional to I^2, which is why you usually want higher voltage for efficency.
What you can do is to jack up current in the coils for a short period to give the illusion of higher toque and thermal throttle down the motor after you get into cruise. The range and power problem are still there but you can pretend to have more torque for launch control.
EESM is also more expensive than induction motors since you now need a high power coupling to drive the rotating rotor, and you need a secondary circuit to control the rotor eletromagnet. Tesla used to use induction motors, they've since moved onto PMSM, EESM is a compromise that some people think is best of both worlds, but can easily become worse of both worlds
As we all know European EVs are not exactly very good: it's both expensive and has poor performance, EESM or induction motors might lets you build a motor without RE, but you're not going to compete with objectively superior technology made using objectively more advanced materials.
EESM and induction motors aren't new idea, they're old ideas people abandoned when PMSM came around, but Europeans are nothing but good at branding, they can go back to steam engines and still find a way to brand it as innovation.
