Traditionally, electric traction motors use permanent magnets made with rare-earth metals. However, materials such as dysprosium and neodymium are a limited resource.

Electric motors in cars are omnipresent, but they are also well hidden. In today’s late model vehicles, more than 30 motors are typically used to power a variety of applications, including ABS pumps, central locking systems, exterior mirrors, seat adjusters, window regulators and windshield wipers.

It has become fashionable lately for some U.S. companies to tout how they’ve reshored production from overseas. Baldor Electric Co. isn’t one of them—it never left. The company has been manufacturing electric motors, drives, bearings and other motion control products in the United States for decades.