Hybrid cars leading to shortage of rare metals?

I don't drive one yet, but I love the idea of a hybrid car. Tooling around on battery power instead of gas is good both for the planet and the guilt reflex.

But, as with anything, there's a bit of a problem for those who'd love to see hybrids become the standard: The popularity of the Prius and other hybrid cars is leading to a serious shortage of rare earth metals which are used to make the cars do their thing.

They don't call them "rare earth metals" because you can scoop them up off the beach. These 15 elements -- including neodymium, terbium, dysprosium, and lanthanum -- are used in relatively small amounts in the production of electric motors. But with a forecast of 1 million Priuses to be sold annually beginning in 2010, even those small amounts add up. Toyota will need about 1,100 tons of neodymium alone to meet its production goal next year alone -- and double that if it follows through with plans to increase the Prius's efficiency be overhauling its engine technology.

One expert even calls the Prius "the biggest user of rare earths of any object in the world."

Sheer consumption isn't the only issue, it's also where the raw materials are found and mined that is a big challenge for Toyota. Most rare earths come from -- you guessed it -- China. And China is now looking to limit its exports of the elements, likely to boost the prices it gets for them. More mines are being sourced worldwide, including one in California, but no one knows how effective they'll be. A Canadian mining site is also said to look promising, but it could be years before that's proven.

The potential shortage doesn't seem to have fazed Toyota, which appears set on pushing the Prius in a major way to cement its position as the It Car of the hybrid world. But the bottom line for you and me is probably the one you are expecting to hear: Get ready for prices to go up and shortages of cars to land on dealer lots.