Are hybrid cars a threat to the enviroment?

Question

We know they run on gas and batteries. When these huge batteries are no longer useful, how will we dispose of them? What will we do in 5-10 years when we have 10 million of these things to dispose of, sink them to the bottom of the ocean? There is not a good idea yet about what to do with these. They will threaten our water supply if we put them underground. I think hybrids are worse for the enviroment (long-term) than the normal combustion engines. Thats why I drive a huge suburban!

Answer 1

What happens to your gas guzzler in 5-10 years when the peak oil effect makes it to expensive to run? can you recycle your fossil fuel, or complicated metalurgical engine, catalyctic converter, radiator system, oil filters? thought not. Do you care about the oil pollution of huge areas of the world, including water suplies,  from damaged pipelines, tankers & refineries? thought not.

do you really care - or just trolling - grow up & smell your exaust

Next generation Li-ion batteries have an even longer life 20+ years and take less resources to make, http://www.altairnano.com/markets_amps.h... and should make the clunky, smelly infernal combustion engine a piece of historic junk. and if you need big then 5 seater 90moh SUT www.phoenixmotorcar.com

Answer 2

that is like saying your 10' x 10' solar shack is less efficient than a 50 room mansion with the doors wide open because in a few decades the solar panels will have to be replaced.

careful, people from the auto and oil industry are out there trying to make these same false arguments. as you study the issue, direct 99% of your skepticism towards those who have money to be made.

Answer 3

so, here is a link taking you to my sports coupe. with all the money you pay for gas for that Suburban, you can be driving this (and if you add solar panels to the car, your mileage will be FREE!)  and that battery is recycleable, just like yours!!!  (and this car has less parts to go bad)

Answer 4

Whats better?

A hybrid car that doesnt pollute as much?

Or a normal car that pollutes more?

Answer 5

ever heard of a little concept called recycling?

Answer 6

You are aware that regular cars have batteries, aren't you?

We've been recycling those batteries for decades now.  In fact, it's financially adventageous to recycle batteries.

Why would hybrid batteries be any different?

Answer 7

awesome, i'm a chevy guy too. that is a good question that you brought up. i wondered that myself. at work, we have these batteries for our forklifts, they are huge. when they die, we put them in one area, and a guy comes to pick them up. i am just guessing here, but couldn't you take the cells apart, and rebuild the core? then just put more electrolyte in?

Answer 8

The new batteries are Lithium Polymer, which is non polluting. The weight of batteries is less than the weight of gas that you burn every year.

Answer 9

That depends on what type of batteries they use.  Since they would need to be used more they would be more powerful and maybe cannot be recharged...maybe they can..I dunno.

If they cannot be recharged then they will have to setup some type of disposal center for them.

A huge surburban is a c**p vehicle and people who own one usually cannot drive for sh*t

Answer 10

Uhhmm. If I'm understanding you correctly, you say that it's BETTER for the environment to drive a huge suburban than it is to drive a hybrid?

Even if those batteries were not recyclable, and their disposal somehow became a problem in the future, that's still nothing compared to the effects of driving a regular car.

Not only are we polluting the very air we breathe, we're also increasing greenhouse gases a lot and affecting the Earth's temperature in ways you will never be convinced of until you watch Al Gore's documentary, "An Inconvenient Truth"

AND regular cars ALSO have batteries. So...

Answer 11

I recently saw an interview with a woman who is involved in the making of hybrids.  She said that many kinds of cars can be turned into hybrids, and even showed a Humvee that had been turned hybrid.  The batteries, she said, last for the life of the car or longer.  And, as we are living in the 21st century, most batteries can be recycled.  Now we can only hope the government might be persuaded to offer more incentives to getting a hybrid, and there might be times that they are cheaper than even now.  Maybe Oprah could even be persuaded to give away a fleet of them like she did with regular cars a few years back.

My main concern is that the charges for using electricity will rise.

Answer 12

Hi, get comfy...

speaking for Toyota, there is an 800 number on each nickel metal hydride battery (the one that provides the energy to move the Prius, Camry, or Highlander Hybrids) and that number allows a person to turn in that battery for a $200 bounty.

The entire battery, just like almost every little bit of those vehicles, is completely recyclable.

However, Toyota has yet to have a nickel metal hydride (NiMH) battery fail during normal use. And the current record is over 360,000 miles on a Prius using the original NiMH battery and hybrid system. That's not a typo, anything else you may have seen is an urban myth.

The alkaline batteries that people use and throw out are a different type of battery than what is in vehicles like the Prius. The Hybrid Synergy Drive unit that Toyota developed is designed to keep the NiMH battery in a mid-peak charge range, trying not to top-charge it or, of course, completely discharge it.

That enables a NiMH to last fairly indefinitely. Obviously, there will be some breakdown eventually, but one of the great things about the Prius system, for example, is the NiMH battery is composed of 36 individual cells. If one cell goes bad, it can be replaced and the remainder stay. That is what's happened when Toyota has torture tested the Prius in Alaska and Death Valley.

Working with Toyota, I know about their commitments to recycling and the environment (Toyota's web site lists environmental reports dating back many years). I know Honda has a strong commitment as well, I'm just not familiar enough to state what they do in detail. And Nissan uses the Toyota system, so the recycling program should be the same.

Beyond that, there is Ford, Dodge, and GM that currently have a hybrid of one level or another on the road. Each uses at least a generator and some, like Ford, use a small NiMH battery also. I'm sure if each doesn't have a recycling program, write them and they'll start one. I'm uncertain which, if any, program each has in place.

Any other questions, feel free to contact me.

Answer 13

They will recycle the batteries and re-use as much of the materials as possible. Waste will be minimal

Answer 14

You're making me think hard....how much do you drive?  If you only drive your Chevy when you really need to and drive moderately, OK.  If you  put on a lot of miles, then a hybrid definitely makes sense.  Your car has batteries as well...hybrids are the same only larger and lead-acid batteries are recycled all the time and rather efficiently.  I feel we should all look to how to live with way fewer vehicles, but hybrids use less fuel...bottom line.

Answer 15

I'm sure that you can recycle the batteries. And plus, most cars, if not all, have batteries anyways. So hybrid cars are a lot better when it comes to how they save the enviroment, as they save fuel. And a suburban is going to be using a lot of fuel to support such a big vehicle.

Answer 16

The battery disposal problem is no reason not to support hybrids. The fact that a typical payback for a hybrid vs. non-hybrid is about 60,000 miles is of more concern. There is always a concern about by-products with any fuel source. You think there aren't by-products in gasoline production? (which would be less with hybrid use.)