What are "they" planning to do with all the big, huge, dangerously...?

Question

polluting hybrid vehicle batteries when they don't work anymore?

Answer 1

Well I'm assuming you are talking about nickle batteries.

They can be recycled, but just like when they are being produced, a lot of toxic emissions are created. And I'm not just talking about CO2. It's why some people criticize hybrids.

The nickle smelting plant in Canada (where Toyota gets their batteries) has absolutely no plant life around it. In fact the landscape is so lifeless, Hummer filmed their newest TV commercial there to make it look like the H2 was on the moon. You can watch it with the link below.

Answer 2

The batteries will be recycled, but that does take massive amounts of energy--that will most likely be produced from fossil fuels.  So while you can feel better using less gas, who knows how much carbon dioxide was produced using the batteries (which are nickel based) that you must replace.

Secondly, for the one response about placing cars "on the grid," this would require us to have live electric wires above every street in the country and an attachment from the car to the wires.  I don't think that is something we want to do.  So batteries it is.

Answer 3

Recycle.  We recycle batteries today.

Answer 4

All components in any battery of any type can be recycled and/or regenerated to make new batteries.

Not to mention the fact that the battery of choice for cars (Lithium) can last 10-15 years or more before needing to be replaced and recycled.

"They" will make it illegal for you to not return a battery to the vendor so it can be recycled.

Answer 5

They're going to be the next plastic bag.

Remember when grocery stores started using plastic bags to Save the Trees?

Oops.

Answer 6

This is something I fully agree with. Why so many batteries?

The technology already exists to power electric vehicles without the use of batteries. (electric trains etc).

So why lug all that extra weight around? Why create a future waste problem? Why generate electricity with a fossil fuel motor?

I belive that the work should go into pure electric vehicles to make them lighter and more aerodynamic and to run from a power grid. Generation of electricity is much more efficient from a stationary source. The other advantage is that you do not need to transport the generation equipment with you or transport energy. It just does not make sense to transport energy.

If powered from a grid an electric vehicle has virtually an unlimited range. It can be made much lighter and use heaps less energy to transport people.

Answer 7

Recycle them...

Once the batteries get to the point of no longer being able to hold a charge, they will take them apart, put new parts in and resell it as a new battery.

No reason to waste perfectly good equipment.

Answer 8

The batteries will be recycled. they will have to be recycled. We do not have the mining capacity to produce all of the metals neded without recycling them.

The big challenge is recycling them without creating a great deal of toxic pollution in the process.

Answer 9

They can be easily recycled.  It's not exactly old paper.

Answer 10

Landfill? At the moment, car batteries don't cause any huge disposal problems, and I see no reason why hybrid vehicle batteries would be any different.