When Electric-Car Batteries Die, Where Will They End Up?

A DECADE from now, owners of electric cars, having driven their share of clean and green miles, may encounter a dashboard light flashing an unwelcome message: Check Battery.
Their first concern, quite likely, will be the expense of a new battery, which could be $10,000 or more based on today’s prices, though production breakthroughs might lower costs by then.
But ecoconscious drivers will soon turn to the matter of a final resting place for their worn-out batteries. A bulky 500-pound lithium-ion battery pack will never be a candidate for curbside recycling. And improper disposal would undo the good accrued through years of zero-emissions motoring.

Read Article

DinamoR - 6/13/2010 1:47:09 PM

0 Boost

Recycling

IamEvilHomer - 6/13/2010 1:58:16 PM

-3 Boost

thanks obamASS

LexSucks - 6/13/2010 10:06:10 PM

+1 Boost

"thanks obamASS"

- What does lithium battery disposal have to do with Obama? Weren't hybrids out before he was elected? You can't blame everything on Obama. That doesn't mean that people aren't going to try. LOL!

IamEvilHomer - 6/13/2010 10:21:18 PM

0 Boost

that was just making fun of DinamoR avatar

LexSucks - 6/14/2010 2:33:47 PM

0 Boost

Oh. I Got it. I sort of figured that. but I get all defensive when people call out my saviour.

IamEvilHomer - 6/13/2010 1:56:58 PM

+3 Boost

Big Difference in Recycling Lithium Batteries
Submitted by Matt on Mon, 02/15/2010 - 23:09 AmericasGreen data centerrecycle
Lithium batteries are showing up in everything from personal e-gear to communications backup systems to next-gen electric cars. Will they become the next e-waste? And do you know the important distinction between recycling Li and Li-ion technology?

The difference between Li (lithium) and Li-ion (lithium ion) batteries is important to sustainability-oriented users. Li-ion are the multi-cycle cells used in applications ranging from electric cars to CE gear with built-in rechargeable batteries. Plain Li batteries are the single-cycle disposable units used in e-gear accepting standard battery form factors. Li-ion are accepted by many battery recyclers, including The Green Box's standard package (see below) and Call2Recycle's free program for consumer battery recycling in US and Canada. Li-ion batteries are sometimes called 'rechargeable lithium'.

Toxco is the only company recycling Li batteries in North America, with an existing facility in British Columbia (Canada) and one planned for Ohio (USA). The latter is backed by a US$9.5 million grant from the US Department of Energy.

The Green Box is a program for shipping large quantities of batteries to recyclers. A standard Green Box holding 40 lbs of standard batteries costs $63, but a similar box for Li batteries costs $165 because "the cost for recycling this chemistry of battery is far greater than a standard alkaline or rechargeable battery." The biggest problem with Li batteries is not a more toxic chemistry, but the danger of fire during recycling. Toxco's BC facility has experienced such fires and its presentation (below) notes in-service explosion problems with the Lithium Metal Polymer batteries used in some communication infrastructures.

The lithium and other chemicals in Li and Li-ion batteries are of little value, so incentives must currently be provided for recycling. The nature of that incentive, where one exists at all, varies across political jurisdictions. Analysts predict that increased demand will drive up the price of recycled lithium, but there is little agreement on timeframe.