Hybrid drivers, no need to panick over batteries

Apparently some hybrid drivers (including a friend of mine) have been feeling a bit touchy with constantly having to be on the defence about their decision to purchase such a "risky", emerging green technology. Some have accused car companies of green washing hybrid vehicles - i.e. touting it as environmentally friendly - when the environmental benefits may yet to be clearly established. Prominent claims made against hybrid vehicles include: uncertainty over the battery life, high battery toxicity and lack of disposal options, and the lack of coverage in serviceability.

Through my brief literature review, it would appear that such claims by the naysayers are more or less unfounded, especially for the 2nd generations of hybrids. With respect to battery life, standard warranty range between 8 to 10 years, and the automakers have boldly stated that the batteries are designed to last the life of the cars. Secondly, according to a 2008 Newsweek article, Honda says that out of the more than 100,000 Honda hybrids on the road, less than 200 have had a battery fail after the warranty expired; and Toyota's out-of-warranty (Criteria: 8 years or 100,000 miles) battery replacement rate has been 0.003% on the 2nd generation Prius that debuted in 2004. The same article also stated that the price of replacement batteries from both automakers have dropped - for most vehicles it will cost around $3,000 or less - due to improved technology and lower production costs.

In regards to battery toxicity, nickel metal hydride batteries are much less toxic than lead batteries, which in the near future may be replaced by even less toxic lithium ion batteries. Interestingly, another unrelated driving factor behind the development of non-lead batteries is due to lead batteries' inability to meet the electrical demands of new vehicles that are holding more and more electronic gadgetry.

Lastly, hybrid vehicle batteries are highly recyclable. To encourage a high rate of battery recovery, Toyota has implemented a $200 bounty for every battery that is returned to the company. As the 2nd generation of hybrids are expected to reach end-of-life in the next five years, dealerships, garages, and auto scrap yards are expected to take advantage of this program.

Just to shift gears, another one of the widespread "fact" that's been circulating in the public realm is that of the heavy environmental costs associated with the mining of nickel for batteries. Most of this came about from an article published in November 2006 by the Daily Mail, a right-leaning, British tabloid paper, which bore the slanderous title ‘Toyota factory turns landscape to arid wilderness.’ The article claimed that the mining of nickel in northern Ontario for Toyota was single-handedly turning the land into moonscape. As for my rebuttal - firstly, the environmental damage in the area around Sudbury, Ontario is the result of the accumulative trauma from mining that first started in the 1800s; and mining and smelting practices have largely improved since the environmental reformation of the 70s. Secondly, out of the Inco-Sudbury mine’s 174,800-ton output in 2004, Toyota purchased 1000 tons, just over 0.5% of its output. Ultimately, the British paper must have received so many complaints that it decided to retract the article in May 2007.

Drivers should also know that many vehicle components contain nickel regardless of whether it's hybrid or not - trims, rims, stainless steel, engine alloys (pistons, rings, liners, etc.) so on and so forth. The larger the engine, the more nickel is used. Until everyone stops driving, there's no reason to lay the blame on hybrid drivers as the cause for ripping up the earth for nickel.

I am certain that most hybrid drivers aren't naively thinking that they are saving the environment through their vehicles, and the same goes for vegetarians, recyclers, solar panel users, etc. But I applaud them for voting with their money and for being the pioneers whom play a pivotal role in both helping to establish a new cultural norm for using higher efficiency vehicles, and for quickening automakers' progress towards making more vehicles that may tread just a bit lighter on the earth.