Hybrids – Good for the Environment?
I have always wondered if Hybrids are really better for the environment. I know they save us in gas fumes from the battery pack that is in the vehicle. This saves the over all pollution in the air. The general concept is that the vehicle uses less gas by using the battery pack as energy to run the motor.
For people that don’t know what a Hybrid vehicle is - From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia:
Hybrid electric vehicle, increasingly common automobiles which employ both a traditional internal combustion engine and an electric motor/generators for provide motive force.
I currently work for a fleet leasing company and have seen a lot of new orders come in for the Hybrids. Every ordering cycle there are new hybrids being offered by the manufacturers. There are a lot of our customers that have started adapting a hybrid only policy. They will only allow their employees to order a Hybrid vehicle for gas savings and to provide cleaner air to the environment.
I just have always wondered what happens to the vehicle when it is time to be retired and sent to the junk yard. Will the battery packs be removed and if so can they be recycled? For instance in the Ford Escape Hybrids the battery pack is in the back of the vehicle, which is considered the trunk and close to the gas tank. This has always been a mystery to me. We might not have an answer for this yet as I haven’t seen many hybrid vehicles being taken to the junkyard yet.
I wonder if it might be a revloution in the future that car dealers pushed the hybrids on consumers and in the end the effects of the battery pack are worse for the environment then just driving a vehicle that used only gasoline. If anyone can answer this quesiton for me I would greatly appreciate it.
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Recalling a controversy, I entered the phrase, "Hummer greener than Prius" using google search. Check out some of these to get a gist of the arguments.
- Prius Outdoes Hummer in Environmental Damage
- Oh, so a Hummer is NOT greener than a Prius
- Prius Versus HUMMER: Exploding the Myth
I would love to see comments for or against after readers study both sides of the issue.
The below are from the EPA 2008 testing regimen
Toyota Prius City Hwy
4 cyl, 1.5 L, Automatic (variable gear ratios), Regular 48 45
Chevrolet Aveo 5
4 cyl, 1.6 L, Manual 5-spd, Regular 24 34
Hummer H3 4WD
8 cyl, 5.3 L, Automatic 4-spd, Regular 13 16
Any body tells you that the electric motor components are only good for 100,000 miles really has absolutely no idea about what they are talking about. I have personally seen 500hp electric motors under enormous loads started up and shut down repeatedly for over 20 years and with regular routine preventive maintenance they remain just as good as new.
oh yeah, and the electric motors start delivering 100% of their rated torque output the minute they are started.
as for the batteries, you really need to look into such things, nowhere that I am aware of are automobiles allowed to be disposed/crushed/shredded/recycled still containing batteries, fuels,or oils, and around here that includes tires too.
plain old lead acid batteries were bringing $8.00 each at the scrapyards a few weeks ago, at $10 you'll start hearing of them being stolen from parked cars..... that's the way to solve such problems, make everything mandatory to be recycled....
if you're worried about the "socialist" aspects of such, relax...... look into the recycling of lead and lead acid batteries, 98% of all lead in use in the USA is a recycled. America's greatest environmental success story....
One factor that is not discussed in the articles is what kind of driving the owner does. If someone mainly drives in the city/around town, the gas savings will be significantly more than someone using the hybrid on highways.
And just like art says, the batteries can be recycled.
from hybridcars.com:
"How often do hybrid batteries need replacing? Is replacement expensive and disposal an environmental problem?
The hybrid battery packs are designed to last for the lifetime of the vehicle, somewhere between 150,000 and 200,000 miles, probably a whole lot longer. The warranty covers the batteries for between eight and ten years, depending on the car maker.
Battery toxicity is a concern, althoug today's hybrids use NiMH batteries, not the environmentally problematic rechargeable nickel cadmium. "Nickel metal hydride batteries are benign. They can be fully recycled," says Ron Cogan, editor of the Green Car Journal. Toyota and Honda say that they will recycle dead batteries and that disposal will pose no toxic hazards. Toyota puts a phone number on each battery, and they pay a $200 "bounty" for each battery to help ensure that it will be properly recycled.
There's no definitive word on replacement costs because they are almost never replaced. According to Toyota, since the Prius first went on sale in 2000, they have not replaced a single battery for wear and tear."
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