Toyota recycling hybrid batteries

By Alborz Fallah | August 27th, 2008

Part of the misconception with hybrid cars has been the production and disposal of the hybrid batteries. Some simply don’t even consider the process, others have been turned away from hybrid cars as a result. To tackle the problem, Toyota Australia has released some information regarding the process.

The Big T says there has been a recycling process (in Australia) for the battery packs of its hybrid-technology vehicles for the last seven years.

Toyota organised the battery recycling process well before the Prius launch in 2001. A similar method has been followed around the world where Toyota sells its hybrid cars.

“Toyota Australia regards the batteries as a key ecological issue and has had a recycling solution in place for more than seven years,” Toyota Australia senior executive director sales and marketing David Buttner said

The hybrid Camry, which the federal government is funding to the sum of $35 million dollars, will be produced in Australia from 2010 and uses the same nickel-metal hydride batteries as in Prius.

So what happens when your hybrid battery needs recycling? The more important question should be: will it ever need recycling? So far over 10,000 Prius cars have been sold in Australia and only 17 battery packs have had to be replaced. Three have been completely recycled while the rest are being used for research and training.

If you do happen to be one of the 17 that needed a new battery, Toyota dealers around Australia are the central collection points for batteries, which are then transferred to certified Toyota recycling partners in Australia and overseas at no additional cost to the owner.

Toyota’s Nickel Metal Hydride (NiMh) batteries don’t contain Cadmium, despite what many think. The plastic, metal and copper wire from the batteries are recycled locally while circuit boards and battery elements are exported for recycling.

In case you have an accident and the battery is damaged, Toyota has briefed roadside assistance and emergency service workers how to handle damaged hybrid vehicles.

Recently a Prius taxi was shown to have managed 500,000km on one single battery. More information on that here.

We are interested and encourage Toyota to release information regarding the amount of CO2 pollution created during the entire production and recycling phase of its hybrid batteries.

FRUGAL_ONE

*****PRIMO!****

“BIG T” [tm Frugal_One! ]

Your earlier story of Prius taxi showed that batteries will last to over 500,000km, more than the average owner will drive in a lifetime.

In any case you DONT have to EVER change the batteries if you dont want, even if they are totally dead just drive around with the petrol-only engine, be no rocket and dead weight but still they can stay insitu!

Good work by BIG-T anyway, shuts up all the cry babies who complained about this said [non event] issue!

Cheers

F-0
Dlr1

Eventually most of them will need replacing or the vehicles scrapping completely. This may be after 15 years or more, but the fact is there is a process in place.

As for the statement “We are interested and encourage Toyota to release information regarding the amount of CO2 pollution created during the entire production and recycling phase of its hybrid batteries.” do you care how much CO2 is created in the production of non hybrid vehicle or its recycling? What about how much energy is used in the recycling of every aluminium can we throw in the recycling bins? You can also argue that recycling paper does more harm to the environment than it does just to make new paper.

I always thought the whole purpose of a hybrid was to use less fossil fuel, after all there is only a finite amount available.
Andy

Yeah but a one time recycling cost is way better than a lifetime of 9.0l/100km usage. This car is not perfect by any means but its needed as a pioneer into the hydrogen/plug-in cars of the future.
If I travel into the CBD often enough, this would be my car by now. But I dont and I love going thru the country, so I bought a diesel.
GTRmon

There is some argument to suggest that recycling paper is more energy intensive than cutting down trees and pulping it. For aluminium however, recycling is much less energy intensive than getting Al from bauxite.

As much hatred as there is for the Prius, I’m not a hater. It’s a bit of a poser car but so what, let them drive it. Let Toyota cram the advertising down our throats, I’m not listening. There’s much more hateable cars on the road, like Hummers or Epicas.

The only thing I wish is that Prius drivers would drive a bit faster. I know you’re trying stay on battery power, but hey, I’m trying to stay off boost and I don’t drive slower than a crippled snail.
Carl

Car Advice…..i wouldn’t hold my breath if i were you waiting for TuRDyota to get back to you!!!!!
AC COBRA

The Priass is not exactly that green, people forget this golf gart has an engine, needs fossil fuels and toxic battery acid etc etc.. to make the 4 wheels move and apparently to build one causes more pollution than a normal manufactured car, sorry but no HIPPY tree hugging just yet, when you peel the layer’s of Toyoda advertising truth behold this very expensive Priass is no better compared to any diesel, petrol or LPG vehicle.

Until car’s are powered by a Hydrogen fuel cell, all this old tech Hybrid crap can go to bed, CA >>>>>>> please no more adverts for expensive Priass over used jargon, its now beyond acceptable and irritating.

Remember, Priass will alway’s polute the air if you think it doesn’t, well what can anybody say except > FOOL’S BREED FOOL’S !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Ra

Wow AC COBRA, you sound like someone I know called … George W Bush.

You will accept Hybrid vehicles concept as a stepping stone to something better and I’ll ram that down your cancer ridden throat.
GTRmon

Wow, how long it did take you to come up with “priass”. Witty.
Seriously, I thought the point of the article was that all the “pollution” and “toxic chemicals” required to make the Prius is either hyperbole or Toyota actually has a recycling plan in place. If the Prius contains nasty elements, you can be sure Toyota has design engineers who have thought this one through.

Comparing a LPG vehicle to a Prius: the most common LPG vehicle, the LPG Falcon, is a fair bit larger than a Prius, thus requiring more raw materials to make it. As for diesels: in Australia they are a false economy. Better fuel consumption at a higher price per litre and higher initial cost. Better than a petrol engine, but not that great.

Why is there so much hatred of Toyota by the visitors of this site? I’m not a Toyota fanboy, I don’t drive a Toyota and I have no intentions of doing so in the near future, but I’m not frothing at the mouth about them. Why? Is there like a little dick syndrome or something because Toyota outsells other car manufacturers? Get over it.

Yes the Prius has a petrol engine and spits out CO2, we know.
Car-Enthusiast

Recent studies have shown that in the long term (3 yrs & onwards) the Production and driving of a Toyota Prius, cause more Green house gases, and has a larger effect on Global warming then the combined Production and driving of a 2.7-tonne Range Rover V8 (PETROL) that acheives about 16.0L/100km, Which means that a Range Rover V8, uses more than Triple (3.6 times more to be Precise) the amount of Fuel then a Toyota Prius, and yet in the long run, it causes less Green house gases and has less effect on Global warming, than the prius.

Shows just how much of a Marketing Gimik The Toyota Prius is, and what a load of crap Hydbrids are.

I’ve been saying this for a while and will always say this, if u wana save the world, and if u are a bit cheap and dnt give a stuff about cars, then Buy a Diesel, and dnt even bother with Hybrids.

Many times, and multiple sources of information Including This site, will show and prove that a Diesel causes less Green house gases, and is more economical than a Hybrid
GTRmon

Ummmm, how? Is that perhaps because there are far less Land Rovers than Prius’? Because if the argument comes down to one of volume manufactured, it’s seriously flawed.

I can’t see how a small car with a 1.5L engine is less economical than any V8?!
Car-Enthusiast

GTRmon, as i mentioned in my comment, i said the production and driving of the Prius, now when i mean production that also includes the production of the batteries, shipping etc. and same with the Range ROVER, the production and shipping etc. Because the Production of the batteries, causes alot of Pollution etc.
Realcars

Talk about Toyota flogging a dead horse.

Toyota is definitely clever and more so than the idiots that buy these things.LOL.
http://porsche Millatime

Prius is useless. A sham. A con. A fraud.

GTRmon; if you were slowly DYING of a CURABLE disease, and your TRUSTED doctor kept offering you only a couple of PANADOL and a few BAND-AIDS every time you went to see him, would you praise and defend his lack of action as you have above?

And would you allow him to announce to all and sundry that he was working very very hard indeed to cure you and the planet and all the whales, by handing out useless band aids and panadol, whilst actually keeping the very technology that would make a significant contribution to your health under lock and key, and very much away from you?

Tesla are TINY little company. Google “Tesla Roadster”, then ask yourself why aren’t a massive global corporaton like Toyota, with it’s massive R&D budget, doing something similar only better and cheaper? With four doors and room for the shopping?

They could, but all we get is band-aids and panadol…
AC COBRA

Ra, don’t worry about my throat, it’s the words you type that are cancerous, if you don’t like opinion’s stay away from commenting here and go to a forum who gets “OFF” talking about dead beat Hybrids.

The Priass reminds me of a battery hen injected with artificial genes, the same one’s that enter a half wit after eating “KFC”, unfortunately not thinking straight rendering him to malfunction in reality.
Carl

DIr1……We don’t give a F**k how much Co2 normal car cost to make because “normal” cars don’t claim to be saving the planet like this monumental fraud from the big T!
Dlr1

Carl, I thought the whole concept behind hybrids was to reduce fuel consumption. I am in no way saying that they will save the planet. Neither will any other car. In all likely hood the world will run out of oil and LPG well before we see all the catastrophic effects of global warming. Any technology that lets you travel further on a litre of fuel, be it diesel, LPG ,Petrol or whatever need to be utilised. f you want a green car go and make one out of bamboo and run it on coconut oil.LOL.
Joober

Well thats a good sign they have a process at least, the car is still not the eco sword we need though. Im hanging for the LPG hybrid, Hyundai was planning, if that takes off surely all other manufacturers will follow suit in this country where Gas is abundant.

Millatime, Thats CAPITALISM for you mate, f..k the world if it means less profits in the long run. People need to know anything a corporation does has a money agenda at the very end.

Carl – All manufacturers should be aiming to build cars that cuts emissions and go green. But clearly the triple bottom line is always a farce in a world where the money hungry shareholder is at the reigns.
Carl

DIr1, I’m glad you haven’t fallen for the Toyota claims that the Prius is a green car.

Joober, i totally agree with you that the major companies have and continue to offer very few options to fossil fuels for their vehicles and that’s why this prius with it’s relatively guzzling 1.5 petrol engine is a poor effort….and it appears the next prius will have an even bigger 1.8 petrol engine WTF are they on at Toyota!!!!
Joober

Agree Carl, well we can just hope that 1.8 proves better economy OR/AND more ecofriendly then the current model otherwise its going to get flamed by reviewers and the ‘we’ alike.
Carl

Oh and yes Joober, i think Hyundai will definitely put the cat amongst the pigeons if it decides to bring it’s LPG $10 a week fuel bill (mild) Hybrid to Australia!
Iamthestig

DO we actually know what a battery pack costs to have replaced ? (not a guess – a proper full cost from Toyota service) ?

Just curious…
Simon

Do liberals ever consider the downsides of liberal ideas [or liberal leaders]? In case a liberal is tempted to answer, the question is rhetorical.
jr

I’m a Texan liberal. Drive a Ford F350. Thinking about going with a Jetta TDI for my wifes car. In response to simon… there are no leaders anymore.
Mandrake

Read this article closely: Toyota ‘briefed’ local emercency services workers on how to handle a damaged battery. Oh. That’s a pretty expensive campaign to educate evey Fire Station and EMT worldwide! Great Job! The reality is – what’s going to happen is the customer will pay for safe disposal, and this expense was never reflected in the cost of the vehicle.