Featured Why the Hyundai Ioniq 5 N and Kia EV6 GT could replace your Holden Commodore SS and Ford Falcon XR8

Yep - saw that - can't see it happening here. Maybe for a 2 car family - or an old person who doesn't venture too far, but our distances are too distant.

Can't understand "CarsGuide" and all the other media here. They'll do articles about big trucks, and asking why FORD doesn't bring in the F150 and other stuff which won't fit in our carparks. Then have an article on EVs - which Aussies just ignore.

I can understand a HYBRID - put in a smallish battery, an efficient ICE and good aerodynamics. 300km on Saturday 3.7 l/100km. Which is less than ½ the fuel (and emissions) of an equivalent ICE only car. And the smallish battery isn't a huge problem - about 50kg each.

I've been asking what will happen to 10-15 yr old EV batteries when they're dead. I get the answer back - they use them in POWER WALLS. Yep - a miniscule proportion - and how long will they last there?? Then what.

BBC had this article just last week:

Electric cars: What will happen to all the dead batteries? - BBC News

 

My answer, “Hornsdale.” Australia is cursed by Murdoch’s madness that is disconnected from empirical facts and data. But Mutha Nature doesn’t care.

Heck, I live in Dixie and smile in my Tesla much as I used to smile when driving our past Prius. Everyone has a right to be wrong so go with God as Murdoch has them by other parts.

I am amused that Australia is willing to sell the ores and minerals that make EVs. Yet no one has figured out they could make and export EVs and parts..

Bob Wilson

 

Same thing that happens to the other parts of the car; reuse and recycle.

Power supplies are used in more than just homes. Cell towers need batteries for back up, and 5G has a shorter range than the outgoing standard, so there will be more towers. Once the supply is there, the lower cost of used batteries will make power walls more attractive for home use and elsewhere.

Lead-acid batteries weren't recycled in the beginning. With few old batteries around, there isn't a commercial incentive to recycle. That changed with a larger supply of batteries, and it will happen for Li-ion. The investments into recycling have already started. Tesla's next gen cell was designed so nearly all of it can be recycled.

 

lead acid batteries are toxic. Deposits help make sure these are recycled instead of put in a landfill. In the US over 99% are recycled. Nimh are recycled mainly because the nickel is cheaper this way then mining. The batteries are also toxic to many plants and chemicals can leach into water from landfills. They are considered hazardous in california but not in other states.

Which brings us to lion batteries. Most consumer electronics are not recycled. The batteries are non-toxic. Lithium is much cheaper to mine than to recycle. Some that are high in cobalt and/or nickle are recycled for these more expensive metals. Still car companies will recycle the batteries, not for the reason that other batteries are but because it is the right thing to do. I expect that in countries like china or Russia they will not be, especially the lithium iron phosphate batteries that are more expensive to recycle than to obtain new materials.

 

Lithium is cheap, but we were using a lot of it before batteries for glass and ceramic production. The quality of the lithium for that use isn't as important as it is in batteries. With the increasing demand for lithium for batteries, the future supply for those prior uses may come from recycled batteries.

 

Nissan already claims high 90% range for their Leaf traction pack recycles & similar high percentages for the rest of the car. Ironically, the last person I talked to who gave the ol' recycle "what about when the battery is dead" question was someone who was letting several cars rot on their 5 acres. Maybe that's why he figured everybody else was polluting in the same fashion. The type who digs a hole then changes the oil in his car.

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