Submission + - When an Electric Car Dies, What Will Happen to the (scientificamerican.com)
TheClockworkSoul writes: This year, President Obama laid out the goal of putting 1 million electric cars on the road by 2015, which raises a question: how the heck are we going to recycle millions of lithium ion batteries be recycled?
As part of the $2.4 billion in stimulus funds awarded last month to jump-start the manufacturing and deployment of a domestic crop of vehicle batteries, the U.S. Department of Energy recently awarded $9.5 million to California-based recycling company Toxco Inc., the only company in the U.S. currently able to recycle all sizes and models of lithium-ion batteries, the kind used to power most of the new hybrid and plug-in electric vehicles entering the world market. With most of the world's lithium production centered in Bolivia, Chile and China, some say having a recycling infrastructure in place for vehicle batteries could help save the United States from trading "peak oil" for "peak lithium."
As part of the $2.4 billion in stimulus funds awarded last month to jump-start the manufacturing and deployment of a domestic crop of vehicle batteries, the U.S. Department of Energy recently awarded $9.5 million to California-based recycling company Toxco Inc., the only company in the U.S. currently able to recycle all sizes and models of lithium-ion batteries, the kind used to power most of the new hybrid and plug-in electric vehicles entering the world market. With most of the world's lithium production centered in Bolivia, Chile and China, some say having a recycling infrastructure in place for vehicle batteries could help save the United States from trading "peak oil" for "peak lithium."