What happens to Hybrid Batteries and how do batteries get disposed?

For the life of me, I do not understand people's thinking. You spend $5000 extra to buy the car, to get 10 extra (maybe) MPG. Even with $2.50 gas. that represents about 2000 gallons, of savings, over the life of your car, AND ITS BATTERIES. Them, you must spend another 5 grand (or more) to replace the batteries.

A lot of commuters in DC are buying them just for the HOV priveleges. But, there is certainly no savings that I can see. They seem to have more potential for environmental damage.

What am I missing?

Steam power, on an automotive scale, is thermodynamically less efficient than IC (internal combustion, gas or diesel) power. However, it can make use of fuels that are unsuitable for IC.

The other problem with steam is with the water. If you follow the example of the steam locomotive, you simply exhaust the steam and refill the boiler from a water tank. Unfortunately, you now have an extra tank on board. And you'll use several times as much water per mile as you do liquid fuel.

The only way to get reasonable mileage out of your steam car is if you go to a closed steam cycle. This is where you have a condenser on board, that can remove waste heat from the spent steam and reliquify it and feed it back to the boiler. Unfortunately, because of the inefficiency of the steam process, you will have to get rid of a lot more heat than you do with an IC engine's cooling system, requiring the radiator to be several times larger.

So that, in a nutshell, is why you don't see steam cars any more. The only chance of their coming back is if we get nuclear thermal sources on the hundred-kilowatt scale that are small and cheap enough for vehicular use. I'm not holding my breath on that one.

Consider not only disposal when the batteries are replaced, but what happens when one of these hybrids gets rear ended by a semi on the Interstate. I would assume that the splattered battery contents would be a major hazardous materials spill not to mention a serious hazard to rescue workers and victims alike.

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