I had been hearing about how toxic Toyota Prius batteries were, and that they didn't last very long. I personally own a Prius, and was upset by this news. If the battery was super toxic and didn't last long, then that would negate the car's eco characteristics, which would be a major bummer. I went to my trusty eco friend Ed Begley to see if he had any insight on this, because I was having a hard time believing this news. Here is what Ed told me:

"As far as I can tell, most of the misinformation about Prius (& EV) batteries has come from an article written by a conservative fellow in Canada. It was wrong on nearly every count. From the gross overstatements about carbon footprint for shipping the batteries around the world, to assigning all the pollution from a nickel plant in Sudbury to the Prius batteries - a plant that was cleaned up years before the first Prius ever rolled off the line and that makes nickel for many other uses, not just Prius batteries.  

But first, some battery basics: Folks throw away old AA, AAA, C, D & 9V cells (even though they shouldn't!) because there's no deposit on them. Ditto with old cell phone batteries, computer batteries, etc. Car batteries are different, even in internal combustion cars. There's a deposit on each and every battery. Any service shop would be throwing hard cash away by discarding an old 12V if they just dumped it. And, they'd risk a hefty fine. Very few do-it-yourselfers just dump car batteries any more, since there's a deposit on their batteries, as well. As for hybrid and electric cars, there is a rigorous battery recycling program in place at Honda, Toyota and Ford for all the batteries that they will one day receive. I say one day, because it's all theory at this point.  

I have friends with 150,000 miles on their electric RAV-4 with the same battery pack! Mine has nearly 75,000 miles after 7 years with the same pack... Which is nickel-metal-hydride, by the way, and is nowhere near as hazardous as lead. And, ask around among the many friends that we both know who have a Prius. See how many of them have replaced even one of the many battery modules in their hybrid.  

But back to the pollution associated with batteries and oil: the amount of pollution and waste associated with drilling, refining and pumping gas is a number. The amount of pollution involved in battery production, recycling and use is another number; it's just a much lower number. But, our goal should be zero pollution, no matter what technology we use! Still, hybrids and electrics are a positive step for now."

Personally, I have never ever had a problem with my Prius. I had a 3-year lease on my first Prius, and then leased another one after that. I ended up buying the second one many years ago... All in all, I think I have been driving a Prius since 1999, maybe earlier, and have never had one problem. My car before the Prius, which was a Ford Bronco, had to be fixed every 3-6 months!

I hope this helps any of you out there who have been hearing the same nasty rumors about Priuses and their batteries that I was hearing! And thank you Ed!