Last year, a 'hybrid sales tax credit' law was introduced with bi-partisian support giving a $1000 sales tax credit to buyers of cars hybrid cars receiving at least 40 MPG.....although it seem like the law would pass easily, the bill was recently nixed by our Republican led legislature....When I contacted my legislator, one of the reasons given was that there may be evidence that environmental benefits of hybrid cars can be wiped out by the environmental damage the batteries can do. Does anybody have info on what this guy is talking about??? I tend to believe it has more to do with lobbyist pressure from a certain American car company who has dropped the ball in the hybrid area.

Hybrid vehicle batteries will most likely be recycled 99.99995% of the time because the work would be done by qualified technicians. However, I can only imagine the damage to the environment that is being (has been done) by the Billions of alkaline, mercury, lead/acid, etc batteries that end up in land fills across the planet that were dumped there by uninformed consumers..There's a 99.999975% chance that the decision was motivated by some "well funded" lobbyists... I wish they would just keep those lobbies locked....

Very disappointing and a load of real rubbish. The immediate benefit of reduced toxic emissions would far outweigh the small and manageable longer term battery disposal problem. The Democrats should be urged to return to the fray over this with a well prepared and argued case. Keep at it. Get the Honda and Toyota dealers on your side and the local media.(Either way, I would suggest that $1000 is not a make or break sum for the intelligent consumer.)

From my understanding NiMH batteries (Nickel Metal Hydride) are easily recycled with the plastics being removed, the Hydrogen recovered and the Nickel recovered by using a vacuum chamber. The reason for the vacuum is the ability to keep the volatile Hydrogen from exploding during the processing.

The value of the nickel alone will pay for the recycling.

The environmental impact is minimal and the saved emissions by using a Hybrid far outweigh not using a Hybrid vehicle.

Your politician is wrong and needs to be reeducated.

The state doesnt want to pay the money now that a whole bunch of 40+ cars are available and more to follow. Its about money, not truth.

Yea, this is it. The good news is people are very willing to look for better solutions even if big bro. pulls the rug on incentives.

In politics? Are you sure?

This is the first I've heard of it


Dan

The test should not be 40+ mpg but rather emissions of carbon dioxide for which the HCHII really scores very low!

Emissions of Carbon Dioxide and fuel efficiency are directly proportional. Other forms of emissions may vary based on how cleanly the fuel is burned, but CO2 is all about how much fuel is burned.

hybridcars.com has an emissions calculator for all available models of cars. The HCH II profile overall is at the very top of the pile and is excellent.