Hybrid cars can cause more harm than good?

Question

Are the greenhouse gases produced from nickel in the batteries of hybrid cars worth it?

Answer 1

"Green house gases from nickel" is more than a little sloppy. Do you mean from refining the nickel or from recycling the nickel or do you somehow mean that just having it there produces greenhouse gases?

Answer 2

Bob and 3DM are correct. Pollution from nickel plants is a localized problem, and not related to greenhouse gases. Lithium-ion batteries will soon replace Nickel metal hydride batteries, and then that won't even be a problem anymore. Hybrids have much lower greenhouse gas emissions than regular cars, so if you're concerned about global warming, hybrids are the way to go.

Answer 3

Nickel in car batteries DOES NOT produce greenhouse gas, although producing the nickel is rather harmful to the environment. But this won't be a problem for long. In the next few years they will be moving away from NiMH to Li-ion batteries.

The notion that a hybrid costs twice as much as the same car is bogus. I have a Civic Hybrid - you have to compare it to the same Civic sedan by similar trim level - and it compares to an EX. With the tax rebate on hybrids, I may be paying a little more, but I know that I burn less gas than the same sedan, and my city-driving emissions are MUCH lower (this is true REGARDLESS of whether you buy into Global Warming or not.) That is a benefit that you don't have to be a scientist to figure out.

Answer 4

I'm not entirely sure about the nickel aspect in hybrid cars, but much has been said about the band-aide approach to solving problems and I think this is a good example. Less pollution is produced in exhaust and there are fewer trips to the gas station, but there is still plenty of pollution produced in the production of these cars and roads and road maintenance is still needed. The cars still need tires and other parts that require a lot of energy to make.

Answer 5

There are some nickel plants in operation now that pollute. But it's a local problem, not a global one.

And there's nothing that says we can't clean up the plant. Or that hybrids have to use nickel-based batteries.

We should focus on the real problems. Clean up the nickel plants for local good. Use hybrids for global good. Develop better batteries for hybrids.

Rejecting hybrids because a few nickel plants pollute is a bad idea.

Answer 6

It is a question of quantity. Imaging burning your house sized lump of coal, and compare that to the refining of a few bars of nickel, and I think you have your answer.

There are always negative aspects to every form of energy conversion - but some have a larger long term detrimental impact on the environment. In this case, I would say that the environmental benefits of Hybrid cars are much greater than the negative impacts, otherwise our scientists and engineers would not be raving about them. What about EV or electric cars?

Answer 7

Buy a hybrid to save money on gas-yet you have a car payment that is almost twice as much as a normal car of the same size. Hybrids are no savings in money!

Answer 8

Not sure on your details, but I agree theyre not as good as the hype.

I get 36 city 43 hwy in a 2.2L MTX Ion. MSRP on it new was about 10k.

Im considering an electric car to eliminate my city driving all together so this one can just be used for trips.


Hybrids are intended as a temporary solution while we develop something to replace oil, not a long term replacement, so really any minor polution isnt a major factor. It will at least diversy the type of pollution.

Answer 9

Batteries are improved and will in the coming years. Nickel will go out of them.

Answer 10

The next generation of hybrids will use lithium ion batteries. Nickel is recyclable, gasoline exhaust isn't.