I frequently drive to Houston from Baton Rouge. There are more than a dozen electric stations along the way. They are popping up everywhere. There's about 8000 of them in the US according to the energy.gov website. There are more electric stations in my area than E85.
It wasn't too long ago people were happy to get 100,000 miles on a vehicle. Companies like Toyota offer 150,000 mile warranty on their batteries. Just like the battery in your car right now manufacturers want them back as cores to rebuild. Let me know when you see hybrid batteries in landfills, you won't. If you do I'd gladly relieve them of it. They are simply worth too much money.
Meanwhile are we going to boycott laptops, cell phones, and tablets because they use lithium ion batteries? Nobody is complaining about those types of devices. The major problem with them is because they are small LOTS of people throw those away instead of recycling them, unlike that of the larger ones that go into vehicles.
No matter how you slice it electric cars are coming. They will be more and more prevalent as the years go by. Personally I like the idea of filling up at home. With electricity here only $0.10 / kWh I can fill up for very little. So a 50kWh battery would cost me $5.00 to charge.
Is an electric car for everybody, hell no. Would I like to have one for commuting and running errands, hell yes. Am I ready to give up my mustang/S and f250 right now, NO. Meanwhile an electric vehicle would certainly make a nice addition to my lineup.
EDIT - Oh yeah,
"
Environmental concerns and recycling
Since Li-ion batteries contain no
toxic metals (unlike other types of batteries which may contain lead or cadmium)
[41] they are generally categorized as non-hazardous waste. Li-ion battery elements including iron, copper, nickel and cobalt are considered safe for
incinerators and
landfills. These metals can be
recycled, but mining generally remains cheaper than recycling.
[145] At present, not much is invested into recycling Li-ion batteries due to costs, complexities and low yield. The most expensive metal involved in the construction of the cell is cobalt. Lithium iron phosphate is cheaper but has other drawbacks.
Lithium is less expensive than other metals used. The manufacturing processes of nickel and cobalt for the positive electrode and also the solvent, present potential environmental and health hazards.
[146][147]"