Batteries and Cost

Cost and their implications are hard to analyze. A battery might cost 100 dollars to produce but what does it cost to charge? And test? And repair? And dispose of?

For example, Nickel Metal Hydride, NiMH, batteries are the preferred battery for mild and full hybrids but the "M" is lanthanum, produced globally at 5 gms per capita, so the industry has swung towards lithium batteries. Lithium is a more plentiful component of the newer batteries but it has a history of explosion and fire in small portable units. Has it been tested in cars? In actual car situations? Like wrecks?

Here is a clip of a battery recycling plant: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dfQwYKqmfk4

Not to worry because almost all of the Department of Energy's 170 million dollars in grants went to lithium battery makers this year.