Misleading headline making it sounds like all battery recycling poisons people. Half assed battery recycling is half assed.
Also sodium ion or some other lead-free formulation will likely replace lead acid 12v batteries over the next few years.
this post was submitted on 25 Nov 2025
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The advantage lead acid has for ICE is that it can dump a lot of current all at once. The C output rate on sodium ion isn't that high, IIRC.
There have been lithium batteries used for the purpose. The original Miata used one because standard lead acid cells caused corrosion issues in the chassis. But lithium has its own supply chain issues.
Ultimately, this goes away because ICE cars go away.
Me wondering how ICE is tracking people through their car batteries when I first read this 🤔
I thought they meant that the rapid high current output of lead batteries was better for torture.
12 volts doesn't really hurt much is my understanding. I think movies exaggerate it. It tracks because people literally lick 9 volt batteries to test them. The 120 volts AC in the wall would be more useful for that.
It's the additional amperage that makes the 12v worse
Batteries don't have amps, they have volts. The resistance of the things they're touching determines the amps.
A shocking revelation!
Well, there is still the temperature constraints of Lipo and LiFePo batteries (the latter being much better at cold and hot charging).
But the point is that lithium batteries operate under a pretty big compromise of needing heating and cooling when temps are too cold and too hot, respectively. That is where lead acid has a pretty significant advantage.
Edit: I had a 1991 miata, and I don't recall having a lithium battery. It was rear-mounted, though.
I lol'd because growing up in cold climate. You had to put a block heater to keep your engines warm enough to start. That ran off electricity. So..... You know, batteries keeping themselves warm isn't really different.
Right this very minute I've got two battery tenders keeping the lead acid batteries trickle charged on some motorcycles in my garage.
None of this shit is different in any meaningful way.
I lol'd because growing up in cold climate. You had to put a block heater to keep your engines warm enough to start.
I'm from Winnipeg, I know.
None of this shit is different in any meaningful way.
It is functionally very different. We heat our blocks, but rare is the person with a battery blanket.
Teslas need warming and cooling for their batteries, and even at that, they lose huge range in super cold winters. But that isn't the real problem, which is that recharge cycles are fewer and fewer every time you charge a cold li-ion.
The newer EVs are switching to heat pumps for managing battery temperature. It's more efficient than resistive heat, and can use the same system for cooling. This helps maintain range both by keeping batteries the right temperature and by doing it more efficiently.
And who in Winnipeg hasn't heard of what happens if you let your gas tank get too empty in extreme cold?
Look man, I own one. I ski. None of the stuff you're saying is actually happening. These things are edge cases at best.
The reality is the differences aren't important in any meaningful way. I've got to do maintenance on my engines to keep them running. I've got to keep the EV plugged in, to keep it running. Literally the same.
The advantage lead acid has for ICE is that it can dump a lot of current all at once. The C output rate on sodium ion isn't that high, IIRC.
Add a capacitor, now it is.
The C output rate on sodium ion isn't that high, IIRC. You can buy sodium ion in 12 volt car battery form factor today. My understanding the only limitation is charging may not work right due the voltage regulators and the different needs on charging. (Which could be overcome with adapters.). Sodium ion will likely replace the lead acid use case by the end of the decade.
Headline clearly leads "Auto industry warned" implying this is an industrial issue specific to them. And it is. This is not misleading.
The issue is that they are offshoring the lead recycling to very poor nations that have no environmental protection laws. Why? Cos cheaper.
Same issue with almost every industrial problem - the dangers are off-shored. Out of sight, out of mind. The US auto industry was warned about this exact prpblem and pleaded with to set up monitoring and a clean battery sourcing program - and of course they did nothing, because the only way corporations listen is with law and effective enforcement of those laws.
Doing things improperly with dangerous materials is unsafe. News at 11:00.