It's fairly telling that the stock photos used in this article are of a battery factory making new batteries, some lithium brine ponds, and a generic person in

It's fairly telling that the stock photos used in this article are of a battery factory making new batteries, some lithium brine ponds, and a generic person in a white coat. There's no photo of a big heap of old, rusting, worn-out lithium car batteries, for a simple reason: no such heap exists. Dealing with old lithium batteries is at present a complete non-issue, and there are at least tens, more likely hundreds or thousands, of companies actively preparing to recycle and/or refurbish them. Well over 99% of lead-acid vehicle batteries are recycled. There's no reason to think that we can't do at least as well with lithium batteries.