Don't crush a hybrid with the battery still in it
A crusher or shredder is the worst place a high-voltage battery can end up. It can start a fire deep in a scrap pile, it is not scrap metal under EPA's rules, and the pack is worth more out of the car than in it.
Take the high-voltage battery out before a hybrid or EV goes into a crusher or shredder. Crushing a pack can puncture its cells and start a fire in a place where fires are hard to see and hard to put out. Under EPA's rules the battery is not scrap metal anyway. And an intact pack is usually worth more than the steel around it.
What happens when a pack goes through the crusher
A hybrid pack is dozens of cells or modules wired in series. A second-generation Prius pack, for example, is 201 volts of nickel-metal hydride that the car boosts to as much as 500. Crushing it does three things at once: it breaks cell casings, it shorts cells against each other and the body, and it releases whatever is inside.
For a lithium-ion pack, from a plug-in hybrid or an EV, that is how fires start. EPA's 2021 report on lithium-ion battery fires in waste management says plainly that any lithium-ion batteries that go through a shredder "can be punctured and start fires." It found 245 fires at 64 facilities between 2013 and 2020 caused, or likely caused, by lithium batteries.
For a nickel-metal hydride pack, the kind in most Toyota and Lexus hybrids, the bigger problems are the voltage and the electrolyte. Toyota describes it as an alkaline of potassium and sodium hydroxide. It is fine sealed in a module and not fine spread through a bale of crushed steel.
Why scrap piles make it worse
EPA's report points out what anyone who runs a yard already knows about big piles. A fire can start deep in the pile and go unnoticed, and by the time smoke or flames show, it can be hard to put out. A damaged battery does not need to flare the moment it is crushed. The NTSB found damaged EV batteries reigniting days after a crash, and EPA's report describes a Tesla whose fire firefighters put out, only for it to reignite once the car reached a scrap yard.
We cover the storage side of this, including what the NTSB found about spacing damaged EVs on a lot, in hybrid and EV batteries on a tow yard.
It is not scrap metal
The rules point the same way as the physics. EPA's lithium-ion battery recycling FAQ says:
- Most lithium-ion batteries are likely to be hazardous waste when they are disposed of, because of ignitability and reactivity.
- Batteries are specifically not included in the scrap metal exclusion, so a battery cannot go out as scrap metal under that exclusion.
- EV batteries removed at a scrap yard, dealership or auto shop are not household hazardous waste. The household exemption does not cover a yard.
- A damaged battery can only be handled under the simpler universal waste rules if its cell casings are not breached. A pack crushed inside a car is exactly the kind whose cells are likely to be breached.
States can be stricter than the federal rules, so check Arizona's battery requirements as well. The short version does not change. Pulling the pack first is what keeps it simple.
The pack is worth more out of the car
A scrap buyer prices a battery by weight, because metal is all they can sell. We rebuild packs, so we are buying the modules inside it. A pack with most of its modules still holding capacity is worth many times its scrap value to us, and that same pack is worth nothing to anyone once it has been through a crusher.
So pulling the pack is not only the safe order of operations. For a yard with a steady flow of hybrids, it is money left on the table if you skip it. More on that, and on how our buyback works, on the sell your hybrid battery page.
What not to do
- Do not send a hybrid or EV to the crusher with the pack in and assume the processor will deal with it.
- Do not cut orange cables or pry at a pack to get it out faster. Removal is a job for someone trained and equipped for high voltage.
- Do not pile loose packs where they can be dropped, punctured or shorted against each other. A pile of packs is a smaller version of the scrap pile problem.
- Do not assume a dead car has a dead battery. It does not.
Getting the packs to someone who wants them
In the Phoenix metro we collect hybrid packs free, with no minimum, and pay for the ones worth rebuilding. Anything we cannot use goes to a licensed recycler, and every pack that leaves comes with paperwork. Tell us if a car has been in a crash, fire or flood, and whether the pack is still in it, and we will tell you straight away whether we can take it.
Yards and shops can find the details on our trade core page, or call 623-323-0737 and tell us roughly how many hybrids come through each month.
Common questions
- Can you crush a hybrid car with the battery still in it?
- You should not. Crushing or shredding can puncture battery cells, and EPA's 2021 report on lithium-ion battery fires in waste management says any lithium-ion batteries that go through a shredder can be punctured and start fires. Nickel-metal hydride packs in most Toyota hybrids are a shock and chemical hazard too. Take the high-voltage pack out first, using someone trained for high voltage.
- Can a hybrid or EV battery go out with the scrap metal?
- No, not under federal rules. EPA's lithium-ion battery recycling FAQ says batteries are specifically not included in the scrap metal exclusion, so that exclusion does not apply to end-of-life lithium batteries. EPA also says most lithium-ion batteries are likely to be hazardous waste when disposed of, and that EV batteries removed at a scrap yard are not household hazardous waste. Check Arizona's own battery rules too, since states can be stricter.
- Does crushing a battery change how it has to be handled?
- It can. EPA's FAQ says a universal waste handler may only manage a broken or damaged hazardous waste battery as universal waste if the damage does not breach an individual cell casing. A pack crushed in a car is exactly the kind of battery whose cells are likely to be breached, which takes it out of the simpler universal waste route.
- How many fires do batteries cause at recycling and scrap facilities?
- EPA's 2021 report found 245 fires at 64 waste management facilities between 2013 and 2020 that were caused by, or likely caused by, lithium batteries. It notes that fires can start deep in large scrap piles and go unnoticed, and that when smoke or flames appear they can be hard to put out. It also describes a Tesla whose fire firefighters put out, only for it to reignite once the car was brought to a scrap yard.
- Is a hybrid battery worth more than its scrap weight?
- Often, yes, if it is intact. A scrap buyer prices a pack by weight. A shop that rebuilds packs, as we do, is buying the modules inside, and a pack with most of its modules still holding capacity is worth many times its scrap value. A crushed pack is worth nothing to a rebuilder.