Every year, 6,000 large, expensive, and depleted batteries, recycled by auto dealers all over the country, pour into Toyota Motor Corp. in Japan. The batteries have been pulled out of Prius automobiles as they are replaced by car dealers who then return them to the manufacturer for recycling. And given the growing popularity of the Prius, this rate will almost certainly continue to rise over time.
What to do with them? Toyota has ingeniously figured out a way to refurbish them, reconfigure them, and resell them back to the very dealers who had returned them. How do they do this?
At the CEDIA Expo in Indianapolis earlier this month, the event’s keynote presentation was by the well-known physicist, author, and TV personality Michio Kaku who presented his rather dramatic view of the future – complete with a rash of technology predictions. Kaku’s presentation covered a lot of ground including military technology, the home of the future, the office of the future, future medical technology, and even the future of car technology.
