Advances in electric vehicles and their batteries have caused a shift in predominant battery chemistry. Hybrid vehicles generally use Ni-MH batteries, while PHEVs and BEVs use Li-ion batteries because of their higher energy density and other advantageous properties. The Ni-MH
batteries are generally recycled by smelting, which recovers the nickel (and iron) for use in the manufacturing of stainless steel. The economic incentive for recycling is the recovery of the nickel. This fact sheet discusses the life-cycle issues associated with NiMH batteries.