I read about how good hybrid cars are for the environment but I'm worried that in a few years we will have landfills loaded with toxic batteries contaminating the groundwater. Is any information available about this?

Probably, but not as much as they will pollute you wallet when you have to pay to replace them!!!

Questions that make ya go hmmm... Before looking anything up, my personal thought was that since these cars are about HELPING the environment, I would *imagine* that hybrid owners would be encouraged - even expected - to trade in their used up batteries in order that they could be sent back to manufacturers for recycling! You would think that they could just melt down any metal or plastic and reuse them, as well as recycling any other components in some way just as used oil can be recycled - despite the unaware people that vacantly dump it in the sewer drains. Ok, that's personal opinion... now for facts...In looking around for the info, it seems that other people have asked about and discussed this elsewhere online, so we get to glean whatever we can from that...One person says: "There is no "battery disposal" with hybrid vehicles. They last as long if not longer than the car itself." Further discussion from that person only showed that beyond the life of the car itself, he didn't see the point. He only offered that "disposal of a hybrid car w/battery is no worse than a regular car." Gee, how comforting. :PHowever, I looked further, and found THIS (much more reassuring) - "Hybrids use NiMH batteries, not the environmentally problematic rechargeable nickel cadmium. "Nickel metal hydride batteries are benign. They can be fully recycled," says Ron Cogan, editor of the Green Car Journal....and even better: "Toyota and Honda say that they will recycle dead batteries and that disposal will pose no toxic hazards. Toyota puts a phone number on each battery, and they pay a $200 “bounty” for each battery to help ensure that it will be properly recycled." *cheer!*So it would seem then that just like owners of cars with regular batteries, it will still come down to the level of environmental responsibility and concern held by the owner of said hybrid... which of course we would hope would be answered by the fact that he/she took the measure of owning a hybrid in the first place for the same reasons.