EV Fleet Hit 100,000 in a Year, Audit Finds No Plan for Dead Batteries — Still Buying?

The Auditor General's report released this week found Sri Lanka's EV fleet more than tripled in under a year, from about 30,000 in September 2025 to over 100,000 by June 2026. But the same report says there is still no official system to track, collect, or recycle the lithium batteries once they wear out, and only two charging operators have been certified so far under a law that's been on the books for years. One side says this is a non-issue: batteries are sealed, come with 8-year warranties, and by the time one actually fails there'll be a proper recycling industry built around the volume. The other side points out Sri Lanka still can't even handle lead-acid battery waste properly, so scaling that same failure up to lithium packs across 100,000+ vehicles, with fire risk if they're dumped or crushed wrong, is a disaster being set up in slow motion. If your hybrid or EV is past year 3, has the battery degraded, and did disposal even cross your mind when you bought it, or only the fuel savings? කාර් එකක් ගන්න කලින් බැටරිය අවසන් වුණාම මොකද කරන්නේ කියලා හිතුවද, නැත්නම් ඉන්ධන ඉතුරුම විතරක්ද බැලුවේ?