Sri Lanka Has 100,000 EVs and No Plan for the Dead Batteries — Worry?

Sri Lanka's EV fleet passed 100,000 by mid-2026, but the Auditor General's latest environmental audit found there is still no system to track, collect or recycle the lithium batteries once they wear out. Used EV batteries are officially classed as hazardous waste, yet there are no domestic recycling facilities, so packs either sit in informal storage or get shipped abroad at a cost someone has to absorb. One side says this is no reason to slow down: petrol and diesel cars pollute every single day on the road, while a dead battery is a one-time problem years down the line that regulators still have time to sort out. The other side says we are repeating an old mistake — importing the solution first and figuring out the waste later, so every Leaf, Aqua, and BYD on our roads today becomes a battery nobody has anywhere to put. If you own a hybrid or EV, has anyone in the dealership, garage, or importer chain ever told you what happens to your battery at end of life, or is that a question nobody wants to answer? බැටරිය අවසන් වුණාම මොකද වෙන්නේ කියලා කවදාවත් කෙනෙක් ඔයාට කියලා තියෙනවද?