The EU Battery Regulation (EU) 2023/1542 turns information about a battery into a condition for selling it. The battery passport is where that information lives.
Which batteries need a passport
From 18 February 2027, a digital battery passport is required for three groups of batteries placed on the EU market: batteries for electric vehicles, batteries for light means of transport such as e-bikes and e-scooters, and industrial batteries with a capacity above 2 kWh, which includes most stationary storage. The passport is reached through a QR code linked to a unique identifier for each battery. Batteries already placed on the market before that date do not need one.
What else arrives in 2027
- Replaceability. From the same date, portable batteries built into appliances must be removable and replaceable by the end user, and batteries for light means of transport must be replaceable by an independent professional.
- Due diligence. Obligations to run supply-chain due diligence for cobalt, lithium, natural graphite and nickel were postponed from 2025 to 18 August 2027 by Regulation (EU) 2025/1561.
- Carbon footprint. Declarations of a battery's carbon footprint depend on delegated acts from the Commission. Their exact start dates follow from when those acts take effect, so they need to be tracked separately.
Why this matters most outside Europe
A passport is only as good as the data behind it, and much of that data sits upstream: cell chemistry, materials, origin, recycled content and, later, carbon footprint. For a manufacturer in China or elsewhere in Asia, this means collecting information from cell, material and component suppliers who may never have been asked for it in this form.
The passport is not an IT project that starts in January 2027. It is a supplier conversation that should already be under way.
Our viewWhat to do now
- List every battery model you plan to sell in the EU and confirm which category each one falls into.
- Compare the passport data you already hold with the data you will need, and mark what has to come from suppliers.
- Agree with your EU importer or partner who will be responsible for the passport on the market.
- Choose how the passport will be hosted and kept up to date over the battery's life.
- Run one model through the full process first, well before the deadline, and learn from it.