German consortium to develop digital EU passport for batteries

A consortium of eleven German companies, including battery makers, carmakers and research institutes, are partnering to develop the first digital passport which should ensure that batteries in Europe comply with environmental and social standards.

The digital passport will be developed as part of a pilot project, known as the Battery Pass, which has received a grant of EUR 8.2 million (USD 8.92m) from Germany's Ministry of Economic Affairs and Climate Action.

Led by systems change company Systemiq GmbH, the consortium includes also carmakers Audi AG and BMW AG (ETR:BMW), chemicals major BASF SE (ETR:BAS), Circulor GmbH, Fiware Foundation e.V., Fraunhofer IPK, TwaiceTechnologies GmbH, materials technology group Umicore AG & Co KG, Acatech and VDE Renewables GmbH.

As part of the pilot project, the partners will seek to map out content and technical standards that span the entire value chain and enable the exchange of basic information and technical data about the sustainability of the battery supply chain.

The digital battery passport will be used in the automotive industry. It is meant to meet the requirements of the EU battery regulation which will apply to all new vehicle batteries, storage systems and industrial batteries from 2026 on.

“Data-enabled lifecycle management of vehicle batteries is central to strengthen the effectiveness of the EU battery and automotive industry. It will not only accelerate the scaling of the number of electric vehicles, but will also ensure a productive and environmentally sound use of valuable vehicle traction batteries," said Systemiq's Circular Mobility Platform Lead Tilmann Vahle.

(EUR 1 = USD 1.089)

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