(Frankfurt am Main, Oct. 13, 2026) The EU Battery Passport is a kind of digital resume designed to provide comprehensive information about the composition, condition, and reuse of batteries. It will become mandatory in the EU on February 18, 2027. “There is still some time to prepare,” says Bill Reaugh, Principal Engineer at VDE Solutions Interfaces Services (VDE SIS). “However, too many companies haven’t managed to do so yet.”
“It’s not just a matter of providing certain data”, adds Patrick Zank, Senior Battery Consultant at VDE: “Even if a company knows what data is required for the battery passport, that doesn’t mean it’s capable of managing the battery passport consistently and reliably over the long term. The real challenge lies in reliably collecting, maintaining, and providing this information throughout a battery’s entire life cycle.”
Digital battery passport for EVs, e-bikes, and home and utility scale energy storage systems: What Companies Need to Do Now
The digital product passport applies to batteries for electric cars, light electric vehicles such as e-bikes and e-scooters, as well as industrial batteries with a capacity of 2 kWh or more. This includes not only industrial applications but also stationary energy storage systems for homes, business, and at utility scale which store solar, wind, and other types of renewable power. “Manufacturers as well as importers of batteries are affected,” explains Bill Reaugh, “Companies are responsible for all data generated earlier in the supply chain. They must therefore establish clear responsibilities, build a secure digital infrastructure, and clarify who receives which access rights and how the data is continuously updated. This is the only way to meet the requirements of the battery passport in the long term.”
QR Codes Instead of Mountains of Paper: How the Digital Product Passport Is Set to Reduce Bureaucracy
In practical terms, the product passport means that every affected battery receives a QR code. Through this code, various stakeholders such as manufacturers, users, repair shops, recyclers, or government agencies can access information. Batteries are the first product category to be covered, but the passport is expected to be expanded soon to include products, such as textiles or tires. “In the short term, the bureaucratic and administrative burden on companies will increase. But in the long term, a digital product passport will help reduce the effort of information exchange”, says Bill Reaugh: “The underlying idea is to capture information digitally just once and then make it available to many stakeholders. Instead of providing the same data repeatedly in various forms, certificates, or customer inquiries, it should be available via the digital passport.”
