Battery passport · Regulation (EU) 2023/1542
The battery passport
The first mandatory product passport in the EU is not an ESPR passport. It comes from the Battery Regulation (EU) 2023/1542, articles 77 and 78: from 18 February 2027, every electric-vehicle battery, light-means-of-transport battery and industrial battery above 2 kWh placed on the EU market must carry a passport per individual battery, reached through the QR code of article 13.
Which batteries, from when
The date is 18 February 2027 for all three categories. A battery placed on the market before that date does not need a passport retroactively.
- Electric-vehicle batteries
- Light-means-of-transport batteries — e-bikes, scooters
- Industrial batteries with a capacity above 2 kWh
- Not portable or SLI batteries: they carry labelling, collection and removability duties, but no passport
One passport per battery
Unlike most ESPR passports, which a delegated act may set at model level, the battery passport is issued per individual battery, linked to a unique identifier and reached through the QR code printed under article 13. It must be kept for the life of the battery, including repurposing and second life, and must state the battery's status.
What it carries (Annex XIII)
Access is tiered: some fields are public, some reserved for persons with a legitimate interest, some for notified bodies, market-surveillance authorities and the Commission. An implementing act on access rights is on the Commission's timeline for Q4 2026.
- General information: manufacturer, model, category, manufacturing date and place, weight, chemistry
- The carbon-footprint declaration of article 7, with its method and performance class, phased by battery class
- Recycled content of cobalt, lead, lithium and nickel, with documentation
- Performance and durability data of articles 9 and 10 — for EV batteries, EN 18060:2025, harmonised by Implementing Decision (EU) 2026/2048 of 14 September 2026
- State of health and expected lifetime, updated over the battery's life
- Due-diligence information on raw materials once articles 48 to 53 apply
- Dismantling, safety and end-of-life information for repairers and recyclers
Who does what
The duties follow the regulation's chapter on economic operators.
- Manufacturer: conformity, labelling, carbon footprint, recycled content and the passport itself (article 38)
- Cell and module suppliers: hand the manufacturer the data the passport needs (article 39)
- Importer: verify conformity and the presence of the passport before placing on the market (article 41)
- Distributor: check labelling and documentation before sale (article 42)
- Large operators: a due-diligence policy on cobalt, lithium, natural graphite and nickel, third-party verified, from 18 August 2027 (articles 48 to 51; date set by Regulation (EU) 2025/1561)
Calendar
Dates verified against the Official Journal and the Commission's published DPP timeline.
- 28 July 2023 — published in the Official Journal
- 17 August 2023 — in force; the main provisions apply from 18 February 2024
- 20 July 2026 — EU DPP registry operational (Implementing Regulation (EU) 2026/1778)
- 16 September 2026 — Implementing Decision (EU) 2026/2048 publishes EN 18060:2025 as a harmonised standard
- Q4 2026 — implementing act on battery-passport access rights, on the Commission's timeline
- 18 February 2027 — battery passport required
- 18 August 2027 — due-diligence obligations apply
Evidence to keep
What an authority, a buyer or a recycler will ask to see behind the passport's fields.
- Carbon-footprint studies and their calculation files, per model and plant
- Recycled-content documentation traced to suppliers
- Due-diligence policy, risk assessments and third-party verification reports
- The passport record per battery, kept current through the battery's life — including second life
How a registry holds a battery passport
A battery passport is a record per item that changes over time: a static part fixed at manufacture, a dynamic part — state of health, status — that follows the battery. Listrar models this as an item under its model record, at /01/{gtin}/21/{serial}: the model carries the shared data, the item its serial, batch, manufacturing date and state of health; carbon footprint, recycled content and durability are fields of the battery profile, each with evidence attached. The fact sheet keeps the legal detail; the general DPP requirements apply alongside.
Questions this page answers
- Does a portable battery need a passport?
- No. Portable batteries, including those in phones and laptops, carry labelling, collection and removability duties under the same regulation, but articles 77 and 78 do not apply to them.
- Is the passport per model or per battery?
- Per individual battery, each with a unique identifier, and it must reflect that battery's status and state of health over its life.
- Who can read the state of health?
- Annex XIII tiers the access: the general public sees some fields; persons with a legitimate interest — the buyer of a used battery, a repairer — and authorities see more. The implementing act on access rights will fix the detail.
Official sources
Last verified by Listrar: September 22, 2026