A new German-led project titled BatteryPass-Ready has officially launched to prepare battery manufacturers and supply chain stakeholders for the upcoming EU regulation mandating digital battery passports by February 2027. Funded by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy (BMWK), the two-year initiative will offer a testing and simulation environment to support companies in complying with data transparency and lifecycle tracking requirements.
The battery passport system, a core part of the revised EU Battery Regulation, is designed to promote transparency across a battery’s full lifecycle, from production and usage to end-of-life recycling. It aims to enable a more circular battery economy, ensure traceability of raw materials, and improve sustainability across the European battery ecosystem. While large manufacturers may already be preparing for the change, the new regulation presents significant challenges for small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), particularly in aligning data systems and sharing product information with partners and regulators.
BatteryPass-Ready builds on the earlier BatteryPass project, which laid the groundwork for the digital passport’s technical and regulatory framework. The new project brings together key German institutions including the Fraunhofer Institute for Production Systems and Design Technology (IPK), acatech – the German Academy of Science and Engineering, data standardization experts GEFEG, and the Technical University of Berlin. Industry bodies such as the German Association of the Automotive Industry (VDA), Mechanical Engineering Association (VDMA), Bicycle Industry Association (ZIV), and BITKOM are also involved.
“Digital product passports like the battery passport are a key enabler when it comes to building a circular economy. But they are much more: We must understand them as an efficiency tool,” said acatech President Thomas Weber. “The sooner small and medium-sized enterprises gain experience in their use, the faster stakeholders can be convinced of their added value – and use them.”
BatteryPass-Ready will offer emulation environments for real-world testing, including components supported by the European Commission. These tools are designed to help companies verify data completeness and plausibility, test compliance against regulatory benchmarks, and develop best practices for managing mandatory data points. The project will also deliver policy guidelines to inform lawmakers and actionable resources for businesses adapting to the new digital infrastructure.
“The transparent, interoperable, and trustworthy provision of data is the foundation for the success of the digital product passport,” added Prof. Holger Hanselka, President of the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft. “With BatteryPass-Ready, we are creating a test environment to quickly disseminate the battery passport and make it secure and directly usable for industry.”
While the digital battery passport is not yet required, some companies are already adopting early versions. For example, Volvo is equipping its new EX90 electric SUV with a digital battery passport accessible via QR code, and a more detailed version is set to be shared with regulatory authorities. In January, AVL, an Austrian powertrain developer, introduced its own version of a battery passport. Separately, the EU-backed BASE project, led by Fraunhofer IEG, is exploring blockchain integration for secure battery data tracking.
The BatteryPass-Ready initiative reflects a broader effort to ensure that all players in the battery value chain, including smaller firms, can adapt to digital product compliance standards ahead of the 2027 deadline.
Source: acatech.de