A structured electronic record that links an individual battery to required identity, model, sustainability, performance, and lifecycle information.
The EU Battery Regulation requires certain batteries to have an electronic record called a battery passport. Article 77 creates the obligation, and Annex XIII describes the information to be included. The Regulation gives the passport legal force, but much of the practical meaning comes from how the record is structured, linked to the battery, accessed, updated, and preserved.
The battery passport is the record, not the QR code, platform, data standard, token, or chip used to implement it.
A battery passport is a structured electronic record associated with an individual battery. It links that battery to required information about its identity, model, composition, sustainability characteristics, compliance status, performance, and lifecycle state. The passport is anchored by a unique battery identifier and accessed through a data carrier. It may contain data directly or provide controlled access to data held in other systems. The passport is the record; the battery passport system is the infrastructure used to create, update, verify, serve, and preserve that record.
Many implementation discussions use battery passport to mean the surrounding tools. It is more precise to separate the passport from those tools. A QR code or other data carrier can provide access to the passport, but it is not the passport itself. A unique identifier anchors the passport to the battery, but it is not the whole record. A data standard can define fields and formats, but it is not a battery-specific passport. A software platform can manage passports, but the platform is not the passport. BMS data, blockchain tokens, digital twins, and traceability records may support a passport implementation, but none of them alone defines one.
The battery passport is the structured electronic record associated with the battery. The battery passport system is the infrastructure around that record. It may include supplier data feeds, product master data, lifecycle databases, APIs, access controls, identity credentials, verification workflows, backup arrangements, and user interfaces. This distinction keeps the definition clear while leaving room for different technical implementations.
A passport is associated with an individual battery, but it contains both model-level information and battery-specific information. Some information is relatively stable, such as manufacturer identity, battery model, chemistry, composition, declarations, and category. Other information may be battery-specific or updated over time, such as state of health, state of charge, cycle count, repair status, and use-derived performance data. A passport implementation may need to connect master data with lifecycle or time-series data. The passport does not have to store every data point in one place, but it must give the required information a coherent structure.
A battery passport is not one public page where every actor sees the same information. Some information must be broadly accessible, while other information may be restricted to specific actors or authorities. A useful passport implementation needs rules for authentication, authorization, selective disclosure, backup, and long-term availability.
Article 77 of the EU Battery Regulation requires LMT batteries, industrial batteries above 2 kWh, and electric vehicle batteries placed on the EU market or put into service to have an electronic record called a battery passport from 18 February 2027. Annex XIII sets out the information categories. The Global Battery Alliance Battery Passport and BatteryPass data attribute work have shaped industry language around passport content, sustainability reporting, certification, and interoperability. DIN DKE SPEC 99100 is useful standards context for battery-passport data attributes and access/labelling implementation, but it is not being republished here as a verbatim definition source.
The hard part is not publishing a final passport page. The hard part is creating the data chain behind it: identifying the battery, collecting required data from the right actors, linking evidence to the correct record, managing access rights, updating lifecycle information where required, and preserving the passport over time.
Regulation (EU) 2023/1542 concerning batteries and waste batteries
From 18 February 2027 each LMT battery, each industrial battery with a capacity greater than 2 kWh and each electric vehicle battery placed on the market or put into service shall have an electronic record ('battery passport').
Strongest legal anchor for the existence of the battery passport as a required electronic record for specified battery categories.
Reference: Article 77(1)
Regulation (EU) 2023/1542 concerning batteries and waste batteries
The battery passport shall contain information relating to the battery model and information specific to the individual battery, including resulting from the use of that battery, as set out in Annex XIII.
Operational content-scope anchor showing that the passport includes both model-level and individual-battery information, including use-derived data.
Reference: Article 77(2) and Annex XIII
Battery Passport
The GBA Battery Passport is a global sustainability reporting and certification scheme for batteries.
Useful ecosystem framing, but broader than the EU legal object and not a binding legal definition.
Reference: Main page description
The definitions from different sources are related but not legally interchangeable — check which source applies to your specific regulatory obligation before relying on a definition.
The EU Battery Regulation uses battery passport for the electronic record required under Article 77 for certain LMT, industrial, and electric vehicle batteries. Minespider interprets that passport as the structured record associated with an individual battery, containing both model-level and battery-specific information and linking the battery to required data over its lifecycle. This should be distinguished from the data carrier, unique identifier, software platform, data standard, digital twin, or traceability system that may support implementation.
Required from 18 February 2027 for LMT batteries, industrial batteries ≥ 2 kWh, and EV batteries.
China's 2026 NEV power-battery recycling measures establish a national traceability information platform and a digital identity management system for NEV power batteries. This is not the same legal object as the EU battery passport, but it is a strong China-side parallel showing how battery lifecycle information, identity, and recycling data are being regulated.
Defining the battery passport as a structured record changes the implementation question. Companies need to decide which data belongs in the passport, where that data comes from, how it is linked to the correct battery, which actors can access it, how updates are handled, and how the record remains available over the battery life.
The term battery passport can be confusing because, over the years, it has been used to refer to the QR code or data carrier, the data structure, the data standard, the data itself, linked supply-chain data, the digital identity of the battery, and the software or platform that makes the record accessible. For Minespider, the useful distinction is that the battery passport is the trustworthy battery-specific record these pieces support: a way to connect product identity, supply-chain data, compliance evidence, and lifecycle information and make the right information available to the right actor at the right time.
Direct implementation-oriented context for preparing passport-relevant data.
Read on MinespiderUseful boundary-setting between the core battery-passport concept and the Open Battery Passport framing.
Read on MinespiderFlagship glossary link for the e-book.
Read on MinespiderLegal basis for the EU battery passport obligation and information requirements.
Open referenceImplementation-oriented data attribute work for battery passport interoperability and standards alignment.
Open referenceIndustry context for battery passport sustainability reporting and certification language.
Open reference