A battery specifically designed to supply electric power for vehicle starting, lighting, or ignition and that may also support auxiliary or backup vehicle functions.
SLI battery keeps starter/auxiliary vehicle power separate from EV traction batteries, LMT batteries, and general industrial storage. The distinction matters when assigning battery category, producer responsibility, collection channel, and lifecycle records.
EU Battery Regulation Article 3 defines SLI battery by intended vehicle function rather than chemistry alone. The definition explicitly includes starting, lighting, ignition, and possible auxiliary or backup purposes in vehicles.
Regulation (EU) 2023/1542 concerning batteries and waste batteries
a battery that is specifically designed to supply electric power for starting, lighting, or ignition and that can also be used for auxiliary or backup purposes in vehicles, other means of transport or machinery;
Reference: Article 3, point 12
Public draft page. Preserve EU Battery Regulation category, actor, and EPR-operation boundaries.
Battery Regulation obligations vary by category. SLI batteries are subject to core product, labeling, and QR/data-carrier obligations, and they are relevant to due-diligence obligations, but they do not sit in the same battery-passport and carbon-footprint tier as EV batteries and in-scope industrial batteries.
Implementation records should link the battery to vehicle function, category assignment, model or serial information, chemistry where relevant, producer, and end-of-life collection path. A battery should not be reclassified as SLI only because it is installed in a vehicle.
SLI battery is a vehicle-function classification. It helps prevent traction, auxiliary, and starter batteries from being mixed in the same compliance or collection evidence chain.