Green for Go – EU Battery Passports for Electric Vehicles
With the march of electrification across multiple markets – notably in automotive – the European Union is introducing new battery regulations designed to promote sustainability and reduce waste.
The EU Battery Regulation Amendment aims to create the conditions that will enable a circular economy focused on resource optimisation, ‘second life’ usage and responsible end of use disposal.
The regulations are being phased in from 2026 and are designed to provide traceability and key information on environmental impact, safety and performance across the EV battery supply chain and lifecycle.
Perhaps the most far-reaching aspect of these incoming rules is the introduction of a Battery Passport, a digital document mandated from February 2027 that captures details about the battery’s composition, origin, and lifecycle. By requiring manufacturers to provide information about the origin of raw materials and the environmental impact of production, the Passport aims to incentivize sustainable practices to help achieve net zero by 2050.
This critical information in the Passport will be available via QR codes marked on batteries. These codes will link to unique product identifiers, carbon footprint analysis, health and safety certifications, supply chain due diligence, materials and composition, circularity and resource efficiency, and performance and durability.
These new requirements will most likely involve the integration of laser marking technology into battery production processes. These will need to be tailored to manufacturing operations, together with associated fume extraction systems which capture laser generated airborne contaminants and play a vital role in safeguarding mark integrity.
As Alvin Mennie, Marketing & Communications Manager at BOFA, explains: “Around the world, demand for EV battery production is driving investment in gigabyte factories.
“These production centres will need to introduce labelling, laser marking and traceability mechanisms into their production processes to meet the incoming requirements in Europe to demonstrate that batteries are safe, sustainable and competitive.”
In the case of laser markings, this will involve assessing process emissions and defining the most appropriate filtration architecture, media, airflow, and control system to minimise fume deposition on the laser lens in order to maintain mark quality.
“And the reason this matters,” says Alvin, “is that aside from the traceability and environmental benefits of the Passport, industry experts calculate unplanned downtime costs spiralling into the hundreds of thousands per hour.”
The new rules, which are likely to be mirrored globally in some form, are initially focused on electric vehicles, but EU Product Passports will eventually cover many more sectors, including textiles, construction, consumer electronics, plastics and chemicals. It’s also important to consider that this change in regulations will also impact international manufacturers importing these types of batteries into the EU.
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