Tesla and Audi are the first two manufacturers to play the battery passport game for their electric cars. We discover what this project could look like more concretely, which should be mandatory in Europe on January 1, 2026.
The Global Battery Alliance (GBA) presented on January 18, 2023, at the Economic Forum in Davos, the first examples of what could be its battery passport project. The objective of this tool is to offer better transparency and traceability over the entire life of the battery: from its mining extraction to its recycling.
Behind this project are also hidden several challenges, such as the control of carbon emissions from the production of batteries, but also the respect of human rights and the elimination of child labor throughout the value chain. This group represents more than 130 international companies, industrialists and non-governmental associations, which have joined forces since 2017 to develop the practices of all players and support the transition to electric mobility.
What technical information does this battery passport contain?
The three examples presented on January 18 are a first draft of what could be the future “Battery Passport” attached to each electric car produced. The data presented, for a Tesla model and two Audi models, are only partial, but already give a first idea of what this document may contain.
The battery passport contains 4 tabs grouping different information on: the battery, the materials, the environmental, social and governance (ESG) criteria and a last “data” tab.
In the first tab concerning the battery, we find information such as:
- The various manufacturers responsible for the cell, the assembly and the vehicle in which the battery is installed,
- The dates and places of the various productions,
- The type of cells, the number of cells per pack,
- The total energy of the battery pack (kWh), nominal capacity (Ah) and voltage,
- The type of chemistry,
- The weight of the battery,
- Energy density (kWh/kg),
- The expected lifetime (in number of cycles),
- The operating temperature range.
Here is an example with Tesla’s Long Range battery:
While a great deal of information is already known and communicated by certain manufacturers, this passport could provide more transparency on all the batteries fitted to the models on the market. This first tab is probably the one that will provide a precise identity sheet for the batteries, and which may be of more specific interest to the end buyer.
The second tab concerns more precisely the materials that make up the battery cells and their origin. The example of the Audi battery allows us to observe several things:
- The proportion of recycled materials in the cells;
- Raw materials and their weight for first-use materials;
- Origin: supplier and country of extraction.
For each supplier, it is specified whether the manufacturer is a member of the GBA alliance, and therefore whether it is a company that has undertaken to respect the group’s rules of good conduct.
You can consult the various examples on the Alliance website: the Tesla modela first Audi model (115 kWh battery) and a second Audi vehicle (100 kWh battery).
Traceability and monitoring of the environmental and human impact
The last two pages of the passport must contain information and notations on compliance with environmental and societal commitments. Respect for human rights and child labor is particularly noted for all the actors involved in the manufacture of the battery: from the extraction of raw materials in the mines to assembly in vehicles.
The information will also give access to a performance classification according to the carbon impact of the battery. They will also highlight their durability performance.
Of the three examples provided, the data is still only partial. However, it helps to show that the battery industry is moving towards greater sector transparency. No offense to the critics of electric vehicles, who only see pollution and child labor in this new ecosystem, which of course they don’t want to hear about.
An obligation of the European Commission for January 1, 2026
It will still take time for the process to be implemented on a large scale. In the next few years, all batteries produced should have a digital clone that includes all the data collected during the entire life cycle of the battery. This principle of digital twin hosted in the cloud is already used by the automotive industry for the production of its vehicles. Renault already uses it in its factories under the name of “industrial metaverse”, but many other manufacturers also apply it.
The battery passport is also an element imposed by the European Commission on January 1, 2026. All electric car batteries and industrial batteries on the EU market after this date will need to have a unique identifier. It will be presented in the form of a QR code, referring to the unique battery passport of the vehicle concerned.
We will probably talk about this battery passport often in the coming years.
