In a few months, many batteries sold in Europe will need something they have never had before: a passport. From 18 February 2027, the EU battery passport becomes mandatory for electric vehicle batteries, batteries for e-bikes and e-scooters, and industrial batteries above 2 kWh. It may sound like paperwork. In reality, it could change how Europe reuses and recycles its batteries.
This guide explains what the battery passport is, what it contains, who is responsible for it, and why projects like CIRCUBATT see it as a missing piece of the circular battery puzzle.
What is a battery passport?
A battery passport is a digital record that follows a battery through its life. You open it by scanning a QR code on the battery. Behind that code sits information about where the battery comes from, what it is made of, how it performs and how it should be handled at the end of its life.
The requirement comes from Article 77 of the EU Batteries Regulation. It builds on the wider EU plan for digital product passports, which aims to give products a digital identity card. Batteries are among the first products to get one.
Which batteries need a battery passport?
The rules apply to three categories of batteries placed on the EU market from 18 February 2027. The first is electric vehicle batteries. The second is batteries for light means of transport, such as e-bikes, e-mopeds and e-scooters. The third is industrial batteries with a capacity above 2 kWh, which includes home and grid storage.
Without a passport, these batteries cannot be placed on the market or put into service. Smaller portable batteries, such as those in phones or laptops, are not covered.
What information does it contain?
The exact content depends on the battery category. According to the European Commission, it covers five broad areas. These are the battery’s identity and technical characteristics, details of the manufacturer and economic operator, performance and durability data, information to support repair, reuse and recycling, and sustainability information such as carbon footprint and recycled content.
Not everyone sees everything. Access is tiered: some information is public, while more detailed data is reserved for people with a legitimate interest, such as repairers and recyclers, or for public authorities.
Who is responsible for it?
Responsibility sits with the economic operator that places the finished battery on the market. Component and module suppliers will need to share data, but they do not own the passport. The system is also decentralised. The operator keeps the full dataset, while a central EU registry helps people find the right passport.
A new passport for every new life
This is where the battery passport becomes especially interesting for circularity. A battery that is simply reused, doing the same job for a new owner, keeps its existing passport. However, a battery that is repurposed for a different use, or remanufactured, needs a new passport linked to the original one.
The operator that puts the battery back on the market takes over responsibility, just like a manufacturer. Under the regulation, remanufacturing means restoring at least 90% of the battery’s original capacity, which separates it from simple reuse. Finally, once a battery is recycled, its passport ceases to exist.
Why the battery passport matters for second life
Ask anyone working on battery reuse what holds the market back, and data will come up quickly. To decide whether a used battery deserves a second life, you need to know its health and its history. Today, that information is often missing, scattered across different owners or locked inside the battery management system.
The battery passport promises to change this. It should help sorters, repurposers and recyclers make better decisions, faster. It also supports work like CIRCUBATT’s, which uses AI to assess battery health and predict ageing. In our article on battery circularity, four European projects named data access as one of the biggest barriers to scaling up.
What is still missing before February 2027?
The deadline itself remains in place. However, some of the detailed rules are still on the way. The regulation required the Commission to adopt rules on who can access which data by 18 August 2026. At the time of writing, industry observers report that this act had not yet been adopted and is now expected in the last quarter of 2026.
For companies, the message is clear: prepare now and do not wait for every detail. For policymakers, our recent study on second life battery policy recommends finalising the data access rules before February 2027. Otherwise, manufacturers could keep others locked out of the information needed to reuse a battery.
The battery passport will not make batteries circular on its own. Still, it could give everyone in the value chain something they have long been missing: reliable information. Want to know more about how CIRCUBATT works? Visit our frequently asked questions.