We’ve already covered the EU battery regulation in general here. The new episode will be an explainer of one of the requirements - mandatory Battery Passports and a new market alternative - the Open Battery Passport by Minespider.
What is the Battery Passport and what information should the Battery Passport contain?
The Battery Passport is a digital record that will contain information relating to the battery and its usage. Two levels of information should be part of the battery passport: 1) battery model information, and 2) individual battery specific information that comes out of the use of the battery. For example, this includes all the battery information, composition and technical details, as well as sustainability details such as due diligence policies, ESG details and carbon footprint. These data sets will come in two data sharing options (public and private) accessible to certain parties such as interested persons, the commission and notified bodies.
The overall goal is to enable more up-to-date information for the public, remanufacturers, second-life operators and recyclers, so that they would be able to treat the batteries in the most efficient way possible and contribute to the battery circularity concept. The goal is also to enable industry benchmarking over time that would create a more competitive market.
Which companies have to implement battery passports and when?
Companies that place batteries on the market, including manufacturers, importers, and distributors, are directly concerned with the regulations’ requirements and subject to Battery Passport.
The obligation for battery passport implementation is set for 42 months after the regulation proposal is adopted, which should make it towards the end of 2026 or start of 2027. It is applicable for the LMT, EV and industrial batteries with storage above 2kWh.
What this means is that companies placing batteries on the market will need to create battery passports and attach their QR codes to the actual batteries in the timeline we just mentioned.
What is the state of the development of battery passports?
There are multiple consortiums or alliances working on the development of battery passports, or fragments of it, in the form of Proof of Concepts, but so far a full version has not been released. The Minespider Open Battery Passport is absolutely free and will be the first fully compliant version of a Battery Passport available on a blockchain-based platform that will encompass all the EU battery regulatory details.
What is the Open Battery Passport?
The Open Battery Passport is a blockchain-based digital record designed to include the requirements that the proposed EU battery regulation stipulates a Battery Passport should have, while remaining flexible enough to include any additional requirements that might arise from other non-EU regulations.
It is structured in a way that will include battery model and individual battery data, within private and public layers. The Open Battery Passport will enable handling of end-of-life flow in a way that tracks the whole lifecycle of the battery until it ceases to exist.
What is the difference between the Open Battery Passport and alternatives?
The Open Battery passport will be the first full Battery Passport version released on the market officially and it will be completely free of charge. The main differences to other solutions in the field are 1) the open access and 2) business model details, such as:
- Cost: The Open Battery Passport is free for everyone and includes an unlimited number of passports, accounts, and API calls, while other blockchain-based battery passports may have different pricing models, for example a cost per battery model or subscription-based.
- Early access: During the early access period, we are accepting 100 companies to sign up for the beta version of the Open Battery Passport while there is no other battery passport version currently offered as such.
- Open sourcing: At Minespider we plan to open source the software in early 2024, which is the first initiative of this kind announced so far.
How can my company implement the Battery Passport?
Companies can sign up on our website openbatterypassport.com and our team will connect with them. We have a step-by-step process followed by an intro call in order to understand your company’s specific battery passport use case before we continue with onboarding and set up.
Our V2 prototype will be fully developed at the end of Q3/Q4 and for companies willing to try the tool in the meantime we can enable onboarding on our V1.
What is the cost for using Battery Passports?
The Open Battery Passport is completely free. There is no charge for it, and you can create unlimited battery passports and use the API to do it automatically. There is no fee per issued battery passport or subscription fees making the solution completely free to use.
Our explainer videos are designed specifically for you to find out what changes you can make today to be fully compliant and ready for the future. Check out our next episodes and learn more about regulations, requirements, and technologies!
