Digital Battery Passport For Electric Vehicles: New Regulatory Structure Within The Scope Of The EU Battery Regulation!

I. INTRODUCTION

The rapid global proliferation of electric vehicles and renewable energy systems has transformed batteries from being merely a technical energy storage component into a strategic product category with environmental, social, and legal impacts throughout their entire life cycle, extending from production to recycling. Batteries now occupy the center of a multi-layered value chain directly linked to the supply of critical raw materials, carbon-intensive production processes, circular economy objectives, and waste management policies. The European Union's Battery Regulation (Regulation (EU) 2023/1542) (the "Regulation") introduces a comprehensive sustainability framework and signifies a transition from traditional product safety rules to life cycle-based regulatory oversight.

The digital battery passport, one of the most innovative instruments of the Regulation, will become mandatory in the European Union as of 18 February 2027 for electric vehicle batteries, batteries for light means of transport, and industrial batteries with a capacity greater than 2 kWh. This system, which provides batteries with a unique digital identity, enables the monitoring of carbon footprint data, recycled and renewable content rates, information on critical and hazardous substances, technical performance, state of health, repair, repurposing for reuse, dismantling and durability parameters, as well as data relating to the usage process. Thus, the digital battery passport is positioned not only as an information tool ensuring environmental transparency, but also as a compliance mechanism that supports market surveillance, strengthens supply chain governance, and constitutes a condition for market access.

This article examines, within the framework of the Regulation, the legal, technical, and commercial dimensions of the digital battery passport system, including the regulatory consequences arising particularly with respect to electric vehicle batteries, the data categories within the scope of the passport and the access regime, the allocation of responsibilities, the technical infrastructure and data governance model, the compliance obligations arising for Türkiye, and the effects of the Regulation on global trade and competition.

FUNDAMENTAL PRINCIPLES

1. Who Can Access the Information Contained in Digital Battery Passports?

Access to the information contained in the digital battery passport is regulated under the Regulation according to three separate categories. This access regime shall also be directly applicable to electric vehicle batteries for which possession of a digital battery passport has become mandatory as of 18 February 2027. The first category consists of publicly available information. Within this scope, chemical composition including hazardous and critical raw materials, carbon footprint data, recycled and renewable content rate, technical parameters such as capacity, voltage and power limits, cycle life, energy efficiency, commercial warranty period, the European Union declaration of conformity, and information relating to waste management are accessible to everyone. This information may be displayed via a QR code. The scope of the publicly available information set is regulated in detail in Annex XIII, Part 1 of the Regulation.

The second category consists of information accessible only to "persons with a legitimate interest." Pursuant to the Regulation, these persons include economic operators carrying out activities related to repair, remanufacturing, preparation for reuse, repurposing, or recycling of batteries (repairers, remanufacturers, second-life operators and recyclers), as well as the battery owner or parties acting on their behalf who wish to make the individual battery available to independent energy aggregators or energy market participants. This category includes both detailed technical data relating to the battery model and dismantling and safety information, as well as data sets specific to the individual battery; within this scope, technical composition data and performance, state of health, and usage information specific to the individual battery are included. With respect to electric vehicle batteries, these data are of particular importance in determining whether the battery is technically suitable for repurposing after the end of its vehicle service life, assessing road safety risks, accurately calculating residual value, and ensuring transparency in the second-hand electric vehicle market. The scope of this information and data set is regulated under Annex XIII, Part 2 and Part 4 of the Regulation, and the scope and limits of access shall be clarified by implementing acts to be adopted by the European Commission.

The third category consists of information accessible only to notified bodies, market surveillance authorities, and the European Commission. Within this scope are the results of test reports demonstrating compliance with the requirements laid down in the Regulation. This category of information is regulated in Annex XIII, Part 3. Accordingly, technical assessment data relating to conformity assessment shall not be accessible to the public or other economic operators and shall be limited to regulatory supervisory authorities.

2. Who Is Responsible for the Establishment, Updating, and Development of the Digital Battery Passport Regime?

The responsibility for the establishment of the digital battery passport and for ensuring that it remains up to date, as a rule, belongs to the economic operator placing the battery on the market. Pursuant to the Regulation, this operator is obliged to ensure that the information contained in the passport is accurate, complete, and up to date. Although the operator placing the battery on the market may grant written authorization to another economic operator to act on its behalf, the primary responsibility arising from compliance with the passport provisions is non-transferable and remains with the operator placing the battery on the market. In the event that the status of the battery changes as a result of operations such as preparation for reuse, repurposing, or remanufacturing, the obligation relating to the digital battery passport is transferred to the economic operator that places the battery on the market again or puts it into service; in such case, a new digital battery passport must be issued that is linked to the original digital battery passport and ensures continuity of traceability.

Where the battery acquires waste status, the responsibility for fulfilling the obligations under the Regulation is transferred, within the framework of the provisions of the Regulation, to the producer, to a producer responsibility organization authorized on behalf of the producer where such an organization exists, or to the waste management operator designated pursuant to the relevant legislation. Upon the recycling of the battery, the validity of the digital battery passport terminates.

The European Commission is empowered to adopt delegated acts in order to amend the data requirements set out in Annex XIII in line with technical and scientific developments. In addition, the European Commission determines, by means of implementing acts, who qualifies as "persons with a legitimate interest." and to what extent such persons may access which information. Furthermore, the amendment of the standards applicable to the unique identifier, defined as a unique character string that enables the identification of each battery and simultaneously provides a digital access link to the digital battery passport, and to the associated QR code system, or the addition of new European or international standards, is also possible through delegated acts. With regard to the implementation of technical requirements, reference to harmonized standards or, where necessary, the adoption of common technical specifications is envisaged.

3. How Has the Technical Infrastructure and Data Governance of the Digital Battery Passport Been Structured?

The technical infrastructure and data governance of the digital battery passport have been regulated under the Regulation as a decentralized data system based on open standards, enabling data exchange between different digital systems and established and maintained by economic operators; this preference is based on the objective of ensuring that the system is flexible, dynamic, market-oriented, and capable of developing in line with business models and technological innovations. The system envisages that data be maintained in an automatically processable, structured, and transferable format and be designed in a manner that does not create vendor lock-in. Furthermore, it is foreseen that the accessibility of the digital battery passport shall continue even if the economic operator responsible for the obligation loses its legal personality or ceases its activities within the European Union; data authentication, integrity, security, and confidentiality are listed among the fundamental elements of the technical design.

4. How Is the Legal Framework Shaped in Türkiye with Regard to the Digital Battery Passport and Electric Vehicle Batteries?

With respect to Türkiye, the digital battery passport has gained legal significance in the context of the mandatory digital identification and data disclosure system introduced by the Regulation for certain types of batteries placed on the European Union market. Decision No. 1/95 of the Association Council establishes an institutional framework for alignment with European Union product legislation; since the Regulation determines the substantive conditions for access to the European Union market, it gives rise to de facto binding effect for Turkish manufacturers exporting electric vehicles or the batteries used in such vehicles to the European Union. For placement on the European Union market, compliance with sustainability and safety criteria, fulfillment of performance and durability thresholds, observance of hazardous substance restrictions, submission of a carbon footprint declaration, and, as of 18 February 2027, the creation of a digital battery passport for the above-mentioned battery categories are required.

Products subject to European Union legislation are controlled within the framework of cooperation between customs authorities and market surveillance authorities pursuant to Regulation (EU) 2019/1020; the release for free circulation of products lacking the required documentation or giving rise to suspicion of non-compliance with applicable European Union legislation may be suspended, and where non-compliance is established, their placing on the market may be prohibited and they may not be permitted to enter into free circulation. This situation may also give rise to direct commercial consequences with respect to electric vehicle exports. For this reason, the digital passport, beyond being merely a technical obligation from Türkiye's perspective, plays a de facto decisive role in access to the European Union market. Indeed, the Ministry of Trade of the Republic of Türkiye has stated that batteries to be used in vehicles supplied to the European Union must comply with the criteria introduced by the Regulation, and that such products may be placed on the European Union market provided that this compliance is verified by authorized conformity assessment bodies and the CE marking is affixed. Within this framework, for electric vehicle manufacturers, battery compliance becomes an integral part of the overall conformity assessment of the vehicle.

In Türkiye, the existing regulatory framework concerning batteries is primarily shaped on the basis of the Regulation on the Control of Waste Batteries and Accumulators (the "Waste Batteries Regulation"), published in the Official Gazette dated 31/08/2004 and numbered 25569 (within the scope of the Waste Batteries Regulation, our previously authored article titled "Sustainable Waste Battery Management in Türkiye: Legal Framework and Transboundary Movements" may be accessed via this link). The Waste Batteries Regulation predominantly governs matters such as labeling and marking obligations, hazardous substance restrictions, obligations related to placing on the market, deposit practices, and producer responsibility, within the framework of a waste management perspective. However, the current regulation does not contain technical and sector-specific provisions such as product-based carbon footprint calculation and declaration obligations for batteries, binding thresholds and verification mechanisms regarding recycled content ratios within the product, or a digital product identity or data passport system. By contrast, the Regulation adopts a holistic regulatory model covering the entire life cycle of the battery from the design stage to the end of its service life; through elements such as carbon footprint declaration, recycled content thresholds, digital access via QR code, and the digital battery passport system, it extends the regulatory approach to the stages of production and product design. In this respect, there emerges a need for the waste-focused regulation in Türkiye to be developed towards.

5. What Does the Digital Battery Passport Mean in Terms of Global Trade, Market Access, and Competition?

By linking access to the European Union market to traceability and data transparency obligations, the digital battery passport system establishes technical standards that are de facto binding also for producers outside the European Union. Making placing on the market subject to sustainability and transparency criteria requires producers to be able to document their supply chain data, calculate and declare their carbon performance, and present information regarding product composition in a verifiable manner. Since, in electric vehicles, the battery constitutes a significant portion of the total cost and carbon footprint of the vehicle, obligations relating to the digital battery passport may directly affect the competitive position of vehicle manufacturers. For this reason, producers unable to meet such obligations are highly likely to fall into a disadvantageous position in terms of competing on equal terms with producers established in the European Union or other economic operators that have established compliance infrastructure, integrating into supply chains, establishing commercial relationships with large-scale buyers, and maintaining market share. Accordingly, the Regulation becomes an element that also shapes competition through regulatory compliance capacity, data management infrastructure, and the verifiability of sustainability indicators.

III. CONCLUSION

The digital battery passport establishes a holistic control and transparency mechanism covering all stages from the design of the battery to the end of its service life. Particularly with respect to the electric vehicle sector, this system transforms the battery from being a technically separable component of the vehicle into an independent economic asset possessing a regulatory identity, that is traceable and capable of generating data. The collection of data such as carbon footprint declaration, recycled content ratios, technical performance, durability, and state of health under a digital identity renders sustainability objectives a concrete condition of market access. This situation necessitates that electric vehicles be assessed not only from the perspective of emission reduction, but within the framework of full life cycle sustainability. From Türkiye's perspective, the digital battery passport creates a de facto binding area of compliance for producers exporting to the European Union and, beyond technical competence, incorporates data management capacity and supply chain transparency among the determining elements of competition; for this reason, particularly for electric vehicle and battery manufacturers, the establishment of institutional and technical infrastructure aligned with regulatory developments will be decisive in maintaining their position in the European Union market.

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