From 18 February 2027, traction batteries entering the European Union market will receive a digital passport. This is an important step towards transparency, but a QR code will not automatically become a certificate of a battery’s current condition. We explain what the passport actually solves, what it cannot do and why the used-EV market will still need independent diagnostics, data interpretation and reliable valuation.
From 18 February 2027, every electric-vehicle battery placed on the market or put into service in the European Union will have to have a digital battery passport. This will be a fundamental change for the electric-mobility market: batteries will gain an individual identity, a structured history and a set of data needed by manufacturers, supervisory authorities, workshops, second-life operators and recyclers.
A dangerous oversimplification is nevertheless growing around the passport:
Once a battery has a QR code and a digital passport, its technical condition will already be confirmed.
It will not.
The battery passport addresses traceability, compliance and the flow of information throughout a product’s life cycle. It is not, however, an independent examination of a specific battery at the time a car is sold. It does not automatically interpret risk, establish the battery’s economic value or independently answer the buyer’s most important question:
Is this particular battery in good condition today, and how much is it worth?
The briefest way to put it is:
The passport creates information infrastructure. Diagnostics and Voltified create decision-making infrastructure.
The passport will be a mandatory digital record assigned to a battery, rather than an independent technical opinion.
Responsibility for creating it and supplying the required data lies primarily with the organisation placing the battery on the market, usually an EU manufacturer or an importer.
The passport may contain state-of-health and SOCE information, but this does not automatically mean the result has been independently confirmed and interpreted for the current transaction.
Buyers, dealers, fleets, leasing providers and insurers still need a current assessment, comparable methodology and a translation of battery health into risk and value.
This is precisely the missing layer Voltified is developing: from passport and diagnostic data, through data-quality assessment, to BHV and a business decision.
The market often tries to reduce battery assessment to a single percentage. Yet responsible decisions require three separate layers.
It answers the question: what battery is this, and what data have been recorded about it?
The result is information about the battery’s identity, model parameters, origin, history and successive stages of its life cycle.
They answer the question: what condition is the battery in on the day of the test?
The result is a current measurement, identification of visible anomalies, data interpretation and a clear statement of the method’s limitations.
They answer the question: what does the battery’s current condition mean for value, risk and a specific business decision?
The intended result is an assessment of how battery health affects its value, the value of the entire vehicle, transaction risk and subsequent asset management.
These layers should complement one another rather than compete. The problem begins when the first is presented as a substitute for the other two.
The basis is Regulation (EU) 2023/1542 of the European Parliament and of the Council concerning batteries and waste batteries. In its Polish version, Article 77 describes the battery passport as an “electronic record” relating to an individual battery.[1]
This wording matters. The legislator does not call the passport an independent test, a technical opinion or a certificate of current condition.
The passport will be accessible through a QR code linked to a unique battery identifier. The data are to be stored in an interoperable, machine-readable, structured and portable format without dependence on a single provider. The economic operator placing the battery on the market is responsible for the accuracy, completeness and currency of the information. The European Commission indicates that this will usually be a manufacturer operating in the EU or an importer.
This reveals the solution’s original logic: the passport is intended to organise the obligations of those placing batteries on the market and the flow of data through the value chain.
This is not a criticism of the passport, but a proper definition of its role. EU rules first address a systemic problem: how to give a battery a lasting identity, document its origin, compliance, composition and successive life stages, and enable market participants to exchange these data. This is primarily a challenge for manufacturers, importers, supervisory authorities and the entire value chain.
A used-car buyer asks a different question, however. They do not only ask where the battery comes from and what data have been recorded. They want to know how it behaves today, what risk it carries and whether the condition of the most expensive component justifies the vehicle’s price.
Formally, the passport is not intended exclusively for manufacturers. It is also to serve consumers, supervisory authorities, notified bodies, workshops, refurbishers, second-life operators and recyclers.
At the same time, the manufacturer or importer must create the passport, assign an identifier, collect the required data and take responsibility for their quality. From the perspective of its legal design, the passport is therefore primarily:
a regulatory-compliance tool;
a digital battery identity;
a mechanism for tracing materials and components;
a carrier of sustainability data;
support for repair, refurbishment, second-life use and recycling;
a common communication format for participants in the value chain.
That is a great deal. But it is still not a service designed primarily to give someone buying a five-year-old used car an independent answer: “the battery is functioning properly, the risk is X, and its current value is Y”.
The passport solves a problem for manufacturers and the value chain: how to describe a battery and maintain data continuity.
Voltified addresses the market’s problem: how to verify and interpret those data and turn them into a decision.
The most important question therefore differs depending on the market participant:
A manufacturer or importer wants to confirm that the battery is correctly identified, compliant and documented throughout its life cycle. The battery passport is their primary tool.
A workshop, second-life operator or recycler needs knowledge of the battery’s design, composition, history and safe further handling. They use the passport and technical documentation.
A buyer, seller or dealer wants to know the battery’s condition today and whether the vehicle’s price reflects it. They need current diagnostics and interpretation.
A fleet, leasing provider or insurer must assess how battery health affects risk, costs and the asset’s residual value. They need diagnostics, analytics and BHV.
The passport is therefore a partial answer to the problem of trust, rather than a complete solution. Without the passport, diagnostics will have less context. Without diagnostics, the passport may remain a collection of data from which users cannot derive a safe decision. The greatest value emerges only when the two layers are combined.
Which batteries will be covered from 18 February 2027?
The passport requirement will cover:
electric-vehicle batteries;
batteries for light means of transport, or LMT batteries;
industrial batteries with a capacity exceeding 2 kWh.
The key wording is “placed on the market or put into service”. It does not mean that every battery already in an older car today will automatically receive a passport retroactively. For batteries prepared for reuse, repurposed or remanufactured, the rules provide for a new passport linked to the original one.
The scope is broad, but access will vary. A consumer scanning the QR code will not necessarily gain access to all technical data about the individual battery.
Publicly available information is to include:
manufacturer and battery identification;
place and date of manufacture;
weight, capacity and chemical composition;
the presence of critical raw materials and specified substances;
carbon footprint and information about recycled-material content;
the model’s voltage, power, resistance and expected-life parameters;
warranty terms, where applicable;
the EU declaration of conformity;
information about managing the battery at the end of its use.
Restricted access may cover:
the detailed composition of the cathode, anode and electrolyte;
part numbers and sources of spare parts;
instructions, sequence and tools needed for dismantling;
safety measures;
performance, durability and state-of-health data for the specific battery;
battery status: original, reused, repurposed, remanufactured or waste;
cycle count, specified adverse events, temperature conditions and state-of-charge history, where applicable.
The results of test reports confirming compliance with the regulation’s requirements are to be accessible only to notified bodies, market-surveillance authorities and the European Commission.
This is an important distinction: the passport is to contain state-of-health data, but not all information will be public, and having data is not the same as independently interpreting what they mean for the current transaction.
This is the most important point in the entire discussion.
The regulation defines battery state of health as a measure of its general condition and ability to deliver specified performance compared with its initial condition. Article 14 requires up-to-date data on the parameters needed to determine state of health and expected lifetime to be held in the battery-management system, or BMS.
For electric-vehicle batteries, Annex VII identifies SOCE, meaning the energy level relative to the energy determined during certification. UN Global Technical Regulation No. 22 describes SOCE as the ratio of the battery’s currently measured or estimated usable energy to its certified usable energy.
This is a necessary and valuable parameter. It should not, however, be confused with a complete, independent diagnosis.
The BMS controls the battery’s electrical and thermal functions, supports safety and stores data needed to estimate its condition. A BMS reading is important diagnostic evidence, but remains information generated within a particular manufacturer’s hardware and software architecture.
Different brands may use different energy-buffer strategies, estimation algorithms, update frequencies and ways of presenting data. Two values described by the same abbreviation are not always produced under identical conditions and cannot always be compared directly without normalisation.
A high level of available energy does not rule out every other issue. Depending on the model, extent of access and method used, the following may also matter in an assessment:
voltage differences between cells or modules;
battery behaviour under load;
power-delivery capability;
increased internal resistance;
temperature anomalies;
stored faults and their context;
repair or module-replacement history;
unusual events, overloads or damage;
the conditions under which the reading was taken.
A JRC report prepared for the European Commission indicated that SOH alone, understood as remaining capacity relative to initial capacity, may be insufficient for an accurate assessment and should be supplemented by usage history and professional diagnostics.[4]
A passport may be maintained correctly and still lack an interpretation of a recent event. A collision, flooding, overheating, repair or sudden anomaly may require a new examination.
A document does not become false simply because the object’s technical condition changes after its last update. It does, however, become insufficient for issuing a current opinion.
Reliable diagnostics should state not only the result, but also:
the date and testing conditions;
data sources;
the equipment and software used;
the test procedure and scope;
deviations detected;
the method’s limitations;
interpretation of the result’s significance;
the organisation responsible for the assessment.
A data record alone does not answer all these questions.
The passport is to contain an EU declaration of conformity. This should not, however, be equated with a certificate of current condition. The declaration confirms compliance with specified legal requirements relating to placing the product on the market. It is not an opinion prepared several years later, before a specific used car is sold.
Battery passport: identifies the battery, documents compliance and history, and enables data exchange.
Independent diagnostic certificate: assesses the current condition of a specific battery.
Battery passport: the organisation placing the battery on the market, usually the manufacturer or importer, is responsible.
Independent diagnostic certificate: the organisation performing or authorising the test is responsible.
Battery passport: covers the entire life cycle and successive information updates.
Independent diagnostic certificate: relates to the specific day and conditions of the test.
Battery passport: combines model, supply-chain, BMS and life-cycle data.
Independent diagnostic certificate: relies on diagnostic readings, measurements, tests and available historical data.
Battery passport: need not contain an independent opinion prepared for a specific transaction.
Independent diagnostic certificate: should explain the significance of the results and the limitations of the test.
Battery passport: provides for different access levels: some data will be public and some restricted.
Independent diagnostic certificate: is shared with the recipient according to the scope of the service performed.
Battery passport: provides important input data.
Independent diagnostic certificate: may provide a basis for further valuation and risk assessment.
The battery passport answers: “What is known about this battery?”.
The independent certificate answers: “What does its current condition mean for this decision?”.
No document or single test provides an absolute guarantee that a battery will never fail. A reliable certificate should clearly state its scope, currency and limitations. Its advantage is not a promise of infallibility, but a transparent method and responsible interpretation.
Patient records do not replace a medical examination
A medical analogy makes the difference easiest to understand.
Electronic patient records may contain a history of illnesses, previous test results, medications, procedures and hospital admissions. They are invaluable because they let a doctor see the wider context.
But they do not replace today’s ECG, blood test or diagnosis based on current symptoms.
A battery passport is like medical records. Independent diagnostics are like a current examination. A certificate is like a description of the result, with a date, method and specialist’s conclusion.
Likewise, a car’s service book confirms its maintenance history but does not replace a pre-purchase inspection. A full set of house-renovation invoices does not replace a surveyor’s inspection when a wall develops a crack.
History increases knowledge. Only a current examination reduces uncertainty in a decision.
The following examples are model scenarios illustrating the difference between a data record and a technical assessment.
Two cars of the same model with similar mileages may show similar SOCE levels. Yet one was used in mild conditions, while the other worked intensively, often under high loads and in extreme temperatures.
The percentage alone does not tell us whether the cells behave consistently, how the pack responds to load or whether deviations exist that affect future use.
The passport contains an accurate battery history, but the vehicle was recently involved in a collision. Even if the accident is recorded, recording an event is not the same as assessing its effects on the casing, insulation, modules and management system.
A fleet manager sees data on cycles, temperatures and declining performance. They still need to decide which vehicles to keep in service, which to sell and which to send for further examination. Historical data are an input. The decision requires a common methodology, risk thresholds and a connection to residual value.
A history of composition, use and status helps identify the battery and plan dismantling. However, its qualification for reuse, stationary applications or recycling should also depend on current tests and assessment of suitability for the specific application.
The biggest barrier in the used-car market is not simply missing data. It is information asymmetry.
Sellers may know more about a vehicle than buyers. Buyers cannot always verify the origin of data, compare results across brands or translate a technical parameter into future costs. Leasing companies need comparable residual values. Insurers focus on risk. Dealers want to know whether an agreed buyback price is justified.
The passport will reduce some asymmetry by organising identification and history. But it will not automatically close four gaps:
The measurement gap — has the current condition actually been tested?
The comparability gap — can results from different vehicles and manufacturers be fairly compared?
The interpretation gap — what do the data mean for future use and risk?
The economic gap — how does battery health affect the vehicle’s value?
It is precisely in these four areas that the market will still need an independent analytical layer.
How does Voltified Energy complement the battery passport?
Voltified is not building an alternative to the battery passport. We are developing a layer that the passport is not designed to provide: an independent path from data to decisions.
The passport may become one of the most valuable information sources for the entire Voltified ecosystem. Our role is not to duplicate manufacturers’ data, but to combine them with current diagnostics, source-quality assessment and market context. In other words, we want to unlock value from the passport that an electronic record alone does not automatically create.
The model we are developing combines three elements.
We integrate and organise data describing the battery’s current condition, obtained through independent diagnostic procedures and equipment to the extent available for a given vehicle. The goal is not only to obtain a percentage, but also to assess data quality, identify anomalies within visible parameters and present measurement context.
In the Voltified model under development, the report is intended to show clearly when and how the test was performed, which data were analysed, what they indicate and what limitations apply to the assessment. This can make the result understandable not only to a diagnostician, but also to the owner, buyer, dealer, fleet or financial institution.
Battery Health Value is intended to translate the battery’s technical condition into its current economic significance. The Voltified Fleet Intelligence platform under development aggregates diagnostic data, assesses their credibility and combines them with market context, repair or replacement costs and expected degradation.
BHV does not replace diagnostics. It is a further layer:
The passport supplies the history. Diagnostics establish the condition. BHV translates condition into value.
This approach is intended to provide answers a QR code alone cannot give:
whether the result is reliable and sufficient for a decision;
how great the risk of hidden degradation is;
whether the battery justifies the vehicle’s price;
how its condition affects future residual value;
when the test should be repeated;
which vehicles in a fleet need attention first.
The passport and Voltified create value at different stages and for different market participants:
A manufacturer or importer uses the passport to ensure compliance, traceability and data interoperability. Voltified may provide external information about battery behaviour in the used-car market.
An EV buyer receives more information about the battery’s origin and history through the passport. Diagnostics and Voltified help assess its current condition and purchase risk.
A seller can document the battery’s identity through the passport. An independent assessment helps justify the price more credibly and reduce the risk of later disputes.
A dealer or classified-advertising platform gains a standardised dataset. Voltified may help present battery health comparably and verify the offer.
A fleet or CFM company uses asset history and life-cycle data. Voltified adds service priorities, risk assessment and residual-value management.
A leasing provider or bank receives better identification of the asset being financed. Diagnostics and analytics support collateral valuation and depreciation forecasts.
An insurer can use information about the battery and specified events. A current assessment helps analyse the effects of damage and the cost of restoring value.
A second-life operator or recycler receives information about composition, dismantling, status and history. Diagnostics help assess the battery’s suitability for further use or select the appropriate management route.
There is no single number that describes every aspect of a battery under all conditions. A good certificate should therefore be clear, but must not simplify the result to the point of misleading the reader.
It should include at least:
Vehicle and battery identification — so that the result relates to a specific unit.
The date and testing conditions — including state of charge and temperature where they affect the method.
Data sources — BMS, diagnostic device, dynamic test or other sources appropriate to the procedure.
Method and scope — what was actually examined and what the procedure cannot assess.
Key parameters — depending on the vehicle, these may include SOH or SOCE, capacity and power loss, resistance, voltage differences, temperatures, faults and incident history.
Anomalies and warnings — classified by their significance and the urgency of further action.
Interpretation — what the result means for use, the transaction or fleet management.
Limitations and currency — a certificate describes condition at a specific time rather than providing an indefinite guarantee.
Identification of the responsible party — who performed the assessment and is responsible for presenting it correctly.
The ability to verify authenticity — a unique number or a digital mechanism for checking the document.
A QR code is only a means of access. It may lead to a detailed, valuable body of information, but it does not diagnose anything by itself.
If the market begins treating the presence of a passport as automatic confirmation of proper functioning, it will create a digital version of an old problem: lots of data, little context and an excessive sense of security.
Messages such as these would be particularly dangerous:
“the car has a passport, so the battery is fine”;
“SOCE is X%, so there are no other risks”;
“the QR code replaces a pre-purchase examination”;
“the EU declaration of conformity confirms the current condition of a used battery”.
None of these statements conveys the full meaning of the regulation.
The introduction of the battery passport should not be treated solely as an IT project for manufacturers. It is a moment when the entire market should prepare a common language for battery assessment.
They should ensure data quality, currency, interoperability and the ability to share data lawfully with the appropriate parties.
They should develop repeatable procedures, document testing conditions and clearly distinguish data readings from interpretation.
They should avoid presenting the passport alone as evidence of current functionality. Combining history with current diagnostics will create the greatest value.
They should already be defining which data are needed for financing, buyback, damage, vehicle-replacement and residual-value forecasting decisions.
Our task is to build a layer of normalisation, verification and analytics that translates different data sources into consistent, understandable decisions.
The battery passport will be one of the most important information changes in European electric mobility. It will make batteries easier to identify, improve supply-chain transparency, support repair, reuse and recycling, and provide a foundation for a more mature market.
It will not, however, solve the used-EV trust problem on its own.
Trust does not arise simply because there are large amounts of data. It arises when we know:
where they come from;
how they were measured;
whether they are current;
how they should be interpreted;
who is responsible for the conclusion;
what they mean for a specific decision.
The future of the market will therefore belong neither to the passport alone nor to the test alone. It will belong to solutions that can combine identity, history, measurement, interpretation and value.
The passport will say what the battery is.
Diagnostics will show its condition.
Voltified translates that condition into meaning for people and businesses.
FAQ — frequently asked questions about the battery passportA battery passport is a digital electronic record assigned to a specific battery. It contains information about its model, origin, composition, parameters, life cycle and, at the appropriate access level, data about the individual battery.
The requirement is to apply from 18 February 2027 to every LMT battery, industrial battery with a capacity above 2 kWh and electric-vehicle battery placed on the market or put into service in the EU.
Not automatically. The requirement is linked to batteries being placed on the market or put into service from the specified date. Separate rules apply to batteries that are reused, repurposed or remanufactured.
No. It will be a digital record accessible through a QR code linked to a unique battery identifier.
The economic operator placing the battery on the market is responsible. In practice, this will usually be a manufacturer operating in the European Union or an importer. They may authorise another organisation in writing to act on their behalf.
No. The regulation provides several access levels. Some data will be public, some available to people with a legitimate interest, and some only to supervisory authorities, the Commission and notified bodies.
The passport is to contain battery state-of-health information. For EV batteries, the key parameter identified in Annex VII is SOCE, the energy level relative to the energy determined during certification. The visible data will depend on access rights and detailed implementing rules.
No. SOCE describes one important dimension of energy performance. A fuller assessment may require analysis of other parameters, faults, behaviour under load, differences between cells or modules, temperatures, resistance, incident history and testing conditions.
It should not. The passport provides identity and history. A pre-purchase examination should verify the current condition of the specific battery and interpret the result in the context of the planned transaction.
No. The declaration of conformity concerns compliance with regulatory requirements relating to the product. It is not a current technical opinion on a several-year-old battery prepared on the day the vehicle is sold.
No. A responsible certificate describes condition on a specific day, using a specific method and available data. It should state its limitations and must not be presented as an indefinite guarantee of safety or functionality.
BHV, or Battery Health Value, is an indicator being developed by Voltified to translate a battery’s technical condition and market data into its economic value at the time the report is prepared.
It is an analytical platform under development that combines diagnostic data with assessment of risk, credibility and the residual value of batteries and EVs. It is intended to help fleets, dealers, leasing providers, insurers and the used-car market make comparable decisions.
No. The passport is to be one source of structured data. Voltified is developing a layer of independent diagnostics, interpretation and valuation that can use passport data alongside other reliable sources.
They should check the available passport data, verify the vehicle’s history, obtain current battery diagnostics and assess the result in the context of price, warranty, intended use and potential costs.
No. Consumers, workshops, authorities, second-life operators and recyclers will also use it. However, the obligation to create the passport and ensure the quality of the required data lies primarily with the organisation placing the battery on the market, usually an EU manufacturer or importer. The passport therefore most fully addresses compliance, traceability and data-exchange needs in the value chain, and only partly the needs of parties to a specific used-market transaction.
Voltified is developing the missing layer between data and decisions: combining passport information with current diagnostic data, assessing their quality, giving them comparable context and translating battery health into risk and economic value. The passport primarily answers “what is known about the battery?”, while Voltified is intended to answer “what does this information mean for buying, selling, financing or managing a fleet?”.
Do you manage an EV fleet, sell electric cars, finance them or prepare your organisation for the battery passport?
Talk to Voltified Energy about combining passport data, independent diagnostics and BHV analytics into one decision-making process.
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