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Digital Battery Passport 2027: What the Industry Needs to Know Now

Starting February 2027, the Digital Battery Passport is mandatory for EV and industrial batteries. An overview of requirements, open issues, and current market developments.

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Digital Battery Passport 2027: What the Industry Needs to Know Now

The countdown is on: as of February 18, 2027, industrial batteries, traction batteries for electric vehicles, and stationary storage systems with a capacity of 2 kWh or more must be equipped with a Digital Battery Passport (DBP). The legal basis is the Battery Regulation (EU) 2023/1542, complemented by the overarching ESPR Regulation (EU) 2024/1781. If you think there's still plenty of time, you're underestimating the technical and organizational effort involved — as the state of the industry in the summer of 2026 makes abundantly clear.

What the Digital Battery Passport Actually Requires

Mandatory Data: More Than a Datasheet

The DBP is not a simple PDF datasheet. The regulation requires structured, machine-readable data that can be retrieved via a standardized identifier — typically a GS1 Digital Link-compliant QR code. Core requirements include:

  • Product-specific carbon footprint (PCF) at the batch level, calculated using ISO-14067-compatible methods. Critically, the European Commission's JRC draft makes clear that PCF data may not be aggregated at the model level — it must be genuinely batch-specific. This means that if you're still relying on aggregated averages today, you'll need to fundamentally rebuild your data pipeline.
  • State-of-health and state-of-charge data for repurposed batteries in the second-life market. This data must be dynamically updatable, as it changes over a battery's lifecycle.
  • Material composition and supply chain documentation, including information on critical raw materials such as cobalt, lithium, and nickel.
  • Information on safe disassembly and recycling.

Technical Infrastructure: Registration and Resolver

In parallel, the European Commission is developing a central DPP registry. The industry association Orgalim has published recommendations on this topic, calling for high-volume automated registration processes and failover resilience — signals that the current draft version of the registry does not yet meet the practical requirements of large-scale manufacturers.

For the technical implementation of data access, a Digital Product Passport resolver is required — one that redirects a code scan to the most current, authorized data records. Static QR codes pointing to a fixed URL are structurally unsuitable for this use case: they do not allow data updates without physically relabeling the product.

Two Structural Problems Slowing the Industry Down

The Minespider Implementation Report 2026 analyzes the current state of compliance and identifies two problems that run across the entire value chain:

Problem 1: Data Fragmentation

Battery data is generated at many points simultaneously: at the raw material supplier, the cell manufacturer, the module producer, the vehicle manufacturer, and ultimately the recycler. This data exists in different systems, formats, and quality levels. Producing a consolidated, regulation-compliant view of a single batch requires integrating ERP, MES, and supply chain platforms — a task that many companies have not yet begun.

Problem 2: Dynamic Data Updates

The DBP is not a static document that is issued once and then filed away. A battery's condition data changes over time — especially when the battery begins a second life in a stationary storage system. The infrastructure must therefore not only store data, but also version it, update it, and keep it auditable. This places high demands on backend systems and on data sovereignty throughout the supply chain.

Market Developments in June 2026: Who Is Positioning How

Certification Meets Traceability: Bureau Veritas and Circulor

Bureau Veritas and Circulor have announced a strategic partnership that combines testing, inspection, and certification expertise with a digital traceability platform. This is a conceptually compelling combination: certification bodies like Bureau Veritas bring established audit processes and market credibility, while platforms like Circulor provide the data infrastructure. Together, they directly address the trust problem facing many DPP solutions — because a passport is only as credible as the processes behind its data.

Tamper-Proof Labels: Securikett Codikett 2.0

Securikett introduced its Codikett 2.0 platform, a tamper-proof labeling solution directly linked to DPP data management. This addresses an often-underestimated problem: the physical connection between the real product and its digital twin. A QR code that can simply be peeled off and stuck onto a different product undermines the integrity of the entire passport system.

Standards and Test Environments: The Standardization Framework Takes Shape

On June 24, 2026, the BatteryPass-Ready project launched its public test environment. Companies can use it to validate their DPP solutions against EU requirements — in a neutral, standards-based way, without vendor lock-in. This is an important step, as an independent testing framework to ensure interoperability between different solutions had previously been missing.

In parallel, CEN and CENELEC held a public webinar on June 25, 2026, covering the newly published European standards EN 18216 through EN 18223, developed by Joint Technical Committee 24. These product-agnostic standards are designed to ensure interoperability and data consistency across all industries — not just batteries.

However, a DIN/DKE survey conducted as part of the 14th German Standardization Panel shows that companies still have a significant need for guidance: translating complex legal requirements into concrete technical specifications remains an unsolved challenge for many market participants.

The International Dimension: GS1 China and ISO/IEC JTC 5

Standardization efforts are no longer limited to Europe. GS1 China has been appointed as the Chinese mirror committee for the newly established ISO/IEC JTC 5 (Digital Product Passport). China has simultaneously launched its first national DPP standardization working group (SAC/SWG 41). The signal is clear: the Digital Product Passport is evolving from an EU regulatory instrument into a global trade standard — with all the implications that entails for exporters who will need to comply not only with EU law, but also with future Chinese requirements.

What Manufacturers and Suppliers Should Do Right Now

The time remaining until February 2027 is tighter than it appears once you realistically map out the implementation steps:

  1. Identify data gaps: Which mandatory data fields — especially the batch-specific PCF — can you not yet populate? Where is supplier data missing?
  2. Assess system integration: Can your existing ERP or MES output the required data in machine-readable form? Is a bulk import of batch and product data into the DPP infrastructure feasible?
  3. Build resolver infrastructure: Static codes are not sufficient. A GS1 Digital Link-compliant resolver that supports dynamic data updates must be implemented and tested for failover resilience.
  4. Use the test environment: The BatteryPass-Ready test environment gives you the opportunity to validate your solution against official requirements before go-live — without any vendor dependency.
  5. Track the standards: The EN 18216–18223 standards series is product-agnostic and provides the technical foundation for interoperable DPP systems. Betting on proprietary, siloed solutions now risks costly migration work down the road.

The Digital Battery Passport is not a bureaucratic box-checking exercise that can be handled with a last-minute scramble before the deadline. It demands structural changes in data management, supply chain integration, and physical labeling. Companies that recognize this now and act accordingly will not only be compliant in 2027 — they will also have an informational edge over competitors who are still underestimating the challenge.

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