When is the EU battery passport deadline?

The digital battery passport applies from 18 February 2027.

From that date, every electric vehicle battery, LMT battery and industrial battery above 2 kWh placed on the EU market must carry a digital passport, reached by scanning a QR code on the battery itself. The requirement is set out in Article 77 of Regulation (EU) 2023/1542.

What has to be in it

The passport is a unique record for each individual battery, not a model type. It holds the information a buyer, a repairer, a recycler and a market surveillance authority each need, including the battery’s composition, its carbon footprint declaration, its recycled content, and its performance and durability parameters. Some of that information is public, some is available only to persons with a legitimate interest.

Which batteries are not covered

SLI batteries are not given a passport deadline. Automotive starter batteries fall outside Article 77, which is a distinction often missed in summaries of the regulation. Portable batteries are outside it too.

Every battery gets a QR code, passport or not

A separate obligation lands on the same day. Under Article 13(6), all batteries must be marked with a QR code in accordance with Part C of Annex VI. For LMT, industrial above 2 kWh and EV batteries that code opens the passport. For everything else, including SLI and portable batteries, it points to the product information required of that category.

So a starter battery has no passport but still needs a code, which is the detail most often lost when the two obligations are described as one.

The removability rule is two rules, not one

18 February 2027 is also when Article 11 removability applies, and it does not apply uniformly.

Portable batteries in appliances must be readily removable and replaceable by an ordinary user. LMT batteries and their individual cells must be removable and replaceable by an independent professional, which is a different and much lower bar. An e-bike battery does not have to come out in the owner’s kitchen; it has to come out in a repair shop.

Derogations apply to certain products, so the obligation is not absolute in either case.

See every other date in the EU Batteries Regulation Calendar.