Battery
Battery Passport: Which Batteries, Who Is Responsible?
Battery passport scope under Article 77: which batteries need a passport from 18 February 2027, which stay outside, and which economic operator carries the duty
The question that eats the most time in a battery passport project is legal, not technical: is this battery in scope, and who is responsible for its passport? Article 77 of the EU Battery Regulation (EU) 2023/1542 answers both, but the answer depends on the battery's category and on where you sit in the supply chain.
This article picks up where the battery passport explained leaves off and separates what each actor, from cell maker to importer, owes.
The category definitions in the regulation
Scope rests on the category definitions of Article 3, which are objective; "we consider this industrial" is not enough.
- EV battery: designed to provide traction power for category M, N and O vehicles, and for category L vehicles above 25 kg.
- LMT battery: sealed, 25 kg or less, providing traction for wheeled vehicles powered by an electric motor alone or by motor and human power, including e-bikes and e-scooters.
- Industrial battery: designed for industrial use, intended for industrial use after repurposing, or any other battery above 5 kg that is not an EV, LMT or SLI battery.
- SLI battery: designed for starting, lighting and ignition.
- Portable battery: sealed, 5 kg or less, and not in any other category.
Market surveillance can challenge your classification; keep the reasoning for borderline products in the technical file.
Which battery, which obligation?
| Battery category | Passport (Art. 77) | What the 2027 QR opens |
|---|---|---|
| EV battery | Mandatory, 18 February 2027 | The passport |
| LMT battery | Mandatory, 18 February 2027 | The passport |
| Industrial > 2 kWh | Mandatory, 18 February 2027 | The passport |
| Industrial ≤ 2 kWh | No | Label information and declaration of conformity |
| SLI battery | No | Label information and recycled content share |
| Portable battery | No | Label information and declaration of conformity |
The 2 kWh threshold is measured on the rated energy of the pack or system, not per cell.
Who is responsible for the passport?
Article 77 places the duty on the economic operator placing the battery on the market or putting it into service. That operator guarantees three things:
- The passport exists and is reachable through the QR code.
- Its data stays accurate, complete and up to date.
- The passport survives for the battery's whole life, even if the service provider changes or closes.
"Placing on the market" is the first making available in the EU; for a battery made in Türkiye that party is the importer. The logic mirrors the economic operator roles under ESPR: technical operation can be handed to a DPP service provider, legal responsibility cannot.
Its lifetime is defined too: it ceases to exist once the battery is recycled; repurposing or remanufacturing opens a new passport linked to the original, see second-life batteries and passport continuity.
Cell maker, pack maker, OEM: the division of labour
One operator is responsible, but the data never comes from one source:
- Cell manufacturer: holds no passport unless the cell itself is sold as a battery, but is the source of chemistry, critical raw material, recycled content and carbon data; without a contractual data-delivery clause the pack maker cannot fill those fields.
- Pack or module manufacturer: the manufacturer when it places the battery on the market as a finished product; serialisation, the unique identifier, the BMS link and the passport's first version are its job.
- Vehicle OEM: puts the battery into service when it enters the market inside a vehicle. The passport still belongs to the battery; the supply contract must say who creates it, and automotive OEMs push this to suppliers through Catena-X.
- Importer: first places a non-EU manufacturer's battery on the EU market and is the responsible operator.
- Repurposer or remanufacturer: places the battery on the market as a new product and becomes responsible for the new passport.
What this means for a Turkish exporter
- Test your catalogue against the category definitions; for e-mobility packs, check the thresholds in passports for LMT batteries.
- Fix in the supplier contract who creates and publishes the passport and how data flows with your importer.
- Get a data-delivery commitment from your cell supplier; chemistry and carbon fields cannot come from your own records.
- Start label and QR design now; see battery labelling: QR code and CE marking.
For the step-by-step plan see the battery passport guide and the battery passport for Turkish manufacturers.
Frequently asked questions
Which batteries need a battery passport?
EV batteries, LMT batteries and industrial batteries with a rated energy above 2 kWh placed on the EU market from 18 February 2027. Portable and SLI batteries are out of scope.
Do batteries sold before 2027 need a passport?
No. The obligation covers batteries placed on the market or put into service from 18 February 2027 onwards; it is not applied retroactively.
Does the EU importer create the passport itself?
The importer is legally responsible, but the data comes from the manufacturer. In practice the Turkish manufacturer prepares the passport and publishes it with or on behalf of the importer; the split is fixed in the contract.
