EU Regulation 2023/1542 introduces a battery passport requirement for specific battery categories. Not every battery sold into the EU market falls under this obligation. Understanding exactly which batteries are in scope — and which are not — determines whether your product needs a Digital Product Passport before it can be placed on the EU market from the applicable date.
What the Battery Passport Is
A battery passport is a digital record linked to a specific battery or battery model. It must contain data on the battery’s chemistry, capacity, performance, carbon footprint, supply chain, and end-of-life handling. Article 77 of Regulation 2023/1542 establishes the passport requirement and sets out what it must contain. The passport is accessed via a QR code or other data carrier attached to the physical battery, as required under Article 13.
The passport is not a document you file once. It must be kept up to date and remain accessible to economic operators, authorities, and consumers throughout the battery’s life. The full text of EU Battery Regulation 2023/1542 sets out the complete data requirements and access obligations in Articles 77 through 79.
The Three Battery Categories That Require a Passport
1. EV (Traction) Batteries Above 2 kWh
Article 77 applies to electric vehicle batteries with a capacity above 2 kWh. These are the batteries that power passenger cars, vans, trucks, buses, and other road vehicles classified as EVs. If your battery powers a vehicle and its capacity exceeds 2 kWh, a passport is required before the battery is placed on the EU market.
The 2 kWh threshold is a hard cutoff. A battery at exactly 2 kWh or below is not in scope for the passport requirement under Article 77. A battery at 2.1 kWh is in scope.
EV batteries also carry some of the most detailed data obligations in the regulation. Article 77(1) requires the passport to include state of health, state of charge, expected battery lifetime, carbon footprint per kilowatt-hour, and information on hazardous substances. Manufacturers of EV batteries face the most extensive data collection and disclosure requirements of any battery category covered by the passport obligation.
2. Light Means of Transport (LMT) Batteries — 25 Wh to 5 kWh
Article 3(11) defines LMT batteries as batteries used in light electric vehicles, including e-bikes, e-scooters, e-mopeds, and similar vehicles. The capacity range for this category is 25 Wh to 5 kWh. Batteries within this range that power LMT vehicles require a passport under Article 77.
This category catches a wide range of consumer and commercial products. An e-bike battery rated at 500 Wh is in scope. A delivery e-cargo bike battery at 1.5 kWh is in scope. A shared e-scooter battery at 300 Wh is in scope. If the battery powers a light electric vehicle and falls between 25 Wh and 5 kWh, the passport requirement applies.
The lower bound of 25 Wh means very small LMT batteries — for example, a lightweight personal transporter with a 20 Wh cell — fall outside the passport requirement. The upper bound of 5 kWh means heavier LMT batteries above that threshold are not classified as LMT batteries under Article 3(11) and would instead be assessed under the industrial or EV battery categories depending on their application.
3. Industrial Batteries Above 2 kWh
Industrial batteries above 2 kWh require a passport under Article 77. This category covers a broad range of applications: stationary energy storage systems (BESS), uninterruptible power supply (UPS) systems, batteries used in industrial machinery, and batteries used in non-road mobile machinery.
The 2 kWh threshold applies here in the same way as for EV batteries. A 1.8 kWh UPS battery is not in scope. A 3 kWh stationary storage battery is in scope.
Industrial batteries used in large-scale energy storage installations — such as grid-connected battery arrays — will typically be well above the 2 kWh threshold and will require passports for each battery unit placed on the market. Manufacturers and importers of industrial batteries should check the rated capacity of each product line against the 2 kWh threshold to determine which products require a passport.
The Category That Does Not Require a Passport
Portable Batteries in Consumer Products
Portable batteries — the batteries found in consumer electronics, power tools, household devices, and similar products — do not require a battery passport under Article 77. This is a direct exclusion. Portable batteries have separate obligations under Articles 13 and 14, which cover labelling and information requirements, but these are not passport obligations.
Article 2(1) defines portable batteries as batteries that are sealed, can be hand-carried, and are not classified as EV, LMT, or industrial batteries. Common examples include AA and AAA cells, laptop batteries, smartphone batteries, and power tool battery packs.
If you manufacture or import consumer electronics with built-in or replaceable batteries, you are not required to issue a battery passport for those batteries. You are still required to comply with labelling obligations under Articles 13 and 14, including capacity markings, chemistry labelling, and QR code requirements. But the full passport data structure required under Article 77 does not apply to portable batteries.
This distinction matters for compliance planning. Companies that sell both portable consumer batteries and industrial or LMT batteries need to separate their product lines and apply the correct obligations to each category.
The 2 kWh Threshold in Practice
The 2 kWh threshold appears in both the EV and industrial battery categories. It is not defined by a single article but is embedded in the scope of Article 77 as applied to those categories. Batteries at or below 2 kWh in these categories are outside the passport requirement.
In practice, this threshold affects a small number of products. Most EV batteries are well above 2 kWh — a typical EV passenger car battery is 40 kWh to 100 kWh. Most industrial stationary storage systems are also well above 2 kWh. The threshold is more relevant for smaller industrial applications: a 1.5 kWh backup power unit for a telecom cabinet, for example, falls below the threshold and does not require a passport.
If you are unsure whether a specific battery product crosses the 2 kWh threshold, use the rated capacity stated in the product’s technical documentation. Do not use nominal or minimum capacity figures unless the rated capacity is unavailable.
When the Passport Requirement Takes Effect
The battery passport requirement does not apply to all three in-scope categories at the same time. The regulation sets different application dates for different categories, and some dates depend on delegated acts that the European Commission has not yet finalised.
For LMT batteries and industrial batteries above 2 kWh, the passport requirement is expected to apply from around 2026, pending the adoption of the relevant delegated act by the Commission. This date is not yet confirmed. The Commission must adopt a delegated act under Article 77(3) specifying the technical requirements for the passport before the obligation becomes enforceable for these categories.
For EV batteries, the passport requirement is also subject to a delegated act under Article 77(3). The application date is expected around 2027 or 2028, but this is not confirmed. Manufacturers should monitor the Commission’s work programme for updates on delegated act adoption timelines.
These are estimates based on the regulation’s structure and the Commission’s stated intentions. They are not confirmed dates. Do not treat them as fixed deadlines for compliance planning without checking for updates from the Commission.
No Retroactive Application
Batteries already placed on the EU market before 18 February 2027 are not retroactively required to have a passport. The regulation does not apply retroactively. If a battery was sold and placed on the market before the applicable date, the passport obligation does not attach to that battery.
This matters for manufacturers with existing inventory and for importers managing stock across multiple production runs. Batteries manufactured and placed on the market before the relevant application date for their category are not in scope, even if they remain in use or in circulation after that date.
However, batteries manufactured after the application date — even if they are identical in design to pre-deadline products — will require a passport if they fall into one of the three in-scope categories. The obligation attaches at the point of placing on the market, not at the point of manufacture or design.
Summary: In Scope and Out of Scope
- In scope — passport required: EV batteries above 2 kWh (Article 77); LMT batteries 25 Wh to 5 kWh (Article 3(11) and Article 77); industrial batteries above 2 kWh (Article 77).
- Out of scope — no passport required: Portable batteries in consumer products (subject to labelling under Articles 13 and 14 instead); EV and industrial batteries at or below 2 kWh; LMT batteries below 25 Wh or above 5 kWh (assessed under other categories).
- Not yet confirmed: Exact application dates for LMT and industrial battery passport obligations, pending Commission delegated acts under Article 77(3).
What to Do Now
- List every battery product you place on the EU market and classify it by category: EV, LMT, industrial, or portable.
- For EV and industrial batteries, check the rated capacity against the 2 kWh threshold.
- For LMT batteries, check whether the rated capacity falls between 25 Wh and 5 kWh.
- For portable batteries, confirm that labelling obligations under Articles 13 and 14 are covered — no passport is required.
- Monitor the European Commission’s delegated act programme for confirmed application dates under Article 77(3).
- Begin collecting the data fields required under Article 77(1) for in-scope batteries now, before the application dates are confirmed. Data collection takes time, and waiting until the delegated act is adopted will leave insufficient time to build compliant systems.
If you are ready to build your battery passport programme, visit traceable.digital/pricing to start a free trial. Traceable supports all three in-scope battery categories and maps directly to the Article 77 data requirements.
