You order a steak at a diner. Do you ever wonder where the cow came from, what it was fed, and if it lived in a healthy place before it was served to you? That’s what the EU wants to know, but they want to know about batteries for electric cars instead of beef. All electric vehicles (EVs) in the EU will have to have battery passports that have important details about where the raw materials used in EV batteries came from and their history. The company that makes the battery, which could be a car or another business, must make the information and passport. The maker doesn’t have to give out all of the battery passport information, but dealers and owners should get it from them. To protect automakers’ intellectual property, companies only have to give general information; they don’t have to say exactly what the batteries are made of. Even though it’s not needed right now, I wouldn’t be surprised if the US decided to make a battery passport required. With battery passports, automakers, and the government can quickly show if batteries meet the standards for federal tax credits. The Battery Pass Consortium, a $7.6 million project, is working hard to figure out what information is needed for these battery IDs. Autocar says that the project is a partnership between 11 companies, such as Audi and BMW. If everything goes as planned, it will start running in February 2027. This isn’t as scary as it sounds at first because clients don’t have to show battery papers or anything similar in order to drive to other countries. In fact, it makes it easier for automakers, battery suppliers, and customers to talk to each other so customers know where the batteries in their cars come from.
