Methodology · as of 9 July 2026

How the screen works

Every result comes from the same three steps, applied to the batteries you enter and cited to Regulation (EU) 2023/1542. Here is exactly how we get from your answers to your position.

Step 1

Category → passport scope

The battery passport requirement does not apply to every battery. It attaches to specific categories from 18 February 2027. We map each battery you list to its category, then to whether that category is caught:

Caught from 18 Feb 2027: EV (traction) batteries; LMT (light means of transport — e-bike, scooter) batteries; and industrial batteries with a capacity greater than 2 kWh.
Not in that 2027 passport requirement: portable batteries; industrial batteries of 2 kWh or less; and SLI (starting, lighting and ignition — the car starter battery) batteries. These carry other obligations under the regulation, but not the battery passport requirement that begins in 2027.

Step 2

Role & channel → who owns it

Being in scope is not the same as being responsible. The regulation puts the obligation on the economic operator — and which operator depends on your role and how the battery reaches the market. We resolve that from your answers:

Manufacturer — if you make the battery and place it on the EU market, you are the responsible economic operator.
Importer of a non-EU battery — if you bring a battery made outside the EU onto the EU market, the obligation typically lands on you, not the overseas maker.
Integrator who puts a built-in battery into service — if you build a battery into your own equipment and put that into service, you can be the operator responsible for the battery's passport.

The distinction between placing on the market and putting into service is the one most often missed, so we ask it explicitly and carry it through the result.

Step 3

What already bites

Several obligations are already live or land before 2027. For your category and role, we flag which apply now, with their dates:

Carbon-footprint declaration — in force for EV batteries since 18 February 2025, and for rechargeable industrial batteries over 2 kWh since 18 February 2026. Site-specific, batch-level, offsets not permitted.
Labelling and QR — labelling requirements apply from 18 August 2026.
Supply-chain due diligence — due-diligence obligations apply from 18 August 2027.

What it never does

The lines we don't cross

The screen never computes your carbon footprint and never verifies recycled-content claims. Those require primary data from your own operations and supply chain, methodology-specific calculation, and — in the carbon case — a declaration you are responsible for producing. We tell you which declarations you owe and hand you supplier data-request letters to gather the inputs; we do not manufacture the numbers or vouch for a supplier's figures.

Source & freshness

Cited, dated, and honest about what's still moving

Every determination is grounded in Regulation (EU) 2023/1542 (as amended) — see the Sources page for the exact instruments. This methodology is stated as of 9 July 2026.

Two items are live watch items, and we treat them as such rather than pretending the specification is final:

The pending delegated act — the Commission must adopt the delegated act governing the battery passport's data fields and access rules by 18 August 2026. Until it lands, the exact contents of the passport can still shift.
Converging QR / identifier standards — the identifier and interoperability standards that make the QR code resolvable are still being finalised through standardisation work.

Because of this, the report tells you where you stand and what to prepare, dated to the day it was produced. We re-check the regulation's status before each material update — a figure that depends on a regulation can change, and we'd rather stamp the date than imply permanence.

Get my battery passport report See the sources →