BMW, Siemens & BASF: Digital Battery Passport for EVs

A consortium of major manufacturers, including BASF, BMW, CATL, Henkel and Siemens, has unveiled a digital product passport (DPP) system specifically designed for the electric vehicle (EV) battery sector.

Named Path.Era, the platform supports digital battery passports (DBP) that aggregate critical data about batteries throughout their entire lifecycle.

The initiative could streamline information sharing amongst all stakeholders across the battery value chain, addressing mounting regulatory pressures and sustainability demands facing the EV industry.

With European Union (EU) regulations mandating DPPs from 2027, EV manufacturers and their supply chain partners face increasing requirements for product lifecycle visibility.

The Path.Era system positions itself as a solution to these compliance challenges whilst potentially enabling greater circularity in battery production and recycling.

Understanding digital product passports

A DPP functions as a structured, digital record that provides lifecycle data for individual products in a standardised format. These passports contain essential information including material composition, carbon footprint, repairability metrics and end-of-life instructions, typically accessible via a QR code.

The DPP framework represents a new EU requirement becoming mandatory from 2027 for priority product categories, with complete implementation expected by 2030. Affected sectors span batteries, textiles, tyres, furniture, mattresses, chemicals, iron, steel and aluminium, alongside information and communications technology (ICT) and energy-related products.

According to Deloitte, early adoption of DPPs has been predominantly driven by the luxury fashion and jewellery sectors, though the automotive and battery industries now face imminent compliance deadlines.

By providing standardised, accessible data throughout a product's journey, these digital tools can enable better decision-making for consumers, regulators and industry stakeholders alike.

Digital battery passports

DBPs constitute a specific subset of DPPs that capture comprehensive lifecycle and recycling data for individual batteries, functioning as both sustainability reporting tools and certification schemes.

According to the Global Battery Alliance, these passports are underpinned by indicators allowing facility-level sustainability performance data across the battery supply chain to be gathered, verified, scored, aggregated and compared.

New regulations in 2027 will mandate DBPs for all new electric vehicle batteries sold in the EU. These requirements compel carmakers producing EV batteries to enhance supply chain visibility and improve lifecycle and recycling data for critical minerals including lithium, nickel and cobalt.

According to McKinsey, battery manufacturers could find new opportunities in recycling as the market matures. Companies might create closed-loop, domestic supply chains involving the collection, recycling, reuse or repair of used lithium-ion batteries. The recycling industry alone could generate a US$6bn profit pool by 2040.

The data captured within DBPs extends beyond basic product information to include detailed sustainability metrics, ethical sourcing verification and performance indicators. This comprehensive approach enables stakeholders to make informed decisions about battery procurement, usage and end-of-life management whilst supporting the transition to more circular economic models.

Critical industry challenges

According to McKinsey, producing the large lithium-ion batteries used to power EVs represents the biggest source of embedded emissions for both electric cars and trucks, accounting for approximately 40 to 60% of total production emissions. As pressure to decarbonise intensifies and global demand for EVs accelerates, manufacturers face mounting urgency to address these emissions challenges.

EV battery recycling remains a labour-intensive process that, if conducted improperly, for example at landfill sites, can trigger difficult-to-extinguish thermal runaway fires or cause significant harm to local communities and workers. With more intensive recording and accountability, schemes like the DBP which enhance data availability could help resolve some of these critical issues.

According to McKinsey, data availability and transparency constitute fundamental requirements to ensure the battery industry achieves its growth and environmental, social and governance targets.

The implementation of standardised digital passports addresses these challenges by creating a unified framework for tracking and reporting battery data. This enhanced visibility enables manufacturers to identify emission hotspots within their supply chains, implement targeted reduction strategies and demonstrate compliance with increasingly stringent environmental regulations.

The Path.Era collaboration 

The Path.Era battery passport platform addresses challenges in managing battery data across the value chain by streamlining information sharing amongst stakeholders and promoting circularity and sustainability. The platform aims to ensure secure and standardised data exchange whilst reducing manual processes and meeting legal requirements.

Oliver Ganser, Vice President Digitalisation of the Purchasing and Supplier Network at the BMW Group, says: "To collect the relevant data points for a battery pass, we will support our relevant value chain partners with a simple and trusted solution to get the job done. 

"Path.Era and Catena-X are the perfect match to get the job done."

Path.Era is a scalable ecosystem for DBPs, based on Catena-X, a collaborative data ecosystem for the automotive industry. The platform is designed to enable traceability and circularity across the battery value chain and is available on Cofinity-X, an operator of the Catena-X dataspace.

The ecosystem was co-founded in collaboration with Path.Era's partners, which include BASF, BMW Group, CATL, Henkel, Siemens and Volkswagen Group.

Matthias Dohrn, President of Global Procurement at BASF, says: "Path.Era is our solution to bring transparency into the entire battery value chain and to efficiently fulfil legal and reporting requirements."

BASF's portfolio includes work across the battery recycling value chain, from collecting end-of-life batteries and production scrap to discharging and dismantling. The company also offers base metals sourcing and management alongside various other related services.

George Kazantis, Vice President of Automotive Components at Henkel, says: "The transparency we create for the battery industry with DBPs is just as relevant for other industries. 

"For us, the Path.Era battery passport is the blueprint for the future of DPPs."