Volvo to issue world's first electric vehicle battery passport ahead of EU rules

Volvo Cars is launching the world's first electric vehicle battery passport, which will record the origin of raw materials, components, recycled content and the carbon footprint of its EX90 flagship SUV, which is about to start production, the Swedish automaker said.

The passport was developed by Volvo, which is owned by China's Geely, in partnership with British startup Circulor, which uses blockchain technology to map supply chains for businesses, and took more than five years to develop.

Battery passports will be mandatory for electric vehicles sold in the European Union from February 2027, and will show the composition of the batteries, including the origin of key materials, their carbon footprint and recycled content.

Vanessa Butani, Volvo's head of global sustainability, said introducing the passport almost three years before the regulations come into force was aimed at being transparent with car buyers, as the automaker aims to produce only all-electric cars by 2030.

Volvo owners can access a simplified version of the passport using a QR code on the inside of the driver's door.

Butani said the passport would be gradually implemented in all Volvo electric vehicles.

A more complete version of the passport will be passed to regulators.

"It's really important for us to be pioneers and leaders," Butani said. The EX90 SUV with a battery-passport is scheduled to begin production soon at Volvo's plant in Charleston, South Carolina, and will be delivered to customers in Europe and North America starting in the second half of the year.

It will also include updated information on the health status of the electric vehicle battery, vital for assessing the values of used electric vehicles, for 15 years and will cost Volvo about $10 per car, said Circulor CEO Douglas Johnson-Poensgen.

Circulor's system tracks battery materials from mine to individual cars, leveraging suppliers' production systems to track materials throughout the supply chain and verifying suppliers' monthly energy bills, and how much of their energy comes from renewable sources to calculate a total carbon footprint.

If Volvo brings in a supplier, Circulor will need to audit it to keep the information up to date, Johnson-Poensgen said.

The passport has also required changes to the way Volvo tracks parts through its manufacturing process to understand the origins of every part in every vehicle.

"Automotive manufacturing has never been about which rock became which component and which one was connected to which car," Johnson-Poensgen said. "It's taken a long time to figure that out."

Although no such mandate exists in the United States, automakers are showing interest because they may need to demonstrate that they qualify for electric vehicle subsidies under the U.S. Inflation Reduction Act, Johnson-Poensgen said.

Volvo has invested in Circulor, as has Jaguar Land Rover and BHP, the world's largest miner.

Johnson-Poensgen said there was a rush among automakers to create battery passports, and that even if they started now, many might find it difficult to meet the EU's 2027 deadline.

Collaboration: Grupo Auge | Reuters (International).