Battery supply chains face risks ranging from component defects and supplier disruptions to concentrated raw material supplies and uncertainty over end-of-life recovery. When information is scattered across procurement, engineering, manufacturing and sustainability systems, identifying exposure and responding quickly can become difficult.
The Digital Battery Passport (DBP), introduced under Regulation (EU) 2023/1542, offers a way to connect relevant battery information across the value chain. From 18 February 2027, covered electric vehicle batteries, light means of transport batteries and industrial batteries above 2 kWh placed on the EU market or put into service must have a Battery Passport.
The need for better visibility is growing. According to the International Energy Agency (IEA), global electric vehicle battery deployment reached 1.2 terawatt-hours (TWh) in 2025, while China accounted for more than 80% of global battery cell production. The IEA also reports that the average share of the three largest refining countries across key energy minerals increased from around 82% in 2020 to 86% in 2024. These concentrations can leave manufacturers exposed to disruptions affecting particular materials, components or production regions.
A Battery Passport cannot eliminate these risks or replace established risk-management processes. It can, however, help connect product, supplier and lifecycle information, enabling organisations to make more targeted decisions when problems arise.
Note: All financial figures and operational scenarios in this article are illustrative calculations, not reported BASE project results or guaranteed savings.
1. Narrowing the Cost of Quality Incidents
When a component defect or safety concern emerges, manufacturers need to determine which batteries may be affected. If bills of materials (BOMs), supplier records, production batches and individual battery identifiers cannot be connected, investigations may include products that are ultimately unaffected.
Consider a manufacturer that has placed 20,000 battery packs on the market, with an illustrative inspection cost of €50 per pack. The potential investigation costs would vary depending on the available traceability.
Traceability Level | Packs Requiring Investigation | Potential Inspection Cost Avoided |
Batch-level: 3,200 packs affected | 3,200 | €840,000 |
Supplier-level: 6,000 packs potentially affected | 6,000 | €700,000 |
Battery-level: 800 packs identified | 800 | €960,000 |
These scenarios assume that all packs outside the identified scope can be excluded from inspection, at €50 per pack. The actual scope would depend on the evidence available and the nature of the incident.
By connecting a battery’s identifier with relevant component, batch and supplier records, a DBP-supported information system could help investigators narrow the scope of an incident more quickly. Establishing battery data lineage can help organisations trace information back to its source and understand how it connects to the relevant battery. The Passport would not determine whether a recall is necessary. That decision remains with the responsible organisations and authorities.
2. Protecting Production During Supplier Disruptions
A supplier interruption can affect more than the component that is unavailable. Without visibility into product dependencies, manufacturers may struggle to identify which production orders are exposed and which can continue.
Battery Passport-related information, connected with procurement and production systems, could help organisations link material composition, component identifiers, supplier information and relevant manufacturing records to specific battery models. Mapping existing business data to Battery Passport requirements can help teams identify where relevant information already exists and how it can be connected across systems.
Imagine a plant producing 500 battery packs per day that faces a ten-day interruption involving a critical component. Without an alternative, 5,000 packs could be delayed.
Product-level dependency mapping: If the affected component is used in only 40% of scheduled production, 2,000 packs would be exposed while production of the remaining 3,000 could continue, subject to other operational constraints.
Faster alternative-component approval: If verified technical and supplier information helps the organisation approve an alternative after three days rather than ten, seven days of disruption could be avoided. At 500 packs per day, that represents 3,500 packs potentially protected from delay. At an illustrative delay cost of €100 per pack, the avoided cost would be €350,000.
Multi-source readiness: If an alternative supplier has already been qualified and the affected product configurations are clearly identified, production could potentially continue without delaying any of the 5,000 packs.
These outcomes depend on available inventory, supplier capacity, contractual arrangements and technical approvals. Better data cannot create additional supply, but it can shorten the time between recognising a disruption and deciding how to respond.
3. Reducing the Burden of Supplier-Data Management
Supplier information is useful only when organisations can establish what it relates to, whether it remains current and whether supporting evidence is available. Proving battery data origins is an important part of establishing confidence in supplier declarations and understanding the evidence behind individual data points.
Battery Passport preparation can encourage engineering, procurement, sustainability and compliance teams to establish clearer data ownership and more consistent information-management processes. This is particularly important when declarations, material specifications and component versions are maintained across separate systems.
Consider an organisation managing 100 important components. Four business functions each review the relevant information, with every review taking 30 minutes. The combined workload is 200 hours per update cycle.
If the organisation verifies each component record once and allows all four functions to reuse the approved information, the workload falls to 50 hours. That saves 150 hours per cycle, equivalent to €7,500 at an illustrative internal labour cost of €50 per hour.
Structured supplier requests could also improve data completeness. If 20 of the 100 component records initially lack required information, and improved collection processes reduce that number to five, the organisation closes 75% of the original data gaps.
Connecting supplier records with affected battery models can further help teams assess changes to materials, component versions or manufacturing locations. Clear procedures for managing Battery Passport data changes over time can help organisations identify which records need updating when supplier information changes.
4. Recovering More Value from Returned Batteries
Supply-chain resilience also depends on how organisations manage batteries after their initial use. Information about battery condition, composition, repair history and previous lifecycle events can help qualified operators assess whether a returned battery is suitable for reuse, repurposing, remanufacturing or recycling.
Consider an illustrative return flow of 5,000 battery packs. Three alternative value-recovery scenarios show how better information could support decisions:
- Reuse: If 20% of the packs qualify for direct reuse and each retains €400 more value than immediate recycling, the potential additional value is €400,000.
- Repurposing: If 35% qualify for a second-life application at the same assumed additional value per pack, the potential additional value is €700,000.
- Component recovery: If usable components can be recovered from 50% of the packs, preserving €250 in value per pack, the potential retained value is €625,000.
These are alternative scenarios, not cumulative benefits. Actual results depend on battery testing, safety, refurbishment costs, warranties, available infrastructure and market demand.
A DBP can help provide evidence for these decisions, where the relevant information is available and accessible. It does not guarantee that a battery is suitable for another application or that recovered materials will have a viable market.
Turning Battery Passport Data into Business Value
The Digital Battery Passport is not a complete supply-chain risk-management system. It will not predict geopolitical events, automatically reveal every supplier tier, verify inaccurate declarations or replace supplier audits, contracts and procurement planning.
Its potential contribution is a traceable information layer connecting a battery with relevant material, component, manufacturing and lifecycle records. The value depends on data quality, clear responsibilities, appropriate access rights and effective integration with existing business systems. When evaluating the technology needed to connect these records, organisations can also consider how to choose a Battery Passport platform without vendor lock-in.
Organisations can start with one battery model and one important risk. They could measure the time required to identify potentially affected batteries, the proportion of supplier records supported by verified evidence, or the time needed to assess a component change. These measures can help determine whether better-connected data improves decision-making in practice.
How BASE Supports Supply Chain Transparency
The BASE project, Battery Passport for Resilient Supply Chain and Implementation of Circular Economy, is developing and validating a trusted, interoperable Digital Battery Passport framework. Its work addresses challenges including data traceability, authenticity, secure information exchange and interoperability across the battery value chain.
These capabilities are relevant to supply-chain risk management because effective responses depend on connecting reliable information across organisations and systems. Through its work on Battery Passport and platform development, BASE explores how better-connected battery data can support more transparent supply chains, informed lifecycle decisions and circular-economy practices.
Closing Thoughts
Battery Passports could strengthen supply-chain risk management by helping organisations identify affected products more precisely, assess supplier dependencies faster, reduce repeated data-handling work and make better-informed decisions about returned batteries.
The most meaningful benefits will depend on how well organisations connect Passport information with their existing operational processes. By starting with clearly defined risks and measurable outcomes, manufacturers, OEMs and supply-chain teams can evaluate where better data visibility may reduce uncertainty, cost and response time.
The BASE project has received funding from the Horizon Europe Framework Programme (HORIZON) Research and Innovation Actions under grant agreement No. 101157200.
References & Resources
European Commission - Digital Product Passport for Batteries: https://single-market-economy.ec.europa.eu/single-market/digital-product-passport/batteries_en
European Commission - EU Digital Product Passport FAQ for Batteries: https://single-market-economy.ec.europa.eu/single-market/digital-product-passport/eu-digital-product-passport-faq-batteries_en
European Union - Regulation (EU) 2023/1542 Concerning Batteries and Waste Batteries: https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/reg/2023/1542/oj
International Energy Agency - Global Critical Minerals Outlook 2025: Executive Summary: https://www.iea.org/reports/global-critical-minerals-outlook-2025/executive-summary
International Energy Agency - Global EV Outlook 2026: Electric Vehicle Batteries: https://www.iea.org/reports/global-ev-outlook-2026/electric-vehicle-batteries