German car industry and government launch sustainability “battery pass”

A new digital product pass for e-car batteries supported by Germany’s economy and climate ministry (BMWK) is aimed at bundling information on the batteries’ life cycle, from raw material sourcing to recycling, in a bid to reduce resource consumption and emissions of the car sector’s key technology of the future. The ministry supports an industry consortium including companies Volkswagen, BMW, BASF and Umicore as well as research institutes like Fraunhofer IPK or acatech with 8 million euros and aims to establish the “battery pass” Europe-wide to facilitate resource sharing and supply chain management in participating countries. “European battery production can only succeed if it aims for sustainability across all production steps,” the ministry’s Green Party state secretary Michael Kellner said. The project would aim to simultaneously optimise resource use and improve social standards along the entire supply chain by pooling data in an industry standard framework, the ministry said. The battery pass is supposed to meet the EU battery regulation criteria, which are scheduled to enter into effect by 2026 for car batteries, home storages and industry-scale batteries.

Electric cars have long been touted as key to a more sustainable future, but their contribution is clouded by the climate impact of making and disposing of them. As part of an industry-wide bid to roll out entirely CO2-neutral vehicles, future electric vehicles must become emission-free not only while on the road but also during production and recycling.