The EU Parliament and Council have reached a provisional agreement to overhaul EU rules on automotive batteries and take into account technological developments and future challenges.

The agreed rules will cover the entire battery life cycle, from design to end-of-life and apply to all types of batteries sold in the EU including SLI batteries (supplying power for starting, lighting or ignition of vehicles) and electric vehicle batteries. 

Negotiators agreed on stronger requirements to make batteries more sustainable, perform better and be more durable. According to the deal, a carbon footprint declaration and label will be obligatory for EV batteries, Light Means of Transport batteries and rechargeable industrial batteries with a capacity above 2kWh.

To better inform consumers, batteries will carry labels and QR codes with information related to their capacity, performance, durability, chemical composition, as well as the “separate collection” symbol. Certain batteries, including EV batteries, will also be required to have a “digital battery passport” including information on the battery model as well as information specific to the individual battery and its use.

Under the new regulations economic operators placing batteries on the EU market, except for SMEs, will be required to develop and implement a so-called “due diligence policy”, consistent with international standards, to address the social and environmental risks linked to sourcing, processing and trading raw materials and secondary raw materials.

Collection targets will be set at 45% by 2023, 63% by 2027 and 73% by 2030 for portable batteries, and at 51% by 2028 and 61% by 2031 for LMT batteries. Minimum levels of recovered cobalt (16%), lead (85%), lithium (6%) and nickel (6%) from manufacturing and consumer waste must be reused in new batteries. All waste from LMT, EV, SLI and industrial batteries must be collected, free of charge for end-users, regardless of their nature, chemical composition, condition, brand or origin. 

The Parliament and Council will have to formally approve the agreement before it can come into force.

Under the new rules battery manufacturers placing products on the Europen market will have to report the battery’s carbon footprint, from mining through to recycling. That data will then be used to set a maximum CO2 limit for batteries possibly by 2027.

The move reflects growing concerns that EVs are seen as a zero emission transport option when in fact the CO2 produced in their battery production, plus the CO2 produced in electricity production for recharging,  can sometimes be more than that produced during the life of an efficient petrol engine.