Glossary

Digital Product & Battery Passport Glossary

A clear, neutral reference to the terms behind Digital Product Passports and Digital Battery Passports - from State of Health and the Battery Management System to the ESPR, the EU Battery Regulation and the 2027 deadline. Search the 54 definitions or filter by topic.

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Showing 54 terms.

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Access Rights: The rules that decide which parts of a passport each party can see. A passport is not a single public document: the general public, customers, recyclers, market surveillance authorities and the issuer each receive different levels of access to the same record.
Article 13 (ESPR Registry): The provision of the Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation that requires the European Commission to set up a central Digital Product Passport Registry. It must be operational by 19 July 2026 and acts as a closed, role-based index of identifiers and data carriers.
Article 77 (Battery Regulation): The article of the EU Battery Regulation that establishes the battery passport obligation. It sets out which batteries need a passport, what data it must hold and how that data is accessed from 18 February 2027.

B

Battery Management SystemBMS: The electronic system that monitors and controls a battery during use. It tracks parameters such as state of charge, temperature and state of health, and is the primary source of the dynamic data a battery passport must reflect.
Battery PassportDBP: A structured digital record that accompanies a battery across its lifecycle, from raw material sourcing to end of life. It holds identification, composition, carbon footprint, performance and circularity data, and is reached by scanning a QR code on the pack.

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Carbon Footprint: The total greenhouse gas emissions associated with a product across defined lifecycle stages, expressed in CO2 equivalent. For batteries it is reported per model and per manufacturing plant, covering material sourcing, manufacturing, distribution and recycling.
Carbon Footprint Declaration: A mandatory statement of a battery model carbon footprint, calculated using the methodology set out in EU delegated acts. It is one of the first sustainability obligations to take effect under the Battery Regulation.
Cathode Active MaterialCAM: The processed material that forms a battery cell cathode and largely determines its chemistry, energy density and cost. Data generated at this stage feeds carbon footprint and material composition fields in the passport.
Cell, Module, Pack: The three assembly levels of a battery. Individual cells are grouped into modules, and modules into a pack. The passport obligation attaches to the finished battery that can operate safely, typically the pack, rather than to individual cells or modules.
Circular Economy: An economic model that keeps materials and products in use for as long as possible through reuse, repair, refurbishment, remanufacturing and recycling. Passports support it by making the data needed for each of these pathways available and trusted.
Circular Economy Action Plan: An EU policy framework under the Green Deal that targets the most resource-intensive sectors, including batteries and electric vehicles. It underpinned the move from the old Batteries Directive to the directly applicable Battery Regulation.
Conformity Assessment: The process of checking and declaring that a product meets the relevant regulatory requirements. Conformity declarations and certifications are among the regulatory data points carried in a passport.
Critical Raw MaterialsCRM: Materials judged economically important and at high risk of supply disruption, such as lithium, cobalt, natural graphite and rare earth elements. Passports often require detailed composition data covering these materials specifically.
Cycle Count: The number of full charge and discharge cycles a battery has completed. It is a dynamic data point that, alongside capacity fade, indicates how much of the battery useful life has been consumed.

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Data Carrier: The physical marker that links an item to its passport, most commonly a QR code printed on the product. Scanning the data carrier resolves to the unique identifier and the underlying passport data.
Data Governance: The policies and controls that define how passport data is created, validated, updated, shared and audited, and who is responsible at each step. Weak governance is a common barrier to keeping passport data accurate over time.
Delegated Act: A secondary legal act issued by the European Commission to fill in technical detail left open by a regulation. For batteries, delegated and implementing acts clarify carbon footprint methodology, recycled content, due diligence and passport data points.
Digital Product PassportDPP: A digital record that stores standardised information about a product across its lifecycle, accessible through a data carrier such as a QR code. Introduced by the ESPR, it will apply to most physical goods sold in the EU, with batteries as the first mandatory category.
Digital Product Passport Registry: The central EU index established under ESPR Article 13. It does not store full passports; it holds the unique identifiers and data carriers that let regulators, customs and other authorised parties locate and verify passports across the single market.
Digital Twin: A continuously updated digital model of a physical asset. For batteries it can mirror real-time condition and link to the passport, helping keep dynamic data such as state of health current throughout the use phase.
Due Diligence: The obligation to identify, prevent and address social and environmental risks in a supply chain, particularly for raw materials. Due diligence findings are among the responsible-sourcing data points expected in a passport.
Dynamic Data: Information that changes over a battery operating life, such as state of health, state of charge, cycle count and capacity fade. It is generated by the BMS during use and is the hardest passport data to capture and keep up to date.

E

Ecodesign for Sustainable Products RegulationESPR: The overarching EU regulation that introduces the Digital Product Passport concept across nearly all physical goods. It also establishes the central registry into which sector passports, starting with batteries, are expected to connect.
Economic Operator: The party that places a product on the EU market and therefore carries responsibility for its passport and the accuracy of the data. For a battery built into a vehicle this is typically the manufacturer or OEM placing it on the market.
End of LifeEoL: The stage at which a battery or product leaves active use and is assessed for reuse, repurposing, remanufacturing or recycling. Complete passport data at this stage improves safety, material recovery and the value retained.
ESGESG: Environmental, social and governance criteria used to assess the sustainability and ethics of a business or supply chain. Passport fields covering carbon footprint, responsible sourcing and due diligence support ESG reporting.
EU Battery Regulation2023/1542: Regulation (EU) 2023/1542, which replaced the Batteries Directive with directly applicable rules across all member states. It introduces recycled content, carbon footprint, due diligence and battery passport requirements on staggered timelines.
EV Battery: A battery designed to power an electric vehicle. Together with industrial batteries above 2 kWh and LMT batteries, EV batteries are in scope of the EU battery passport obligation from 18 February 2027.

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Foreign Entity of ConcernFEOC: A US designation restricting incentives where battery materials or components originate from certain entities. It has made supplier and material-origin traceability a condition of eligibility for some manufacturers, reinforcing supply chain transparency.

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Global Battery AllianceGBA: A multi-stakeholder industry initiative that developed common principles and data frameworks for battery passports. Its work has influenced battery regulation, sustainability standards and traceability requirements worldwide.

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Industrial Battery: A battery designed for industrial use, including stationary energy storage. Industrial batteries with a capacity above 2 kWh fall within the scope of the EU battery passport requirement.
Inflation Reduction ActIRA: US legislation offering tax credits and incentives tied to where battery materials are extracted, processed and manufactured. It drives supply chain visibility through eligibility rules rather than a passport, but pushes in the same direction as EU transparency rules.
Interoperability: The ability of different systems and platforms to exchange and use passport data without bespoke integration. It depends on shared identifiers, data models and standards, and is widely seen as essential for passports to scale.

L

Lifecycle Data: The full set of information generated across a product life, from raw material extraction through manufacturing, use and end of life. A passport aims to consolidate this into a single trusted, accessible record.
Light Means of Transport BatteryLMT: A battery for light electric vehicles such as e-bikes and e-scooters. LMT batteries are in scope of the passport, though their limited connectivity makes capturing and updating dynamic data particularly challenging.

M

Market Surveillance Authority: A national body responsible for checking that products on the market comply with regulation. These authorities verify a portion of passports, follow up on gaps and resolve borderline cases such as batteries without a BMS.
Material Provenance: Verified information about where a material originates and the path it takes through the supply chain. It underpins responsible sourcing claims and the material composition fields of a passport.
Material Safety Data SheetMSDS: A document describing the composition, hazards and handling of a material. Passports rely on such data, but many sheets remain scanned paper rather than machine-readable, which is a recognised barrier to automated compliance.

O

Original Equipment ManufacturerOEM: The maker of the finished product into which a battery is integrated, such as a vehicle manufacturer. OEMs contribute usage, performance and state-of-health data, and often act as the economic operator responsible for the passport.

P

Placing on the Market: The legal moment a product is first made available in the EU, which triggers the passport obligation. For imports this is usually at customs; for an EU manufacturer it is when the finished battery is sold on to the next party.
Precursor MaterialpCAM: An intermediate compound produced before the cathode active material in battery manufacturing. Production at this stage generates environmental and sourcing data later used for carbon footprint and traceability reporting.

Q

QR Code: The data carrier most commonly used to link a physical product to its passport. Scanning it resolves to the unique identifier and, through it, the passport data appropriate to the party scanning.

R

Recycled Content: The share of recovered material used in a new battery, such as recycled cobalt, lithium or nickel. The Battery Regulation sets minimum recycled content targets and requires this share to be declared and, in time, verified.
Refurbishment: Restoring a used battery or product to working condition so it can be used again for its original purpose. Reliable lifecycle data helps determine whether refurbishment is the right end-of-life pathway.
Remanufacturing: Rebuilding a product to as-new condition using a combination of reused, repaired and new components. It depends on accurate records of composition, history and state of health from the passport.
Repurposing: Adapting a used battery for a different application, such as moving a retired EV battery into stationary energy storage. State of health and history data are needed to confirm a battery is fit for its second use.
Responsible Sourcing: Procuring materials in a way that manages environmental, social and human rights risks across the supply chain. Passports collect and share the evidence behind responsible sourcing claims rather than replacing existing frameworks.

S

Second Life: A further period of use for a battery after it no longer meets the demands of its first application, typically in a less demanding role. Second-life decisions rely on trusted state-of-health and performance data from the passport.
Semantic Data Model: A standardised representation of the passport data points and their meaning. The Commission uses it to check that a passport is structurally complete when it is notified to the registry, though this does not verify that the values are correct.
State of ChargeSoC: The current charge level of a battery relative to its capacity, expressed as a percentage. It is a dynamic parameter tracked by the BMS during operation.
State of HealthSoH: A measure of how much a battery has degraded relative to its original condition, reflecting remaining capacity and performance. It is the headline dynamic data point for assessing reuse, repurposing and recycling decisions.
Static Data: Passport information fixed at manufacture, such as chemistry, capacity, material composition and manufacturer details. Unlike dynamic data it does not change in use, which makes it comparatively straightforward to capture and share.
Supply Chain Traceability: The ability to track materials, components and products through each stage of the supply chain. It is moving from a competitive advantage to a regulatory requirement and is a core purpose of the passport.

U

Unique Identifier: The code that uniquely identifies a product or battery and links it to its passport in the registry. For batteries this is the unique battery identifier referenced by the data carrier on the pack.

From definitions to a working passport

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Digital Product & Battery Passport Glossary

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