The battery is also traceable! Global battery passport is coming, Tesla and Audi are the first to announce it

It is undeniable that today is an era where data is king. Recently, the editor obtained information from the official source and the global battery passport was officially launched. On January 18 this year, at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, the Global Battery Alliance (GBA) released the battery passport proof-of-concept results for the first time. It is worth mentioning that the three battery passports announced this time belong to the power batteries of one Tesla and two Audis.

How big is the impact of battery passport? In the global stock market on January 19 and after, the stock prices of companies that played a key role in the project, such as Tesla, LG Energy, Volvo, BASF, Glencore, Umicore, Microsoft, etc., basically experienced a relatively large increase. It is an obvious rise, and it is foreseeable that it will continue to rise in the future.

Is a battery passport really that important?

We all know that batteries are the key to unlocking the energy transition. At the same time, batteries inevitably have social and environmental impacts throughout the entire value chain. This includes greenhouse gas emissions during material sourcing, processing and battery manufacturing, as well as child labor and human rights abuses.

Now we can bring transparency to the battery value chain by introducing battery passports, a system for sharing battery supply chain data. This is a critical step in establishing a sustainable battery value chain in a rapidly growing industry and, of course, in the development of the new energy industry. If the new energy industry can develop sustainably, healthily and stably, the role of battery passport is very important. It has to be said that the hottest new energy track in 2022 has single-handedly enabled us to better understand the related industries that silently support its development. It is also warning us that we must continue to improve relevant systems in order to develop better. .

Tracing back to the origin, as early as 2019, Tesla, LG Battery and other companies proposed the concept of battery passport through the Global Battery Alliance. This initiative can be said to be crucial to the sustainable development of electric vehicle batteries and incentives for global electric vehicles. . However, the Global Battery Alliance did not immediately register the case at that time, nor did it veto it. Instead, it chose to observe silently.

Until 2021, the G7 leaders’ meeting, the EU battery regulations, and the governments of Canada and the United States have recognized the concept of battery passports, which can be described as a great progress. According to the latest news, battery passports will become a mandatory requirement in the European Union by 2026, a move that will inevitably lead other regions to follow suit.

I have to mention here the Global Battery Alliance, which is an industry organization composed of more than 120 companies involved in the electric vehicle battery supply chain. Its members include mining company Glencore, car manufacturer Tesla and battery manufacturing Shang LG, etc. The mission is to ensure that battery production "not only supports green energy, but also safeguards human rights and promotes human health and the sustainability of the planet's environment."

In addition, CATL announced on November 24, 2022 that it was selected as the new board of directors of the Global Battery Alliance, with the term from April 2023 to December 2024. It is worth noting that CATL is the only Chinese company elected to the alliance’s board of directors.

Automotive Net Review: Battery Passport brings greater transparency to the global battery value chain.

The Global Battery Alliance said on its website that the Battery Passport builds a digital twin of the physical battery, conveying information on all applicable sustainability and life cycle requirements based on a comprehensive definition of sustainable batteries. What has to be admitted is that the battery passport’s contribution to the global battery value chain is very important, and it also brings higher transparency to it, allowing the public to better understand relevant information.