Whether in electric vehicles, e-bikes, or industrial energy storage systems, batteries play a pivotal role in achieving climate neutrality. However, comparing their sustainability and performance is not straightforward. This is set to change in February 2027 with the EU-wide mandatory digital battery passport, which will document data along a battery’s entire lifecycle.
A new standard now provides practical guidance: The DIN DKE SPEC 99100, “Requirements for Data Attributes of the Battery Passport”, helps companies implement the battery passport. The German Institute for Standardization (DIN) and the German Commission for Electrical, Electronic & Information Technologies (DKE) published the standard.
Transparent and Digitally Documented
The DIN DKE SPEC 99100 defines data attributes to be included in the digital battery passport based on both requirements by the EU Battery Regulation as well as voluntary additions. These may include, among others:
- General information about the battery and manufacturer
- Battery materials and composition
- Performance and durability
- Working conditions in raw material extraction
- Battery carbon footprint
The DIN DKE SPEC 99100 thus serves as a valuable guide for economic operators to identify the necessary data for the future battery passport.
Foundation for International Standards
The DIN DKE SPEC 99100 builds on the publicly funded Battery Pass consortium’s “Content Guidance for the EU Battery Passport”, last updated in December 2023. This publicly accessible guide supports the implementation of the battery passport in line with the requirements of the EU Battery Regulation.
The Content Guidance laid the foundation for a practical explanation of the content requirements of the battery passport. The newly published standard provides implementing companies with clarity on the specific data attributes to be collected for the battery passport. This marks another important step in bringing digital product passports into use and harnessing their extraordinary potential for circular value creation.
says acatech President Thomas Weber.
With the DIN DKE SPEC 99100, we make the results of the Battery Pass project’s guidelines easily accessible to everyone preparing for the introduction of the battery passport in the European Union. At the same time, we lay the groundwork for further international standardization on this topic.
explains Dr. Torsten Freund, Battery Passport Project Manager at BASF, a chemical company and solutions provider for battery materials, as well as Chair of the DIN DKE SPEC 99100 committee.
The two organizations, representing the Battery Pass consortium, initiated the DIN DKE SPEC together with representatives of other organizations. The Battery Pass consortium has also published an updated and aligned version of the “Data attribute longlist” on its website, where requirements can be filtered by different battery categories, for example.
High-Level Consortium
The Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action (BMWK) supports the development of the digital battery passport. The “Content Guidance for the EU Battery Passport” was developed by the Battery Pass consortium, a collaboration of eleven leading international organizations from industry, technology, and science, led by Systemiq.
Battery Pass Consortium includes: acatech – National Academy of Science and Engineering, AUDI AG, BASF SE, BMW AG, Circulor GmbH, FIWARE Foundation e.V., Fraunhofer IPK, Systemiq GmbH, TWAICE Technologies GmbH, Umicore AG & Co KG, VDE Renewables GmbH (under subcontract).
Associated partners: Global Battery Alliance (GBA), GS1 Germany GmbH, Kompetenznetzwerk Lithium-Ionen-Batterien e.V. (KLiB), Mercedes Benz AG, RWE Generation SE, SAP SE.
The DIN DKE SPEC 99100 standard is available to download free of charge from DIN Media.
