Drivers face new mandatory 'passport' rule and it will cost £8

A new electric car battery 'passport' is rolling out to meet strict net zero rules in the European Union. Volvo will become the first car manufacturer to introduce the first "electric vehicle battery passport" in a move that could be introduced in the UK.

The passport will first be launched with its flagship EX90 SUV electric vehicle, which will begin production in the coming months. According to Circulor CEO Douglas Johnson-Poensgen, the passport will include up-to-date information about the EV's battery health and will cost the manufacturers $10 (£7.88) per car.

Volvo’s Head of Global Sustainability Vanessa Butani told Reuters that Volvo introduced the passport nearly three years before it will be required because the automaker wants to be transparent with car buyers as it targets a transition to all EVs by 2030. “It’s really important for us to be a pioneer and a leader,” Butani said, adding that the passport would gradually be rolled out to all of Volvo’s EVs.

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Volvo took over five years to develop the passport, in partnership with UK startup Circulor, which uses blockchain technology to map supply chains for companies. Battery passports will be mandatory for electric vehicles (EVs) sold in the European Union from February 2027 showing the composition of batteries, including the origin of key materials, their carbon footprint and recycled content.

"It's really important for us to be a pioneer and a leader," Butani said. It will also include up-to-date information on the EV battery's state of health - vital for assessing used EV values - for 15 years and will Volvo cost around $10 per car, Circulor CEO Douglas Johnson-Poensgen told Reuters.

"Car manufacturing has never been about which rock went into which component and which got connected to which car," Johnson-Poensgen said. "It's taken a long time to figure that out."