The EU Battery Regulation (EU) 2023/1542 & The Digital Product Passport (DPP)

Who tests and certifies batteries

Testing and calibration laboratories are accredited to ISO/IEC 17025. The certification bodies that issue the conformity assessment or approval itself are accredited to ISO/IEC 17065.

Those ISO/IEC 17065-accredited bodies oversee compliance with the core battery safety standards: IEC 62133 for portable secondary lithium cells, IEC 62619 for industrial applications and UN 38.3 for transport. For electric vehicles, ISO 12405 sets the test procedures for lithium-ion traction battery packs and systems. Manufacturers rely on ISO/IEC 17065-certified schemes to show safety compliance for global trade, CE marking and national approvals.

What the Digital Battery Passport is

From 18 February 2027, electric vehicle batteries, light means of transport batteries such as those in e-bikes and e-scooters, and industrial batteries above 2 kWh will need a digital battery passport. It is a disclosure requirement, a structured record of information about the battery, rather than a new certification or audit scheme.

A passport can hold up to 71 data points. They cover who made the battery and how it is identified; its weight, capacity, chemistry and hazardous materials; voltage, power, expected lifetime and efficiency; safety, dismantling, spare parts and test reports; the EU Declaration of Conformity; and the battery’s current condition, including capacity loss, state of health, charge cycles, accidents and operating temperature.

Not every field applies straight away. Carbon footprint, recycled content and due diligence information depend on later dates or on implementing legislation, and the Commission treats this breakdown of the data as guidance rather than an additional requirement.

Does the passport itself need an audit?

Generally, no. Regulation (EU) 2023/1542 does not require each completed passport to be separately audited or certified. The economic operator placing the battery on the market is responsible for creating and maintaining it, and market surveillance authorities inspect it.

Independent assessment can still apply to some of the information behind the passport:

What is being assessed	Who is involved
The passport as a whole	No separate certification-body audit
General conformity requirements	Often the manufacturer’s own assessment, under Module A
Carbon footprint (Article 7)	A notified body, under Module D1
Recycled content (Article 8)	A notified body, under Module D1
Module D1 route	A notified body assesses and audits the manufacturer’s production quality system
Due diligence (Articles 48–52)	Verification by a notified body from 18 August 2027, where the company falls within scope and above the turnover threshold
Single units or non-series batteries	A notified body may be involved, under Module G

In practice, the passport does not need its own certificate, but a notified body may still need to assess or audit carbon footprint, recycled content or due diligence, or be involved where a notified-body conformity assessment route is chosen or required.

The relevant provisions are Articles 17, 48 to 52 and 77 of Regulation (EU) 2023/1542, Annex VIII on conformity assessment Modules A, D1 and G, and Annex XIII on passport information. No ISO standard requires the complete passport to be audited by a certification body. EN ISO/IEC 17065 may be used to accredit the competence of specific conformity assessment bodies, but the obligations themselves come from the Regulation and its conformity assessment modules.