Nick Carey
LONDON (Reuters) – Volvo (OTC:) Cars is launching the world’s first electric vehicle battery data sheet, detailing the origin of raw materials, components, recycled materials and carbon footprint for its flagship EX90 SUV, which is about to go into production, the Swedish automaker said Reuters.
The passport was developed by Volvo, owned by China’s Geely, in partnership with UK startup Circulor, which uses blockchain technology to map companies’ supply chains, and took more than five years to develop.
Battery data sheets will become mandatory for electric vehicles (EVs) sold in the European Union from February 2027, detailing the battery composition, including the origin of key materials, their carbon footprint and recycled content.
Volvo’s head of global sustainability Vanessa Butani told Reuters that introducing the passport almost three years before the rules came into force was aimed at providing transparency to car buyers as the carmaker plans to produce only fully electric cars by 2030.
“It’s really important for us to be a pioneer and a leader,” Bhutani said.
The EX90 battery-powered SUV is set to begin production soon at Volvo’s Charleston, South Carolina plant and will be delivered to customers in Europe and North America starting in the second half of the year.
Volvo owners can access a simplified version of the passport using the QR code on the inside of the driver’s door.
Bhutani said the passport will gradually be extended to all Volvo electric vehicles.
A more complete version of the passport will be submitted to regulators.
It will also include up-to-date information on the health of the EV’s battery, vital to estimating the value of a used EV, over 15 years, and the Volvo will cost about $10 per car, Circulor CEO Douglas Johnson-Poensgen told Reuters.
Circulor’s system tracks battery materials from the mine to individual cars, using suppliers’ production systems to track materials throughout the supply chain and reviewing suppliers’ monthly energy bills and how much of their energy comes from renewable sources to calculate total carbon emissions. track.
If Volvo uses a supplier, Circulor will have to audit it to keep the information up-to-date, Johnson-Poinsgen said.
The passport also required changes to how Volvo tracks parts through the manufacturing process to understand the origin of every part in every car.
“Car manufacturing has never been about what rock went into what component and what car was associated with what car,” Johnson-Poensgen said. “It took a long time to figure that out.”
While there is no such mandate in the United States, automakers there are interested because they may have to prove they qualify for electric vehicle subsidies under the U.S. Inflation Relief Act, Johnson-Poinsgen said.
Volvo has invested in Circulor, as have Jaguar Land Rover and BHP, the world’s largest mining company.
Johnson-Poensgen said there was a rush among automakers to create battery passports and that even if they started now, many might struggle to meet the EU’s 2027 deadline.