From 18 February 2027, batteries above 2 kWh may only be placed on the EU market with a digital product passport (DPP). Less than six months remain, while audit experience from the factory floor puts the realistic preparation lead time at close to a year — and the obligation reaches far beyond manufacturers, into the entire logistics and commercial chain.
Under the EU Battery Regulation ((EU) 2023/1542), from February 2027 electric-vehicle batteries, industrial batteries and light means of transport batteries above 2 kWh may only enter the EU market with a digital product passport. The passport, accessible via a QR code, contains among other things the manufacturer's identification data, material composition, the share of critical raw materials (cobalt, copper, manganese), the carbon footprint and recycling information.
"On a scale of one to ten, manufacturers' DPP readiness is probably around two — but more likely one," says Zsolt Takács, owner-CEO of ESGinfo.hu and ReadyPass, who has taken part in more than a hundred manufacturer audits touching product data over the past decade. The paradox of the situation — particularly visible in Hungary, home to Europe's largest battery manufacturing build-up — is that the first-wave obligated manufacturers are typically local plants of Asian multinationals that cannot decide on product marking themselves: "A local plant, however large, manufactures what it is told and applies the marking it is told to apply. The compliance department often sits in another country — and the two never connect in time."
Why does preparation take a year?
Introducing a digital product passport is not a software installation but a production-engineering project, the expert explains: requirement assessment, specification, procurement of marking equipment (laser-etched QR or Data Matrix codes), integration of manufacturing systems — which for security reasons are not connected to the internet —, EU registration, and solving the retention of product passports so they remain retrievable for regulatory inspection for up to ten years. "Even summarised briefly, that is nine months to a year of preparation. I would estimate a year rather than half a year," says Zsolt Takács. Stock already manufactured but not yet marked extends the lead time further.
Logistics companies are obligated too — do they know?
Less well known is that the DPP is not only the manufacturers' concern. Passport data follows the goods along their journey: freight forwarders, warehouses and retailers will have handling and data obligations of their own. "It's not the case that 'I don't make batteries, so this doesn't apply to me.' There is a primary market — the manufacturers — and a secondary one: the logistics and commercial companies serving them, which are also obligated," stresses the expert, who will speak on the topic this autumn at one of Hungary's largest road-haulage industry conferences.
Missing data already costs business today
The market is not waiting for the legal deadline: audit experience shows that missing data and invalid certificates lead to rejection on the customer side in almost every case. Some buyers refuse to use a supplier's services until sustainability data is delivered — and green public procurement already includes conditions such as a phone battery retaining at least 80% of its capacity after 300 charge cycles.
"In five years, the companies still standing will be the ones that can state their carbon footprint precisely and prove where their raw materials come from. If they can't, their products simply won't be bought — not by consumers, and not by multinational customers," Zsolt Takács concludes.
About the publishers
ReadyPass (readypass.eu) is a Hungarian-built digital product passport platform: it supports manufacturers and importers in ESPR and Battery Regulation compliance with validated data templates, eIDAS-compatible electronic signatures and standards-based QR/Data Matrix data carriers. ESGinfo.hu is a sustainability consultancy and knowledge portal supporting companies with audits, training and ESG reporting advisory.
Press contact
Szabolcs Filep — ReadyPass · Contact form
Zsolt Takács — ESGinfo.hu · Contact form
Interviews, background briefings and conference talks can be arranged.
This press release may be republished freely, in full or edited, with attribution to the sources (ReadyPass, ESGinfo.hu).