Article 77 — the article that creates the battery passport
Almost everything written about the battery passport traces back to a single article. Article 77 of Regulation (EU) 2023/1542 is short, and reading it is the fastest way to cut through the marketing noise around this subject. This page sets out what it requires, who it binds, how it connects to Annex XIII, and which parts people most often get wrong.
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In one line: Article 77 requires that every EV battery, LMT battery and industrial battery above 2 kWh placed on the EU market from 18 February 2027 has its own electronic record, unique to that individual battery, reachable through a data carrier on the battery, containing the information set out in Annex XIII.
What Article 77 actually requires
Stripped to its operative parts, the article establishes five things:
A record per battery, not per model. The passport corresponds to an individual battery and carries a unique identifier. This is the requirement people most often underestimate: it is not a product datasheet republished once, it is a per-unit record.
Reachable from the battery itself. Access is through a data carrier on the battery — in practice a QR code or data matrix — which resolves to the record rather than containing it. That separation matters, because the printed carrier cannot change while the data behind it must.
Content defined by Annex XIII. Article 77 does not itself list the data. It points to Annex XIII, which sets out the categories: identity, chemistry and materials, carbon footprint, supply-chain due diligence, performance and durability, and circularity and end-of-life.
Tiered access. Not everything is public. The Regulation differentiates between information available to anyone, information available to those with a legitimate interest such as repairers and recyclers, and information reserved for notified bodies and market-surveillance authorities.
Accuracy sits with whoever places the battery on the market. Not the cell manufacturer, not the software vendor. The economic operator that places the battery on the EU market is responsible for the record being correct and current.
Who and what it covers — and what it does not
The obligation applies from 18 February 2027, with no transition period and no exemption by company size, to three categories:
Electric vehicle batteries — without exception.
LMT batteries — light means of transport: e-bikes, e-scooters, e-mopeds, e-cargo bikes. No capacity threshold applies. The distinguishing test is that the battery is designed to provide traction to a wheeled vehicle of category L and weighs 25 kg or less, and is not an EV battery.
Industrial batteries above 2 kWh — here capacity is decisive. Stationary storage, container systems and most machine packs clear that threshold comfortably.
Portable batteries are out of scope for the passport. Laptop, phone and power-tool batteries carry labelling, collection and removability duties under the same Regulation, but not Article 77.
One provision catches more companies than any other: under Article 1 the Regulation applies to batteries incorporated into products. If you import a finished e-bike, a machine or a storage system, you place the battery inside it on the EU market — and Article 77 lands on you, even though you manufactured nothing and the cell was made elsewhere.
The parts people get wrong
“It is a QR code.” The carrier is the least of it. The obligation is the record behind the carrier, its content, its access tiers and its persistence.
“Our supplier handles it.” A supplier can provide data and can help technically, but the accountability follows the placing on the market. A manufacturer outside the EU is outside the reach of EU market surveillance; the importer is not.
“One passport per product line.” The record corresponds to an individual battery with a unique identifier.
“We have CE marking, so we are covered.” CE is a conformity mark, the passport is a data record. They coexist; neither substitutes for the other.
“There will be a delay.” Possible, but not something to plan around. The date is in force and the binding constraint is not software — it is obtaining supplier data, which takes months.
From the article to an actual project
Article 77 tells you the obligation exists; Annex XIII tells you the categories; neither gives you a field list you can hand to an engineer. That gap is what DIN DKE SPEC 99100 fills in practice, and it is why implementations converge on roughly 110 attributes of which 94 are mandatory from day one — see the standard explained for how that reconciliation works.
The practical sequence for anyone reading the article for the first time:
Establish scope. Which of your products contain an EV, LMT or >2 kWh industrial battery? That list, not your catalogue, is the project.
Audit against the field list. The complete set of attributes with datatype, access tier and mandatory status is published free — as a page, and as JSON or CSV under CC BY 4.0.
Start the supplier requests that will take longest. Carbon footprint and recycled content per metal are the two that reliably run to months.
If you would rather see the gap than work it out, the free readiness check maps a catalogue against the obligation in a couple of minutes.
Frequently asked questions
What does Article 77 of the EU Battery Regulation require?
That every EV battery, LMT battery and industrial battery above 2 kWh placed on the EU market from 18 February 2027 has an electronic record unique to that individual battery, reachable through a data carrier on the battery, containing the information set out in Annex XIII, with differentiated access rights. Responsibility for accuracy sits with whoever places the battery on the market.
Does Article 77 apply to batteries inside finished products?
Yes. Under Article 1 the Regulation applies to batteries incorporated into products, so importing a finished e-bike, machine or storage system means placing the battery inside it on the EU market. The Article 77 duty follows that act, regardless of where the cell was made.
What is the difference between Article 77 and Annex XIII?
Article 77 creates the obligation — that a passport must exist, be per battery, be reachable from a carrier and have tiered access. Annex XIII defines what information it must contain. Neither provides an implementable field list, which is the gap DIN DKE SPEC 99100 fills.
Are portable batteries covered by Article 77?
No. Batteries in laptops, phones and power tools fall outside the passport obligation. They are still covered by other parts of the same Regulation, including labelling, collection and removability requirements.