Battery passport software
for the EU Battery Regulation

What battery passport software must deliver

The rules for the battery passport sit in Chapter IX of the EU Battery Regulation, that is Articles 77 and 78. The data scope is defined by Annex XIII, in three access levels: public fields that anyone can view via the QR code, restricted fields for persons with a legitimate interest and for the Commission, and an authority level for test reports. Battery passport software must keep these levels cleanly separated at the technical level. Merely hiding a field visually is not enough if it still shows up in the page source or in an API response.

The second building block is access: a QR code on the battery is mandatory and must lead to the passport. Responsible for the content and availability of the passport is the economic operator placing the battery on the market, that is you as the manufacturer or importer. The software takes care of data structure, validation and running the passport page. Responsibility for the accuracy of the data remains with you; no software can take that off your hands.

For an introduction to the topic: the guide What Is a Battery Passport? explains the basics, and the overview page Battery passport: the complete overview bundles all guides, deadlines and tools in one place.

What the software actually does

Type-specific editor for five battery types

At the core of DPP Hero is a field registry covering five battery types: EV, LMT, industrial, stationary storage and batteries without a BMS. Mandatory fields and visibility are stored per type, because an EV battery requires different information than a stationary home storage unit. The editor guides you through all data categories in seven steps and follows the structure of DIN SPEC 99100, the German guideline for the battery passport. You never work in a one-size-fits-all form where you have to guess which fields even apply to your type.

Export with blocking schema validation

You export your data as JSON in the Battery Passport Data Model v2.0. Before every export, a blocking schema validation runs against the five GEFEG category schemas of the data model: an export with schema errors never happens; instead, you see which field does not fit. In addition, there is a DIN SPEC JSON and PDF output in German and English. To put this in context: this validation checks your data against the published schemas. An official seal or certification for battery passport software does not exist, from any provider.

Public passport page with QR code

Every published passport gets a public page, accessible without login and free of charge for viewers. Restricted data is never even selected server-side and therefore cannot accidentally end up in the public view. The canonical passport URL is a GS1 Digital Link. You export the QR code as SVG or PNG, or for series as a bulk ZIP with up to 500 codes. A pre-print lock and a frozen QR domain ensure that codes already printed keep working permanently, and on request the passport page runs on your own domain. Every passport is signed, a public verify endpoint recomputes hash and signature live, and published passports are versioned. Every change remains traceable.

API and CSV import

There are two ways to connect your systems. The CSV import works with a schema generated directly from the field registry, so columns and mandatory fields always match the current state of the editor. The REST API is aligned with the methods of the upcoming API standard EN 18222, for example retrieving a passport via its product identifier or the state of a passport at a date in the past. Here too, the honest status: the final DIN version of EN 18222 is not yet available, and the full conformity assessment of our API is still outstanding. Aligned with the standard is the accurate claim; we do not claim more.

Supplier input without a login

A lot of passport data does not sit with you but with cell manufacturers and suppliers. That is what share links are for. Your supplier fills in their section without an account and sees only their part. Restricted values from other areas appear to them as status only. You keep control over who supplies what. The collection is single-step: you invite your direct supplier. There is no multi-tier chain through tier 2 and tier 3. If you need the upstream chain, you obtain it from your direct supplier.

Publish gate: completeness before publication

A passport can only be published once it is complete. The publish gate checks your organization's mandatory data, all seven editor steps, the GLN of the production site and the check digit of the GTIN. You should therefore sort out your GS1 identifiers well before the planned publication date: you obtain the identifiers directly from GS1, and the software checks them at publication. That way, no passport goes live with placeholders or transposed digits in the identifier. What has been added recently is listed in the changelog.

State of health and usage data: the part that keeps running after the sale

A common misunderstanding: the passport is done at placing on the market. Alongside the model data, Annex XIII holds a fourth block with data on the individual battery. That block changes across the whole life. So when selecting software, do not only ask how easily a passport is created. Ask how it is maintained over years.

What the battery management system has to provide

Since 18 August 2024 Article 14(1) requires current data in the battery management system. It covers stationary storage, LMT batteries and EV batteries. Required are the parameters for state of health and expected lifetime under Annex VII. Part A names the certified state of health (SOCE) for electric vehicle batteries. For stationary storage and LMT batteries it names remaining capacity, where applicable power capability and round trip efficiency, the evolution of self-discharge and where applicable ohmic resistance. Part B adds for the lifetime: date of manufacture, where applicable putting into service, energy and capacity throughput. Plus tracking of harmful events such as deep discharges and time spent at extreme temperatures. And the number of full equivalent cycles. Under paragraph 2 any lawful acquirer must be able to read these parameters at any time.

Who is allowed to see this data

This gets concrete for software. Annex XIII point 4 puts the individual battery data under an access restriction. It is “accessible only to persons with a legitimate interest”. That includes the state of health under Article 14. It includes the status of the battery. And the data from use: charging cycles, negative events, operating temperature, state of charge. Software showing these values publicly breaches the regulation. One exception is easily missed. The round trip efficiency sits in Annex XIII point 1(n). It therefore belongs in the public block.

Who keeps it up to date

Article 77(4) is clear: “The economic operator that places the battery on the market shall ensure that the information in the battery passport is accurate, complete and up to date.” They may authorize other operators in writing to act on their behalf. The responsibility stays with them. Where a battery is prepared for re-use or for repurposing, repurposed or remanufactured, the duty passes on under paragraph 7. It then falls on whoever places the changed battery on the market. That battery needs a new passport, linked to the original one. For second life applications that means: repurposing creates its own passport, and the residual value hangs on its history.

In DPP Hero the battery condition is its own area with 21 fields. They come from the same field registry as the rest of the passport. Every field carries its access level: 20 are restricted to legitimate interest, one is public. That is the round trip efficiency just mentioned. For ongoing maintenance there is a separate condition endpoint in the API, reading and writing. The writing PATCH merges sent and existing fields. A diagnostic system can therefore add single readings without overwriting the rest. Every change creates a version and an audit log entry. The status sits in a field with exactly the five values from Annex XIII point 4(c).

Carbon footprint: have it calculated, or carry it in the passport?

Tenders often expect the passport software to calculate the carbon figure itself. The keyword is usually PCF. That misses the division of work. A look at Annex II shows why.

What the regulation means by calculation

Annex II lays down that the future method builds on the PEF method and the PEFCR category rules. The calculation runs “on the basis of the bill of materials, energy and auxiliary materials” of a specific plant for a specific model. Electronic components such as the battery management unit and the cathode materials have to be identified precisely. They can make the largest contribution. The basis is company-specific primary data from the plants. That is a life cycle assessment with plant data, not a form field. It arises where the bill of materials and energy consumption sit, not in the passport software.

What ends up in the passport

Article 7(1) names the result figures. Those are the carbon footprint in kilograms of CO₂ equivalent per kilowatt hour over the lifetime and the breakdown by life cycle stage under Annex II. Plus the identification number of the EU declaration of conformity, the location of the manufacturing plant and a web link to the public version of the study. Paragraph 2 adds the performance class. DPP Hero keeps these values as its own fields, including the link to the study. As long as the methodology and format acts are missing, they stay optional. In short: have it calculated where the primary data sits. Keep and publish it here.

Who the software is for

DPP Hero is aimed at manufacturers and importers whose batteries require a passport from 18 February 2027. That covers three groups: LMT batteries, meaning batteries for e-bikes, e-scooters and other light means of transport, industrial batteries above 2 kWh including stationary energy storage, and EV batteries. For two of these groups there are dedicated guides: Battery passport for energy storage and Battery passport for e-bikes and e-scooters. Importers bringing batteries into the EU from third countries will find their specific questions covered in the guide Battery passport for importers.

You can start even without complete data. The editor shows per battery type which fields are missing. Share links let you collect the supplier parts step by step. Looking beyond batteries to the ESPR, the context is on DPP software. Your role in the chain does not decide the duty. It falls on the economic operator placing the battery on the EU market (Article 77(4)). Depending on the setup that is the cell manufacturer, the pack assembler, the OEM, the storage operator or the importer. Recyclers, repair shops and second-life operators do not owe the passport. They read it at the “legitimate interest” level. Repurposing or remanufacturing a battery does require a new passport (Article 77(7)).

Before you decide: the seven check points

The market for battery passport software is young: no vendor can point to a completed mandatory rollout before February 2027. Seven points can still be checked today, from type-specific mandatory fields through blocking schema validation and the separation of access levels to testability without a sales appointment. Written out in full, with the four vendor types and matching decision questions, they live in the battery passport software comparison.

Build it yourself or battery passport software?

Legally, nobody prescribes a particular software. The regulation requires a passport with the data from Annex XIII, accessible via a QR code, with cleanly separated access levels. In principle you can build that yourself, and for a single model with stable data a self-built solution looks manageable at first.

The real cost sits in maintenance. The data model keeps developing. We have already made the moves from v1.2 to v1.3 and from v1.3 to v2.0 (August 2026). Registry APIs and the semantic catalogue are announced for Q4 2026 according to the EC helpdesk. The final DIN version of EN 18222 is also pending. A self-build has to watch and follow every move itself. That costs developer time and carries its own schedule risk. Specialized software handles this maintenance centrally. On top come tasks rarely thought of in a self-build. Those are signing and versioning of published passports, restricted fields in API responses and the stability of printed QR codes.

The full side by side of both routes is in the guide build a battery passport yourself or use software. For a sober calculation, see the guide Battery passport costs, and what the path to your first passport looks like in practice is shown in the guide How to create a battery passport.

What is still open in the regulation

An honest purchase decision includes looking at what is still missing. You should know these four points:

EU registry

Implementing Regulation (EU) 2026/1778 on the registry has been in force since 6 August 2026, and the sandbox of the Commission registry has been running since 20 July 2026. Registration of battery passports is still blocked on the EU side, however, because the semantic catalogue is missing. According to the EC helpdesk, the catalog and registry APIs will arrive in Q4 2026, and the first registration obligation applies from 18 February 2027. Background in the guide EU battery passport registry.

Carbon footprint

The carbon duties are not triggered yet, because the implementing acts on methodology and format are missing. The Commission guidance of 15 August 2026 states this expressly for the carbon declaration, the carbon label and responsible sourcing. From February 2027 these points are not to be filled and not to be displayed for now. Presentations selling you a carbon declaration duty in force today misstate the legal position.

Harmonised standards

Decision (EU) 2026/1736 harmonises six DPP standards under the ESPR. The associated presumption of conformity applies to ESPR product passports, not to the battery passport. Using the standards remains voluntary.

Legitimate interest

The implementing act on access to restricted fields (Article 77(9)) is still not in place despite the expired deadline. The Commission's planning names Q4 2026.

DPP Hero is open about these gaps: affected fields are marked accordingly in the editor, and when the regulation moves, the software follows, without you having to start an update project of your own.

Who checks compliance and what a breach costs

The passport is not an end in itself but a condition of market access. Behind it stands an authority. Anyone selecting software should know what gets asked in a serious case.

What market surveillance can order

Article 79 describes the procedure. If market surveillance authorities consider a battery non-compliant, they set a deadline. Within it the economic operator must take corrective measures, withdraw the battery or recall it. If that does not happen, the authorities take provisional measures themselves. They then prohibit or restrict making it available. In Germany the Umweltbundesamt is the competent authority.

What the fines actually are

Article 93 leaves the level to the member states. It only requires effective, proportionate and dissuasive sanctions. In Germany section 60(3) BattDG sets three tiers: up to 500,000, up to 100,000 and up to 10,000 euros. The top tier covers due diligence and certain disregarded orders. The battery passport sits in section 60(2) number 29 and falls under the remaining cases, so up to 10,000 euros. Missing registration under number 23 sits at 100,000 euros. In detail in the article on penalties for non-compliance.

More expensive than the fine is usually the order. A recall or a sales stop hits deliveries at once. For software that means two things. It must be able to prove which version was published when. And it must get corrections into the delivered passport quickly, without new labels.

The surroundings: data carriers, data spaces and guidance

Around the passport duty a field of standards, data spaces and guidance has grown. Much of it is useful, little of it mandatory. That line often gets blurred in tenders.

Data carrier: the QR code is required, NFC and RFID are not

From 18 February 2027, Article 13(6) requires a QR code under Annex VI Part C on all batteries, and Article 77(3) makes the passport accessible through exactly that QR code, linked to a unique identifier under ISO/IEC 15459-1 to 15459-6. The regulation does not prohibit NFC chips or RFID tags alongside it, and many manufacturers fit them for the workshop. They are not a substitute for the QR code.

Data spaces and the Asset Administration Shell

In the automotive world, exchange increasingly runs through Catena-X, the industry data space of Catena-X Automotive Network e. V., whose reference building blocks are open in the Eclipse project Tractus-X. The Asset Administration Shell under IEC 63278-1:2023 is discussed as a carrier too. Both are an option, not an obligation: Article 77(5) requires open standards and an interoperable format that is transferable without vendor lock-in, machine-readable, structured and searchable. That is the yardstick for a provider, not membership of an ecosystem.

Guidance, standards and what comes next

The Battery Pass consortium spelled out the Annex XIII fields, funded by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy. The Content Guidance last appeared in December 2023, a Technical Guidance in 2024, plus a software demonstrator. DIN DKE SPEC 99100 emerged from it in January 2025. The project ended in March 2025. None of it is binding. They are guides; what binds is the regulation, Annex XIII and the Commission acts. The Commission working plan of 16 April 2025, COM(2025) 187, names iron and steel for 2026. Aluminium, textiles and tyres follow in 2027, furniture in 2028 and mattresses in 2029. The same path shows in the review of the Hannover Messe.

How much does battery passport software cost?

Our prices are public on the pricing page, with no inquiry form and no sales call. Getting started is free: you create an account, capture your first battery and try the editor with your own data. What implementing the battery passport costs overall, beyond the software itself, is covered in the guide Battery passport costs.