Frequently Asked Questions

Question 1

What is a Digital Battery Passport?

Accepted Answer

A Digital Battery Passport (DBP) is a structured digital record of a battery's identity, composition, sustainability performance and lifecycle history, accessed through a QR code on the battery. It brings together technical, ESG and compliance data - material composition, carbon footprint, performance indicators and end-of-life handling - in a standardised, auditable format that can be shared securely with regulators, customers and supply chain partners.

Question 2

What is Open Battery Passport, and what does "open" mean?

Accepted Answer

Open Battery Passport is Minespider's battery-passport platform. "Open" means flexible deployment options, transparent pricing and an interoperable system: it gives you the operating-model flexibility, implementation clarity and integration pathways needed for real-world battery data programmes. Originally launched as a collaborative initiative, it now supports production-ready passport programmes for companies preparing for the EU Battery Regulation, and is available as SaaS, private cloud, white-label or on-premise.

Question 3

Who needs a Digital Battery Passport?

Accepted Answer

EU Battery Regulation (Regulation (EU) 2023/1542) requires a Digital Battery Passport for electric vehicle batteries, industrial batteries and rechargeable portable batteries from 18 February 2027.

Question 4

Is a Digital Battery Passport a real-time monitoring system?

Accepted Answer

A Digital Battery Passport is a structured record of a battery's lifecycle and key events - manufacturing, shipment, repair, repurposing and recycling - not a real-time monitoring system or a digital twin. It documents what happened to the battery in an auditable format rather than streaming live operational data.

Question 5

How is a Digital Battery Passport accessed?

Accepted Answer

A Digital Battery Passport is accessed through a QR code (data carrier) affixed to the battery, its packaging or accompanying documentation. Scanning it opens a secure interface that shows each user the information they are entitled to see based on their role and access rights - so regulators, recyclers and customers reach the same passport but view different layers.

Question 6

Can a Digital Battery Passport be updated as the battery moves through its lifecycle?

Accepted Answer

A Digital Battery Passport is updated throughout the battery's life, with new information added whenever a significant event occurs - manufacturing, shipment, installation, repair, repurposing or recycling - and each update creating a new version while preserving the full history. This covers maintenance and repair records, second-life applications (changes in ownership, use case and performance) and end-of-life and recycling activities, giving a complete and traceable record across the battery's life.

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Question 7

Can different stakeholders see different levels of information?

Accepted Answer

Open Battery Passport works with permissioned data access and offers three data layers - public, transparent and private - so different stakeholders see different levels of information. Anyone scanning the QR code sees the public layer, while more detailed technical, operational or compliance data is granted selectively to authorised parties such as repairers, recyclers, notified bodies, market surveillance authorities and the European Commission. You decide what is shown to whom across your supply chain and beyond.

Question 8

Is the Digital Battery Passport mandatory, and when?

Accepted Answer

The EU Battery Regulation requires a Digital Battery Passport for electric vehicle batteries, industrial batteries and rechargeable portable batteries from 18 February 2027.

Question 9

How does the Digital Battery Passport relate to the EU DPP registry?

Accepted Answer

The Digital Battery Passport is a product-specific implementation of the broader Digital Product Passport (DPP) concept introduced by the Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation (ESPR). The EU DPP registry is a central system being developed by the European Commission to register and manage DPPs across product categories, including batteries.

Question 10

What standards and frameworks does Open Battery Passport align with?

Accepted Answer

Open Battery Passport aligns with Catena-X, Global Battery Alliance (GBA), European Battery Alliance (EBA), Battery Pass, and CEN-CENELEC JTC 24 standards and frameworks.

Question 11

Does Open Battery Passport support regulations outside the EU?

Accepted Answer

Open Battery Passport can support region-specific requirements and future regulatory frameworks beyond Europe, including the US Inflation Reduction Act, because it is built on configurable data models and flexible workflows. The same system can take on new attributes and obligations as they emerge in other markets.

Question 12

Can Open Battery Passport integrate with existing enterprise systems, and how is data added?

Accepted Answer

Open Battery Passport integrates with enterprise systems through a RESTful API that connects passport data with ERP, PLM, manufacturing, supplier-data and sustainability-reporting systems. You can add data four ways - manually, with Minespider's AI Copilot, by file integration, or via direct API - and export in CSV, so you do not need full integration from day one. Many organisations start with manual entry or uploads and add automation as their processes mature.

Question 13

What are the hosting and deployment options?

Accepted Answer

Open Battery Passport offers four deployment models. The managed SaaS runs on European cloud infrastructure (currently Netherlands-based data centres) as a multi-tenant environment and is cloud-agnostic for other regions where data-residency rules apply. A private-cloud option gives a dedicated environment with tighter residency and governance control. A white-label option runs under your own brand, and a single-tenant on-premise deployment runs entirely within your own infrastructure for full data control.

Question 14

How well does the platform scale?

Accepted Answer

Open Battery Passport is designed for enterprise-scale deployments - millions of passports and lifecycle records across large user bases - on a horizontally scalable cloud architecture that adds capacity as data volumes and transaction loads grow. Whether you manage hundreds or millions of batteries, performance and availability are built to hold.

Question 15

Can the platform be customised to our needs?

Accepted Answer

Open Battery Passport can be customised with custom data fields, additional modules, tailored workflows, dashboards and KPI reports, all configured within the standard architecture without source-code access, alongside branding options such as logo, colours and custom domain. Core elements remain standardised for security and interoperability.

Question 16

Can we run Open Battery Passport under our own brand (white-label)?

Accepted Answer

Open Battery Passport supports white-label deployments with your logo, brand colours and custom domain, and can host multiple brands or business units in a single deployment. A subtle "Powered by Minespider" attribution remains for credibility and support, while the rest of the experience reflects your identity.

Question 17

Does the platform support Single Sign-On (SSO)?

Accepted Answer

Open Battery Passport supports Single Sign-On. Standard email/password and federated Google and Microsoft sign-in are available out of the box, and enterprise SSO can be configured against your corporate identity provider during onboarding to match your IT and security policies.

Question 18

What languages and devices does the platform support?

Accepted Answer

The interface is available in 25 languages (the 24 official EU languages plus Chinese), and free-text fields accept data in any language. It is fully web-based and works on desktop, tablet and mobile browsers, with no dedicated app required.

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Question 19

Does Open Battery Passport support supply chain traceability?

Accepted Answer

Open Battery Passport supports supply chain traceability across both Digital Battery Passports and Digital Product Passports in the same platform, linking products, components and materials into auditable chain-of-custody records that trace back to source materials. It can also represent the full battery hierarchy - systems, packs, modules and cells - so traceability holds across the entire structure. Where no traceability system exists yet, Minespider's tracking tool can support it.

Question 20

How do suppliers contribute data - do they need their own accounts?

Accepted Answer

Suppliers can contribute data either through their own platform accounts or through your existing systems. You can onboard suppliers with secure access so they upload directly, or collect their data and integrate it into the passport yourself. You do not have to onboard suppliers to create a passport, but you will need data inputs from them for obligations such as due diligence and carbon footprint.

Question 21

Who owns the data in the Battery Passport?

Accepted Answer

Your organisation owns and controls the data in its Battery Passports. Minespider acts only as the technology provider and data processor on your behalf, so you keep authority over how information is collected, managed, shared and accessed.

Question 22

How is sensitive data protected, and is the platform GDPR-compliant?

Accepted Answer

Open Battery Passport is GDPR-compliant and protects sensitive data through encryption, role-based access controls, and secure hosting in European data centres.

Question 23

What security and quality certifications does Minespider hold?

Accepted Answer

Minespider holds ISO 27001 (information security), ISO 9001 (quality management), ISO 14001 (environmental management), and ISO 50001 (energy management) certifications.

Question 24

How does Open Battery Passport ensure data integrity?

Accepted Answer

Every passport update is timestamped, version-controlled and recorded in an audit trail, so changes can be tracked and independently verified throughout the battery's life. Cryptographic verification underpins this: the platform stores a digital fingerprint (hash) of the data rather than the data itself, providing tamper-evident proof of integrity while sensitive content stays in secure storage.

Question 25

What does implementation involve, and how long does it take?

Accepted Answer

Implementation starts with onboarding and a kickoff to align requirements and responsibilities, then mapping data to your existing systems, creating initial passports and validating workflows. Initial onboarding typically takes 4 to 8 weeks; integrations and supplier onboarding can add further months depending on complexity. Every rollout is paced to your data readiness.

Question 26

Can we start with a pilot or an MVP before February 2027?

Accepted Answer

You can start with a limited-scope pilot - a single battery model or product line - to test processes and data availability before full rollout, then expand across products, batteries and suppliers. Phased and minimum-viable rollouts let you meet key requirements early and scale toward the 18 February 2027 deadline without reacting under pressure.

Question 27

How much does the Open Battery Passport cost?

Accepted Answer

Open Battery Passport uses a flat annual subscription rather than usage-based pricing - a fixed fee regardless of how many passports, users or units you create. That gives predictable long-term costs and removes financial barriers to scaling across products, suppliers and regions.

Question 28

What support is included, and are there limits on users?

Accepted Answer

Onboarding, setup, user training, implementation guidance, regulatory and technical support, integration guidance and data-readiness assessments are all included in the annual subscription, with no extra charges. You can onboard as many internal users as you need, with role-based permissions across compliance, sustainability, engineering, procurement and supply chain teams.

Question 29

Is there vendor lock-in, and can we move to another provider?

Accepted Answer

There is no vendor lock-in. You retain full ownership of your data and can export it at any time (standard CSV export, plus the API) to migrate to another solution whenever you choose.

Open Battery Passport basics

Regulation and compliance

Platform and architecture

Supply chain traceability

Security and data governance

Implementation and commercial

Data ownership and exit