2024-07-15 05:00:00
This is the promise of “battery passports” – digital files similar to black boxes for accumulators – whose prototypes are multiplying and arriving on the market. In mid-June, the manufacturer Volvo (owned by the Chinese Geely) threw a spanner in the works by announcing that its EX90 electric SUV, whose production began in North Carolina, will be equipped with such a “passport” this year in Europe and the United States.
Mandatory in Europe in 2027
What will this identity document look like? Inside the driver’s door of each EX90 car, a large quick response code (QR Code) is engraved and provides access to a digital platform listing a multitude of information on the vehicle’s battery. Among them: technical data on its chemistry, capacity or producer, but also its carbon footprint, as well as “the country of origin and production route” of the cobalt, nickel, graphite and lithium it contains, and the share of recycled metals, Volvo lists in a written response to L’Usine Nouvelle. “Over time, additional information will be added to the passport, so that Volvo Cars is fully compliant with the European Battery Regulation before the deadline of February 2027,” specifies the Swedish manufacturer.
This text, adapted in 2023, provides that in three years, all industrial batteries of more than 2 kilowatt hours and all electric vehicles placed on the market in Europe will be equipped with such a passport. The objective: “to provide end users with transparent, reliable and clear information regarding batteries and used batteries”, explains the legislator, who also includes in the data to be provided their state of health and instructions relating to their dismantling and recycling. Not all the information will be public and only regulators should have access to the detailed versions, specifying the precise mines, refineries and factories involved in the production of each battery.
From Glencore’s cobalt mine to Tesla cars
This new requirement does not come out of nowhere. Containing many critical metals, batteries must justify that they do not include materials extracted in conflict zones and are increasingly scrutinized for their carbon footprint. “The battery passport is a way of imposing that those we import are at the same level of environmental standards and carbon footprint as those we will produce in Europe”anticipates Christophe Poinssot, director of the Bureau of Geological and Mining Research (BRGM). An approach in which Europe is not alone. “China and the United States have different, but similar, regulations,” notes Volvo Cars, convinced that “greater transparency can help the global adoption of electric vehicles.”
He is not alone. The industry has been working on the subject for years, which a good connoisseur of the world of metals – doubtful – does not hesitate to present as a “sea serpent”. In early 2023, the powerful Global Battery Alliance, a consortium of industry giants that helped popularize the concept of “battery passports,” had presented various pilots (using partly fictitious data). For example, to link cobalt used in a Tesla LG battery to the Kamoto underground mine operated by Glencore in the Democratic Republic of Congo, or to guarantee the industrial origin of cobalt and lithium used in Audi batteries!
Like Circulor, many digital companies such as the Dutch Circularize or the German Minespider are implementing technologies dedicated to this global monitoring of batteries. In France, Eviden, a subsidiary of the Atos group, announced on Thursday July 11 the launch of its own battery passport solution, without yet having any customers to claim. “It’s the right time to launch it: there is a need among manufacturers, in view of the regulations but also because the analysis of the data collected can help them improve the composition and design of batteries”says Matthias Boehmer, head of the Automotive division for Germany at Eviden, who also stresses the interest of the solution in facilitating the end of life: “By collecting information on the life of the battery, we will be able to better know whether it is worth reconditioning it to make a second-hand battery or sending it directly for recycling.”. Another argument: “Digitizing your supply chain allows brands to differentiate themselves and present themselves as more sustainable than their competitors”adds Douglas Johnson Poensgen, CEO of the British start-up Circulor, which developed Volvo’s solution and assures that it has signed with “three major American car manufacturers in the last six months”.
Blockchain and digital twins
But in the opaque world of commodities, promising transparency is no easy feat. Not to mention the industry’s tendency toward secrecy or frequent fraud, industrial chains are long and complex. “There are no less than 12 metals in an NMC battery [Nickel Manganèse Cobalt]each of which comes from several mines, and it sometimes takes 8 industrial stages to go from a pile of stones to a finished product,” Douglas Johnson Poensgen emphasizes for whom “Manufacturers know their direct suppliers, but rarely their second or third tier suppliers, supply chains which also change frequently”For five years, Volvo and Circulor had to map the manufacturer’s supply chain, gradually moving up from one link to the next.
Like most of its competitors, the start-up – which creates a digital twin of the equipment it tracks to trace its various transformations – uses blockchain technology. This decentralized protocol guarantees the immutability of the data recorded and shared along the chain. In short: “When someone says their hardware came from a mine, I want to be able to verify it. Timestamping and notarizing transactions as they happen ensures they haven’t been rewritten, and lets me see if an unknown vendor is bringing in hardware.”explains Douglas Johnson Poensgen.
A strategy also followed by Eviden, which has joined forces with the IOTA Foundation, a German non-profit organization dedicated to the blockchain industry, to guarantee the traceability and authenticity of the information shared. “Data is entered as the battery life cycle progresses by the various stakeholders.”explains Matthias Boehmer of Eviden. Another advantage: “Depending on their criticality and confidentiality, the data will be public or encrypted and accessible only to those with the authorization level to access it”he specifies to reassure manufacturers that their manufacturing secrets will be respected.
Trying to detect anomalies
Sufficient? There are risks of fraud (it is always possible to discreetly mix two minerals at the edge of the line) and it remains difficult to take on the entire value chain. “Most of the projects are still in the pilot phase”underlines a player in the sector under cover of anonymity. “There is still a lot of smoke and mirrors, as suppliers are often reluctant to share their carbon footprint and their own suppliers… The battery passports on the market today are simplified”he points out, noting that they “will improve with time”.
“We have passed the checks of the car manufacturers, who have tested our solution”argues Douglas Johnson Poensgen of Circulor. In order not to depend on the statements of the actors, his start-up plugs into the production management data and existing invoices of the factories. “Every batch of something already has a digital identity, which is used to receive payment”emphasizes the entrepreneur. “Of course, it is possible to mislabel but we have built a whole set of logical systems to try to detect anomalies”he specifies, “The goal is to significantly increase the level of confidence in the system”Furthermore, this solution will not replace traditional supplier audits.
Towards generalized product surveillance?
This Sisyphean-like work requires the continuous integration of participants (defining with them the data needed to track their activity) to follow the movements of the supply chain.. “Nearly 200 actors are connected to our platform today”including major battery producers such as the Chinese CATL and the South Korean LG, explains the founder of Circulor. He anticipates that this obligation of measurement and traceability should eventually “bring some degree of simplification to supply chains”through direct partnerships and reducing the number of suppliers to promote product monitoring.
Still in its infancy, this “digital passport” system might set a precedent, hope industry players. “A passport costs regarding $10 per car, it doesn’t undermine the economic viability of an electric vehicle so we started there. But the digitalization of industrial chains, which are often opaque and unclear regarding the origin of their materials, will continue.”predicts the CEO of Circulor. The next candidates? They will be steel and aluminum, he says, two metals eager to gain transparency on their carbon footprint with the arrival of the European carbon border adjustment mechanism.
Nathan Mann, with Marion Garreau
1721035784
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