Annex XIII field groups explained: the four points that organise a battery passport

Annex XIII to Regulation (EU) 2023/1542 lists the information that a battery passport must contain. The annex is organised in four points, and each point is defined by audience as well as by content. Point 1 is information relating to the battery model accessible to the general public. Point 2 is model information accessible only to persons with a legitimate interest and the Commission. Point 3 is model information accessible only to notified bodies, market surveillance authorities and the Commission.

Point 4 is information relating to the individual battery, accessible to persons with a legitimate interest. A reader who does not know which point a field belongs to cannot judge whether absence means missing data or restricted access.

What does point 1 contain?

Point 1 contains the public model summary. It covers general battery information including manufacturer identity, model identifier, category, chemistry in general terms, capacity, voltage and weight, together with the place of manufacture, the declaration of conformity reference, and information on carbon footprint, recycled content, performance and durability, substances, and waste prevention and management. Point 1 is the part of the record that a person scanning a battery in a shop, a workshop or a recycling facility can expect to see without authentication. The summary character of point 1 matters: composition is shown in summary, performance is shown with the values and conditions that the public summary requires, and detail that could reveal proprietary construction or supplier identity is reserved to point 2. A public summary that omits a point 1 item is incomplete, not merely concise.

What does point 2 contain?

Point 2 contains detailed model information for persons with a legitimate interest. Detailed composition, including materials used in the cathode, anode and electrolyte, sits here, together with part numbers for components and contact details for sources of replacement spares. Dismantling information sits here: exploded diagrams showing cell location, disassembly sequences, fastening techniques, tools required, warnings about damage risk, and cell numbers and layout. Safety measures sit here as well. The legitimate interest audience includes repairers, remanufacturers, repurposers and recyclers who need the detail to work on the battery. The Commission also has access. Point 2 detail must match the model revision it describes. Dismantling detail for an earlier revision, presented without a revision note, misleads the very readers the point exists to serve.

What does point 3 contain?

Point 3 contains the results of test reports proving compliance with the Regulation or with delegated or implementing acts adopted under it. Access is limited to notified bodies, market surveillance authorities and the Commission. Point 3 is not a summary of testing and not a statement that testing occurred. It is the results themselves, held in the record system for authority inspection. A reader without authority access must not treat the absence of test results in a public or authorised view as proof that no testing occurred. The record system should make the existence and tier of point 3 material clear in general terms, without exposing the results. Point 3 also explains why a passport check alone cannot determine compliance: the evidence that proves compliance sits in a tier that most readers will never see, and compliance conclusions belong to the bodies that can inspect it.

What does point 4 contain?

Point 4 contains individual battery information: unit level values for performance and durability, state of health information, status information, and information resulting from use. Point 4 is the life record. It grows over time, it is dated, and it belongs to one battery only. The audience is persons with a legitimate interest, which in practice means actors who need unit history to repair, assess, repurpose or recycle the battery, together with the holder where the system provides for holder access. Point 4 must not be confused with point 1 or point 2. A state of health value is not a model property. A status change is not a model revision. A unit value copied into the model summary, or a model value copied into the unit history, breaks the logic of the annex and creates a false impression of knowledge about the single battery.

How do the four points work together in one record?

The four points work together as layers of one record, not as four separate documents. The identifier links them. The model identifier links points 1 to 3. The unique identifier links point 4 to the model. A change in the model layer, such as a revised chemistry description, is recorded as a model version change and does not rewrite unit history. A change in the unit layer, such as a new state of health entry, does not change the model summary. The table below summarises the structure for quick reference during a record check.

What reading errors does the four point structure prevent?

The structure prevents three common errors. It prevents a public reader from concluding that restricted detail does not exist. It prevents an authorised reader from quoting detailed composition as if it were public information. It prevents any reader from treating a model value as a unit measurement. Each error is a layer error, and the remedy is the same in each case: name the point, name the tier, and quote the field with its scope. A record check that proceeds point by point, in order, is slower than a scan of a display, and the slowness is a feature. Records are checked, not skimmed, when decisions about repair, purchase or recycling depend on them. This guide gives general educational information only and does not give legal advice for a particular battery or record.