Everledger, Ford battery passport pilot

To encourage greater transparency in the inevitable battery-powered world, Ford Motor Company has partnered with Everledger to deliver the world's first passport pilot for the responsible recycling of electric vehicle batteries.

Founded in 2015, Everledger is an independent technology company that aims to help businesses monitor asset information with various security technologies, such as blockchain, artificial intelligence, smart labeling with near field communication (NFC) tags, and internet of things (IoT) devices.

The new pilot with Ford is designed to leverage Everledger's technology platform and track EV batteries throughout their lifecycle to ensure responsible management during use and recycling at the end of their useful life.

"The Everledger platform and its battery passport functionality positions stakeholders along the supply chain to verify a battery's material provenance, chemistry and identity; and measure its sustainability and environmental impact alongside creating a multi-billion dollar global market for used batteries that maximizes the recovery of raw materials and accelerates the development of climate-friendly mobility," said Founder and CEO of Everledger Leanne Kemp.

Ford hopes this will allow them to gain better visibility on out-of-warranty batteries, validate responsible end-of-life recycling, and expand access to data such as recycled critical minerals produced and associated with carbon emissions.

During manufacture, Ford batteries and their inner modules will be tagged with a localized signature that can then be scanned with any connected device by each organization as the battery changes hands.

These scans will allow otherwise separated links in the value chain to report on and access information about a battery's location, chemistry, and other attributes and activities taking place, such as transportation, disassembly, and recycling.

The battery passport concept was first publicly launched at the World Economic Forum's 50th Annual Meeting by the Global Battery Alliance, a multi-stakeholder alliance that brings together 110 leading international organizations, including Everledger, as well as NGOs, industry actors, academics, and governments.

The battery passport is the digital identity of a battery which includes information about its materials and components and, ultimately, the battery itself, ideally creating transparency in the battery supply chain as well as the lifecycle of the final product.

"A fully connected and transparent battery passport, secured by blockchain technology, allows electric vehicle manufacturers and owners to not only track and report the lifetime journey of each battery, but increasingly where those critical minerals originated and how those mines stack up with the use of renewable energy, enabling brands like Ford to more easily report on climate action and Scope 3 emissions," added Kemp.

The pilot comes ahead of a new European battery regulation, expected to enact late this year or early 2023, that will require manufacturers to report on their extended producer responsibility for proper battery recycling.

This pilot, to be first conducted in the North American market, will demonstrate how combinations of advanced technologies can streamline regulatory compliance and add efficiencies across the value chain.

In addition to benefits for auto manufacturers, the participating recyclers expect to gain process efficiencies from being able to simply scan the battery to receive essential information such as battery chemistry.

"Cirba Solutions has been the leader in providing traceability and transparency in battery recycling for decades," said Cirba Solutions President and CEO David Klanecky. "We are pleased to support continued efforts to securely collect data enhancing traceability across the entire battery supply chain."

Included in the list of participating recyclers is a company that has been charging to the forefront in sustainable battery recycling.

"We are excited to be part of this innovative pilot project to better improve the understanding of EV batteries' full lifecycle," said Ajay Kochhar, CEO of Li-Cycle. "This project will help support our goal of creating a closed-loop supply chain of critical battery materials to support EV production."