European Council adopts new Batteries Regulation

The new regulation is aimed at strengthening sustainability rules for batteries and waste batteries. The regulation will regulate the entire life cycle of batteries, from production to reuse and recycling, and ensure that they are safe, sustainable and competitive.

For the e-bike industry this means they will have to offer the opportunities of individual cell replacement as mentioned in Article 11 of the regulation. At the moment it is uncertain how well prepared the e-bike battery industry is to comply as this requirement in the concept text of the regulation came as a surprise last December. Also at Eurobike last month this issue was not top of mind.

Awaiting EU Commission's guidelines

“We are looking forward to the Commission’s guidelines to support the implementation of Article 11 on the removability and replaceability of batteries, a work we are closely following”, said Kinga Timaru-Kast, Director for Public Affairs & Communications at Recharge, the European industry association for advanced rechargeable and lithium batteries.

Circular economy

The regulation introduces a dedicated collection objective for waste batteries for light means of transport. 51% needs to be collected by the end of 2028 and 61% by the end of 2031. Light means of transport batteries will need to be replaceable by an independent professional.

The regulation introduces labelling and information requirements, among other things on the battery's components and recycled content, and an electronic “battery passport” and a QR code. In order to give member states and economic players on the market enough time to prepare, labelling requirements will apply by 2026 and the QR code by 2027.

Next step

The vote by the Council this week closes the adoption procedure. The regulation will now be signed by the Council and the European Parliament. It will then be published in the EU’s Official Journal and enter into force 20 days after.

The Source : BIKE EUROPE