Digital product passport automotive: vehicles and parts

As of 11 November 2026 · sourced from primary law · not legal advice · Auf Deutsch lesen

This English version was prepared with AI from the German page. No native speaker or lawyer has read it. Found a mistake? Write to office@proofpass.eu.

Three passports, three regulations

Whoever supplies vehicles or parts deals with three different digital records. None of them rests on an ESPR act.

Battery passport (Art. 77 Regulation (EU) 2023/1542): from 18 February 2027 for every electric vehicle battery placed on the market or put into service.
Environmental Vehicle Passport, EVP (Art. 3, point (68) Regulation (EU) 2024/1257): a record in digital form of the environmental performance of the vehicle at the moment of registration, such as pollutant emission limits, CO2 emissions, fuel and electric energy consumption, electric range and battery durability. The manufacturer issues it for every vehicle and delivers it to the purchaser together with the vehicle; the data must be available for display in the vehicle electronic systems or through a QR code or any similar method (Art. 7(4)).
Digital Circularity Vehicle Passport (Art. 13 Regulation (EU) 2026/1738): from 1 September 2032 for every vehicle of categories M1 and N1 placed on the market. Article 13 does not apply to categories M2, M3, N2, N3 and O (Art. 2(3)(h)), to L-category vehicles (Art. 2(4)(f)) or to special purpose vehicles (Art. 2(5)(i)). The passport holds information on removing parts, on parts containing lead, mercury, cadmium or hexavalent chromium under a derogation, on recycled content and the official catalogue of spare parts.

Timeline with status

Step	Date	Status	Provision
Euro 7 for new M1 and N1 types, with the Environmental Vehicle Passport	29 November 2026	binding	Art. 21 Regulation (EU) 2024/1257
Battery passport for electric vehicle batteries	18 February 2027	binding	Art. 77(1) Regulation (EU) 2023/1542
Euro 7 for all new M1 and N1 vehicles	29 November 2027	binding	Art. 21 Regulation (EU) 2024/1257
End-of-life vehicles Regulation applies (M1, N1)	1 September 2028	binding	Art. 2(1)(a), Art. 59(2) Regulation (EU) 2026/1738
Implementing acts on the circularity passport	by 14 August 2030	binding (deadline for the Commission)	Art. 13(6)
Regulation also applies to M2, M3, N2, N3, O and L, without circularity passport	1 September 2031	binding	Art. 2(1)(c) to (e), (3), (4)
Digital Circularity Vehicle Passport for M1 and N1	1 September 2032	binding	Art. 13(1), Art. 2

What the ESPR has to do with vehicles

The Ecodesign Regulation excludes vehicles under Regulations (EU) 2018/858, No 167/2013 and No 168/2013, but only for the product aspects regulated by vehicle legislation itself (Art. 1(2)(h) ESPR). Components and intermediate products are in principle covered by the ESPR (Art. 1(2)). No vehicle group is in the working plan COM(2025) 187.

For suppliers, the planned groups that go into a vehicle therefore matter: tyres (provisionally 2027), steel (provisionally 2026) and aluminium (provisionally 2027). Whether their acts include final products with a high steel or aluminium content is still being examined by the Commission.

Which data is fixed

For the circularity passport, Article 13(2) sets the content and Article 13(5) the form: open standards, interoperable format, machine-readable, structured, searchable. Information already in the battery passport or the Environmental Vehicle Passport is not duplicated, provided interoperability is ensured (paragraph 3). The technical rules follow by implementing act (paragraph 6).

Manufacturers have to provide the information on removal and replacement under Article 11 from 1 September 2029 for new type-approved vehicle types, to waste management operators, publishers of technical information and repair and maintenance operators. What is in the battery passport is described in the guide Battery passport or QR code.

What you can do today

Manufacturers: plan the Environmental Vehicle Passport and the battery passport together. Both come before 2028.
Battery suppliers: agree in writing with the vehicle manufacturer who issues and maintains the battery passport.
Suppliers: keep material data, recycled content and substances such as lead or hexavalent chromium retrievable per part. They go into the circularity passport later.
Label plastic and elastomer parts, components and materials using the nomenclature of the coding standards in Annex VII Regulation (EU) 2026/1738 (Art. 12(1)).
Follow the dates in the deadline tracker and the implementing acts due by 2030.

Frequently asked questions

Does every car part need its own product passport?

As of 11 November 2026, no. The circularity passport applies to the vehicle (Art. 13 Regulation (EU) 2026/1738). The electric vehicle battery has its own passport. Other parts would only get a passport through an ESPR act, for example tyres.

Does the circularity passport apply to vehicles already registered?

Art. 13(1) attaches to vehicles placed on the market from 1 September 2032. The article sets no duty for vehicles placed on the market earlier.

Does the end-of-life vehicles Regulation apply to motorcycles?

To L-category vehicles from 1 September 2031 (Art. 2(1)(e) Regulation (EU) 2026/1738), but not the circularity passport under Article 13 (Art. 2(4)(f)). Pedal cycles with pedal assistance of categories L1e-A and L1e-B are excluded altogether (Art. 2(2)(i)).

Is the Euro 7 Environmental Vehicle Passport a product passport?

It is a record of its own under Art. 3, point (68) Regulation (EU) 2024/1257, not an ESPR passport. The circularity passport has to be interoperable with it (Art. 13(1) Regulation (EU) 2026/1738).

As of 11 November 2026. The legal text in force prevails. This page is not legal advice; sources are given above.

Digital product passport in the automotive sector: which passports are coming for vehicles and parts?