Kia is trialling a new battery passport system that analyses the condition of EV batteries in real time.
According to the vehicle manufacturer, the passport enables live State of Health (SoH) tracking, real-time repair diagnostics, and end-to-end traceability across the battery’s lifecycle.
This has benefits such as extended battery life, more affordable maintenance, and a higher level of trust when buying or selling used EVs.
For the pilot, a Kia EV3 fitted with a Dukosi battery cell monitoring system was transported from Korea to Germany in February.
The trial EV3 is able to monitor and transmit live data for each cell of the battery pack and upload it to its digital battery passport.
When the data is uploaded, users, mechanics, and regulators, among others, can access real-time information on the battery’s SoH through the car’s infotainment system.
Also, the system automatically updates after any repair work to ensure accuracy and traceability during the battery’s lifecycle.
To access the battery passport data collected throughout the trial, a data-sharing pilot environment, developed by TNO, has been used.
In addition, Kia has created a dedicated internal organisation to develop a full battery passport service in collaboration with industry partners.
Kia plans to roll out the feature across all EV and hybrid models sold across Europe by February 2027, ahead of new EU battery passport legislation.
Marc Hedrich, president and CEO at Kia Europe said, “Kia aims to set a new standard for customers regarding battery transparency and performance.
“Through testing cell-level battery passports, we gain insights on what ownership benefits we can offer our customers.
“On top of advantages such as extended battery life, we will be building on a relationship of trust as well.”
