Open source distributed ledger blockchain technology (DLT) developer Iota is powering a digital passport to track battery cells used in electric vehicles.
Iota is supplying its DLT blockchain technology to Eviden in France for the Eviden Digital Passport Solution (EDPS) to track EV batteries from production to end of life.
This is one of the first ready-to-use DLT-based Digital Product Passports (DPPs) on the market and the first of its scale to use IOTA’s technology. EDPS allows services to be built with comprehensive data on a product’s life cycle from production to disposal. It covers everything from origin and materials, manufacturing, and usage, to repairs and end-of-life recycling, enhancing transparency and traceability.
The EDPS records the entire transaction history of the EV battery as a chronological chain. Once recorded, data is unchangeable and reliable. The system validates the legitimacy of data and, through efficient data management via DLT, minimizes the amount of data used.
The EDPS also eliminates the risk of manufacturers and businesses not meeting environmental standards and the EU requirements regarding the sustainability, safety, and disposal of batteries. By simplifying regulatory compliance on a product level and encouraging continuous reuse and repurposing of products instead of discarding them, DPPs enable circularity and promote a more localized, diverse, and resilient supply chain. They also add another layer of compliance by providing a lens into a product’s durability and performance.
Eviden is a subsidiary of French tech giant Atos and has used its industry expertise to navigates the complexities of digital product passports, initially with electrical vehicle (EV) batteries as its first product category,
The Passport Creator can be used by any type of automotive manufacturer. It contains a blockchain node that inputs data into the battery passport, ensuring that all essential information is captured at the outset.
The Passport Distributor uses the Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) and provides web- and app-based access to EDPS for smaller companies to allow broader adoption and ease of use. This uses smart contracts with a technology called Tangle that manages the large data volumes and high transaction rates required by the EDPS.
Using DLT, the passport tracks the entire product life cycle, from production to recycling, ensuring efficient management, cost efficiency, traceability, and a circular supply chain.
The EDPS also ensures adherence to the EU Battery Regulation, Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation, EU Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive, EU Critical Raw Materials Act, EU Taxonomy Regulation, EC Waste Directive, and more.
Iota will be the preferred DLT stack offered to clients – although it will remain protocol-agnostic – with new EDPS releases being rolled out on Iota first. This collaboration with Eviden will also involve scaling up for other use cases by tapping into new applications in global digital trade, self-sovereign identity, and data monetization.
Iota last week opened a research lab at Imperial College London to develop new use cases for the technology.
“This partnership leverages our unique joint benefits and creates a strong combination of capabilities, ready for the market to use,” says Dominik Schiener, Co-Founder and Chair of the Iota Foundation.
“This is a long-term collaboration between Eviden and IOTA, and we will work closely together to explore further use cases in domains such as construction materials, textiles, and consumer electronics, amongst others.”
“Together with the Iota Foundation, we are proud to announce this unique partnership and to launch a joint production-ready blockchain-based DPP solution which is aligned and in full compliance with the EU legal framework,” said Udo Littke, Head of Eviden Central Europe, Atos Group.
“Not only does DLT provide efficiency gains over traditional ways of interacting, but more importantly, this decentralized and incorruptible technology creates an open, fair, and secure infrastructure that builds trust. It aims to bring the highest level of transparency to help consumers and businesses make informed choices when purchasing products, as it facilitates repairs and recycling and improves users’ understanding of how a product’s life cycle impacts the environment. With this DPP solution, we are laying the foundation for exploring and developing other possible use cases outside of EV batteries and beyond DPPs.”
Leave a comment