Henriksson asks EU to review Finland’s electric car battery rules

European Parliament member Anna-Maja Henriksson has asked the European Commission to assess Finnish guidance on repairing electric car batteries, Yle reports.

The guidance has raised concerns that independent repair shops could find it nearly impossible to repair electric cars if damaged batteries are classified as waste.

Henriksson is also asking the Commission to clarify how repair shops can be allowed to repair batteries and reuse functioning battery components. She said usable batteries and parts should not be discarded unnecessarily and that their reuse should be encouraged when it can be done safely.

“We need clear rules that allow electric cars to be repaired at a reasonable cost and batteries to be reused when this can be done safely,” Henriksson said in a press release.

The Commission has six weeks to respond after the European Parliament’s administration forwards the question.

Guidance links repairs to manufacturers’ instructions

Under joint guidance from the Permit and Supervisory Agency, Tukes and Traficom, refurbishing a vehicle’s traction battery is considered repair work if the manufacturer’s instructions are followed.

Without such instructions, the work may be interpreted as preparation for reuse or remanufacturing, which involve significantly more obligations than ordinary repairs.

The guidance strongly links the safety of a damaged battery to the manufacturer’s instructions. For example, a damaged traction battery from a vehicle written off by an insurance company may be classified as waste if the repair does not follow those instructions.

The Finnish Automobile Association says the guidance threatens to make repairs more difficult and could reduce demand for and the value of used electric cars.

The association said that if manufacturers’ instructions determine the limits of repair, carmakers must also provide independent repair shops with sufficient technical information and diagnostic access on reasonable terms. Otherwise, only manufacturers’ own networks would effectively be able to repair batteries.

“Safety and consumer protection are essential, but they must not become grounds for restricting competition,” said Pasi Nieminen, chief executive of the Finnish Automobile Association, in a press release.

Consumers must be able to compare repair services and spare parts from several providers, he said. The association also stressed that electric cars should be ordinary durable consumer goods that can be serviced and repaired as they age.

Finnish interpretation seen as strict

The Finnish interpretation appears strict by international standards. According to the Finnish Automobile Association, Germany and Sweden do not have a comparable public authority guidance under which the absence of manufacturers’ repair instructions would lead so directly to a battery being classified as waste.

“Finland should not make electric car repairs more difficult through a national interpretation than EU legislation requires,” Nieminen said. He added that authorities should resolve unclear boundaries instead of transferring the risk of interpretation to individual repair shops.

Henriksson’s request follows a citizens’ initiative by Jesse Haapala, a car repairer from Kokkola, which has collected more than 60,000 signatures. The initiative opposes Finnish authorities’ interpretation of the EU Battery Regulation.