EU Commission says electric-car batteries must be repairable

The European Commission says batteries can be removed from vehicles for repair, reuse or remanufacturing before the vehicles are sent for end-of-life treatment, Yle reports. The Commission’s response addresses a debate in Finland over whether electric-car batteries can be repaired.

The Commission said a battery installed in a vehicle does not automatically become waste when the vehicle is taken out of use. It also said remanufacturing applies only when all the conditions in the EU Batteries Regulation are met. A lack of repair instructions from the manufacturer does not, by itself, make a repair remanufacturing or impose producer responsibility on the repairer.

The response came after Anna-Maja Henriksson, a Member of the European Parliament for Finland’s Swedish People’s Party, submitted a written question to the Commission. A citizens’ initiative calling for electric and hybrid car batteries to be repairable drew a surge of signatures after it was launched.

Jesse Haapala, an electric-car specialist from Kokkola and one of the initiative’s founders, has said Finnish authorities interpret the rules to mean that a battery from a scrapped car becomes waste regardless of its condition.

Henriksson said current guidance from Finland’s permits and supervision agency appears to be partly at odds with the Commission’s response, creating uncertainty for repair businesses and consumers.

“The response I received from the Commission is good news for independent repair shops and electric-car owners,” Henriksson said. “The authorities must now review their guidance so that it complies with the EU Batteries Regulation and the Commission’s response, and is not unnecessarily strict.” She thanked the initiative’s organisers for raising the issue.