A Clear Path: Enabling a transparent Electric Vehicle supply chain
StoreDot and Circulor's collaboration on battery cell traceability and embedded CO2 continues to pave the way for proving environmentally conscious and responsible supply chains.
The electric vehicle (EV) revolution is fast underway, with major industry players pushing the boundaries of EV technology toward the ultimate goal of sustainable mobility.
To achieve global net zero targets, the industry needs to scale from 1.1TWh of annual lithium-ion battery output today to nearly 15TWh in 2050, according to Benchmark Minerals Intelligence. Scaling output while prioritizing sustainability necessitates joint commitment and collaboration by all players in the market.
The Power of Transparency
The transition to electric vehicles requires transparent, environmentally conscious, and responsible EV battery supply chains. But as the saying goes—you can’t improve on something that you can’t measure. We can only ensure we are building the lowest carbon electrified economy by tracing precisely the flow of materials used in our growing volumes of batteries and accurately calculating each battery’s carbon footprint.
Fully committed to radically innovating battery technology, StoreDot realized early on that it must have supply chain visibility and the capability to track the provenance and journey of raw materials used in its battery cells. To this end, it partnered with Circulor, the leading supply chain traceability solution.
By using Circulor’s PROVE platform, StoreDot dynamically tracks the physical flow of critical materials from source, through the different processing steps to cell manufacturing in its facilities and later on into second life and recycling applications. Along this backbone, they attach emissions data from each supply chain participant to provide supply chain specific CO2 calculations, attributed to the battery cells themselves. This is a level of granularity surpasses the work of other companies that often rely on CO2 estimations.
“StoreDot's commitment offer the ecosystem an important benefit – precise CO2 calculations at the product level, not just at the facility level” says Yue Jin Tay, VP Product at Circulor.
The Benefit for the Ecosystem: Making Data accessible to all
The massive data collection that StoreDot is continuously pursuing enables other players in different steps of the automotive value chain to make actual, much needed progress towards full data disclosure. This is particularly crucial for global automotive manufacturers, who are bound to meeting carbon neutrality targets and increasingly dynamic global regulations.
“Using Circulor’s software gives us, as the provider of battery, which is the heart of the electric vehicle, the ability to make all necessary preparations early on in order to support the car companies’ carbon neutrality targets”, says Dr.Doron Myersdorf, StoreDot’s CEO.
On track: What Circulor and StoreDot have achieved to date
With the foundations of traceability firmly established, StoreDot has begun the implementation process to track the flow of the critical raw materials contained within its battery cells, from manufacturing, through material processing, and back to the mine.
Preparations have also started for layering the CO2 emissions on top of the material flow which will identify carbon hotspots in StoreDot’s supply chains, help the company further reduce its footprint, and begin preparing the full scope of its operations for upcoming regulations.
All this data is crucial for EV original equipment manufacturers (OEMs), regulators, and consumers who demand ongoing information regarding Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) efforts. This is why partnerships like StoreDot and Circulor are so important—by sharing data, industry players can help make CO2 data accessible, drive accountability, and build sustainable and ethical supply chains.
Up next: a Digital Passport for each Battery
The next critical step for the EV industry is preparing for the EU Battery Regulation, which requires proof of sustainable, responsible, and circular sourcing for batteries to access the European market, and mandates that all batteries must have a digital battery passport by February 2027. To comply and gain a competitive edge, establishing supply chain transparency through traceability is essential.
To this end, Circulor and StoreDot are actively involved in the German government’s Battery Pass initiative, which aims to create full transparency for every battery, with Circulor being the Technology Lead for the project.
A joint Commitment: Need for further Industry Participation
At a global level, if we all want to ensure the responsible sourcing of battery materials, there has to be a collaborative approach adopted by all the players in the market. By improving the transparency of the whole supply chain it will allow industry to better understand which batteries are ethically sourced and provide greater resilience.
“Transparency gives companies the opportunity to see the supply chains their continuously connected to, in order to build more resilient, sustainable and responsible production, end-to-end” says Delia Zanatta, VP of Customer at Circulor.
You can find more information on Circulor’s EU Battery Regulation Hub and more on Circulor and StoreDot’s partnership here.