Today the MOBI blockchain alliance released the Battery State of Health (SOH) standard, its first standard relating to electric vehicle (EV) batteries. For consumers, knowing the current state of health enables the driver to estimate the car’s range. And when it comes to selling the vehicle, the battery status is a key part of the car’s value. The SOH is also an essential piece of data for recycling or repurposing a battery and it could be used by insurers as well.
Twenty organizations helped to develop the standard, including auto companies BMW, Ford, and GM. Apart from some of the manufacturers, staff from Accenture, Hitachi and DENSO reviewed the final paper.
All parties agree that once a battery’s capacity drops to 80% of the initial figure, it’s reached its end of life. While a battery might be thought of as a single unit, in reality, it has numerous components and cells, and each of those has a state of health as well. That’s particularly relevant when it comes to recycling and repurposing.
The SOH standard is part of the MOBI Battery Initiative, which aims to produce a framework to comply with both California’s CARB regulations and the European Battery Directive. It is working on a battery identity number (BIN), much like it already released a second iteration of the MOBI Vehicle Identity standard (VID), both of which use W3C decentralized identity standards. The BIN is the foundation for a Battery Birth Certificate and a Battery Passport.
“MOBI and our members expect that this first Battery SOH Standard and the MOBI Battery Initiative will contribute to the creation of a greener, more resilient global battery value chain, and accelerate our common goal for a sustainable, low carbon transportation future,” said Tram Vo, MOBI Director & Founder.
The consortium has several working groups, and one of them focuses on integrating EVs into the grid. A car’s battery can store excess power generated from domestic solar panels enabling peer-to-peer electricity trading.
Meanwhile, many companies are already using blockchain for EV batteries. The most relevant for the State of Health standard is Korea’s Penta Security which uses blockchain to collect, store, and share data on electric vehicle (EV) batteries, specifically relating to performance. Measurements include temperature, charging time, and maintenance status.
Circulor has been involved in tracing minerals such as cobalt used in batteries for the likes of Volvo, and it also measures battery emissions for Mercedes. Everledger is working with Ford on a blockchain battery recycling project.
