Kia has found a way to make electric cars more affordable and durable

South Korean company Kia has taken a step towards the mass distribution of electric cars by testing a “battery passport” system at the individual cell level. Potentially, this approach to working with batteries could pave the way for more durable batteries.

Tesla, Volvo, and Audi have previously explored the idea of battery passports. Volvo, for example, planned to use blockchain technology from British startup Circulor to track battery composition, raw material origin, and carbon footprint. But Kia has gone even further.

Kia's tests cover each battery cell, not just the battery as a whole. For the experiment, the company used a modified EV3 with a monitoring system from the British company Dukosi.

Each battery cell transmits data to a “digital passport” that is available to the driver in real time via the car's multimedia system. After repairs, the information is updated automatically.

This technology will allow problems to be identified in advance, individual cells to be replaced instead of the entire block, and, as a result, maintenance costs to be significantly reduced. Kia plans to introduce the battery “passport” system in Europe by February 2027.