It’s becoming increasingly important for battery suppliers and automakers to be able to document where their raw materials come from. Traceability, which has long been important in industries such as aerospace and food processing, is not just about deflecting bad PR—under the new Inflation Reduction Act, automakers will have to document the sources of their components in order to be eligible for EV purchase tax credits (the EU is developing similar regulations).

French battery innovator Verkor is working with Bureau Veritas, a lab testing, inspection and certification company, and OPTEL, a provider of traceability solutions, to bring greater transparency to its supply chain.

OPTEL and Bureau Veritas have co-developed a traceability solution called V-TRACE, which involves assessments by independent auditors. Verkor will use the system to manage, track and inspect its supply chain, documenting the sources of such strategic materials as lithium, nickel and cobalt.

V-TRACE is also designed to improve the sustainability of Verkor’s supply chain. OPTEL’s carbon footprint solution will help the company track both direct and indirect emissions.

Bureau Veritas’s auditors will perform on-site audits, verifying the data collected along the chain.

“This new initiative is perfectly aligned with our mission to power the way forward in the responsible energy transition by producing sustainable batteries,” said Benoit Lemaignan, co-founder and CEO of Verkor. “Our collaboration with OPTEL and Bureau Veritas puts us ahead of legislation and gives us a complete identity card for our batteries.”

“V-TRACE for EV batteries will provide unprecedented traceability assurance at a time when stakeholders across the EV sector are demanding greater accountability and compliance with ESG targets,” said Louis Roy, founder and President at OPTEL.

“By helping Verkor develop a more resilient and sustainable supply chain, we are contributing to shaping better supplier ecosystems based on transparency and trust,” said Bureau Veritas Senior VP Renato Catrib. “Alongside our partner, OPTEL, we have developed a global solution that covers our clients’ supply chains from a sustainability and traceability perspective in one unified platform.”

Source: Verkor