How SBMC is supporting more sustainable and circular batteries​​

​Motorcycles and scooters over short distances are a great solution, especially for everyday travel in cities. One of the key objectives of SBMC is ensuring that batteries can be exchanged among different brands and types. The Consortium, with currently 39 members, supports therefore an initiative to make it safe and convenient for users to swap batteries.

Making it safe and convenient to swap batteries

SBMC not only aims to set a standard in support of interoperability, compatibility, safety and security, but also to be in line with existing and upcoming European and International Regulations. Ensuring that batteries placed on the market contribute to sustainable decarbonisation of the mobility sector.
Batteries are considered a key technology in the transition to climate neutrality, and to a more circular economy. Global demand for batteries is increasing rapidly and is set to increase 14 times by 2030. To minimise the environmental impact the European Commission has proposed a new Regulation concerning the design, manufacture and recycling of all types of batteries sold in the EU, that will enter into force before the end of this year. Battery manufacturers will thus be subject to stricter environmental and due diligence requirements if they want to sell on the European market.
These new rules challenge some of the SBMC specifications, however the Consortium envisions to address them, as they aim to make batteries sustainable throughout their entire life cycle – from the sourcing of materials to their collection, recycling and repurposing.

Key measures foreseen by the regulation

• Portable batteries should be readily removable and replaceable by end-users or independent operators during the lifetime of the appliance.
• A compulsory carbon footprint declaration and label for light means of transport (LMT) batteries (e.g., for electric scooters, motorcycles and bikes with a battery above 25 Kg).
• A digital battery passport for LMT batteries is proposed to efficiently gather and reuse information on individual batteries placed on the market.
• A due diligence policy for all economic operators placing batteries on the EU market, except for SMEs, will be implemented to address the social and environmental risks linked to sourcing, processing and trading raw materials.
• Stricter waste collection targets for LMT batteries - 51% by 2028 and 61% by 2031- all waste LMT batteries must be collected, free of charge for end-users, regardless of their nature, chemical composition, condition, brand or origin.
• Minimum levels of recycled content from manufacturing and consumer waste for use in new LMT batteries: eight years after the entry into force of the regulation - 16% for cobalt, 85% for lead, 6% for lithium and 6% for nickel.

More information on the full regulation can be retrieved here.

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SBMC on LinkedIn

We are proud to announce we have over 300 followers on the professional social media platform, LinkedIn.
Bringing together key stakeholders on the platform, from manufacturers, designers, investors - right through to users, to encourage a common technology to boost electric mobility through swappable batteries.​

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​Find and follow us on LinkedIn

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Past and upcoming events

May 2023: ITF Leipzig
SBMC is proud to have been part of the recent ITF - International Transport Forum Summit 2023 held in Leipzig, Germany recently.
​The ITF works for transport policies that improve peoples’ lives and is administratively integrated with the OECD, yet politically autonomous. 
As experts in the field of sustainable light electric motorcycles through the standardisation of swappable batteries, one of our members - Hennes Fischer (Yamaha) - participated in a panel discussing the possible solutions to urban mobility problems using electric motorcycles.
Discussions included the social benefits of using light electric motorcycles, how carbon emissions can be reduced and what the role of government, industry, sport and rider organisations are to accelerate this development across Europe.

Mr. Hennes Fischer debates how light-weight electric motorcycles may improve urban mobility at ITF Leipzig

June 2023: SBMC General Meeting
Thanks to Honda’s invitation, the SBMC Annual meeting took place at the R&D facility in Offenbach from June 29-30, 2023, with over 60 participants including technical, regulatory and user experience experts. Stay tuned for more details on the consortium's activities in the next edition of the newsletter.​

Over 60 participants at SBMC's Annual Meeting

June 2023: MOVE London
SBMC were in London recently for the annual tech mobility show, MOVE, and took part in a panel discussion on how tech is allowing for longer micro-mobility lifecycles.
Swappable batteries are a key component of sustainable use of light electric vehicles and SBMC members, Yamaha and Swobbee, were keen to give further insights into how SBMC is leading the way with standardisation of safe and reliable charging connectivity technology.

SBMC members Yamaha and Swobbee took part in a panel discussion at the tech mobility show 'MOVE' in London

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New Members

​We are happy to announce we have 10 new consortium members since the start of 2023, bringing the total number of SBMC members to 39.

New SBMC members that joined in the first half of 2023