The €49 passport and the €10,000 question: what battery compliance pricing actually covers
A low software subscription can be enough when your supplier data is in order. This guide explains when an importer can stay self-serve — and when hands-on factory support is worth paying for.
Last month a procurement manager showed us two quotes side by side. One was €49 a month for self-service passport software. The other mentioned several thousand euros for hands-on compliance work. Same regulation. Same February 2027 deadline. Neither seller was being dishonest — they were pricing different slices of the same problem.
What a cheap monthly fee actually buys
Self-service platforms give you a place to organise information, publish a passport, and share it through a QR code. Some also provide a supplier upload link. What they generally do not do is hunt down missing data or persuade a factory to provide it.
That works if someone on your team can obtain and check the underlying documents — test reports, carbon data, material information, supply-chain records. The subscription is cheap because you do that work yourself.
Do factories already have the paperwork?
Often, yes. Rarely in a form that goes straight into a passport. Established exporters usually have test reports, product specifications, and compliance PDFs. The gap is turning those into complete, structured information — and getting an answer when a field is missing.
- Large cell makers selling into automotive supply chains often have the information ready sooner.
- White-label battery-pack assemblers may have PDFs, but the data is not arranged for a passport.
- Smaller importers sometimes wait weeks for a reply when their order is not the factory’s top priority.
How ImportPass prices: software first, people when you need them
ImportPass starts with the software: a workspace to review each model, ask suppliers for what is missing, and publish the finished passport. It starts at €99 per month — and that works well when the factory is cooperative. Extra support is added only when the supplier-side work calls for it.
- Platform subscription — the workspace, supplier links, QR codes, and passport publishing.
- Readiness audit (€500–€1,500) — a model-by-model review of what is ready and what is missing.
- Factory follow-up — added only for models where a supplier needs more help; priced per model.
- Per-serial passport fee (typically €0.50–€5 per unit, depending on volume and chemistry).
- Long-term hosting (from about €0.25 per passport per year) — keeps published passports available over time.
A mid-market importer’s year
Take a distributor with three battery models and around 2,500 units a year. With cooperative factories, the first-year cost for the platform, audit, and serial fees may be around €6,000–€8,000. If one or two models require supplier follow-up, the bill may rise to €8,000–€12,000. The extra cost is tied to the extra work — not hidden inside every customer’s monthly subscription.
Count the whole cost, not the subscription line
Compare what the whole project costs — not just the monthly software line. A low-cost tool may still mean your team spends days chasing factories. If your data is ready, software may be all you need. If it is not, the question is whether your team does the follow-up or you want support with it.
How to decide without guessing
Start with the free scope check. A readiness audit then shows you the situation model by model. Models with complete information can stay on the platform plan. For the rest, you receive a clear quote for supplier follow-up before committing.