§ 86.1815-27 Battery-related requirements for battery electric vehicles and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles.
Link to an amendment published at 91 FR 7762, Feb. 18, 2026.
Except as specified in paragraph (h) of this section, battery electric vehicles and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles must meet requirements related to batteries serving as a Rechargeable Energy Storage System from GTR No. 22 (incorporated by reference, see § 86.1). The requirements of this section apply starting in model year 2027 for vehicles at or below 6,000 pounds GVWR. The requirements of this section start to apply for vehicles above 6,000 pounds GVWR when they are first certified to Tier 4 NMOG+NOX bin standards under § 86.1811-27(b), not later than model year 2031. The following clarifications and adjustments to GTR No. 22 apply for vehicles subject to this section:
(a) Manufacturers must install an operator-accessible display that monitors, estimates, and communicates the vehicle's State of Certified Energy (SOCE) and include information in the application for certification as described in § 86.1844. Display SOCE as a percentage expressed at least to the nearest whole number. Manufacturers that qualify as small businesses under § 86.1801-12(j)(1) must meet the requirements of this paragraph (a) but are not subject to the requirements in paragraphs (c) through (g) of this section; however, small businesses may trade credits they generate from battery electric vehicles and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles for a given model year only if they meet requirements in paragraphs (c) through (g) of this section.
(b) Requirements in GTR No. 22 related to State of Certified Range do not apply.
(c) Evaluate SOCE based on measured Usable Battery Energy (UBE) values. Use the Multi-Cycle Range and Energy Consumption Test described in 40 CFR 600.116-12(a) for battery electric vehicles and either the UDDS Full Charge Test (FCT) or the HFET FCT as described in 40 CFR 600.116-12(c)(11) for plug-in hybrid electric vehicles. For medium-duty vehicles, perform testing with test weight set to Adjusted Loaded Vehicle Weight.
(d) In-use vehicles must display SOCE values that are accurate within 5 percent of measured values as calculated in GTR No. 22.
(e) Batteries installed in light-duty program vehicles must meet a Minimum Performance Requirement such that measured usable battery energy is at least 80 percent of the vehicle's certified usable battery energy after 5 years or 62,000 miles, and at least 70 percent of certified usable battery energy at 8 years or 100,000 miles.
(f) Manufacturers must divide test groups into families and perform testing and submit reports as follows:
(1) Identify battery durability families and monitor families as specified in Section 6.1 of GTR No. 22. Include vehicles in the same battery durability family only if there are no chemistry differences that would be expected to influence durability, such as proportional metal composition of the cathode, composition of the anode, or differences in particle size or morphology of cathode or anode active materials.
(2) Perform Part A testing to verify that SOCE monitors meet accuracy requirements as described in § 86.1845-04. Test the number of vehicles and determine a pass or fail result as specified in Section 6.3 of GTR No. 22.
(3) For light-duty program vehicles, perform Part B verification for each battery durability family included in a monitor family subject to Part A testing to verify that batteries have SOCE meeting the Minimum Performance Requirement. Determine performance by reading SOCE monitors with a physical inspection, remote inspection using wireless technology, or any other appropriate means.
(i) Randomly select test vehicles from at least 10 different U.S. states or territories, with no more than 50 percent of selected vehicles coming from any one state or territory. Select vehicles to represent a wide range of climate conditions and operating characteristics.
(ii) Select at least 500 test vehicles per year from each from each battery durability family, except that we may approve your request to select fewer vehicles for a given battery durability family based on limited production volumes. If you test fewer than 500 vehicles, you may exclude up to 5 percent of the tested vehicles to account for the limited sample size. Test vehicles may be included from year to year, or test vehicles may change over the course of testing for the battery durability family.
(iii) A battery durability family passes if 90 percent or more of sampled vehicles have reported values at or above the Minimum Performance Requirement.
(iv) Continue testing for eight years after the end of production for vehicles included in the battery durability family. Note that testing will typically require separate testing from multiple model years in a given calendar year.
(4) You may request our approval to group monitors and batteries differently, or to adjust testing specifications. Submit your request with your proposed alternative specifications, along with technical justification. In the case of broadening the scope of a monitor family, include data demonstrating that differences within the proposed monitor family do not cause error in estimating SOCE.
(5) Submit electronic reports to document the results of testing as described in § 86.1847.
(g) If vehicles do not comply with monitor accuracy requirements under this section, the recall provisions in 40 CFR part 85, subpart S, apply for each affected monitor family. If battery electric and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles do not comply with battery durability requirements under this section, the manufacturer must account for the nonconformity by forfeiting GHG credits calculated for all the vehicles within the battery durability group (see § 86.1865-12(j)(3)). Manufacturers must similarly adjust NMOG+NOX credits for battery electric vehicles (see § 86.1861-17(f)).
(h) Manufacturers may meet the requirements of this section for battery electric vehicles by instead complying with monitor accuracy and battery durability requirements based on the procedures specified in 13 CCR 1962.7 (incorporated by reference, see § 86.1), subject to the following exceptions and clarifications:
(1) References to the California ARB Executive Officer are deemed to mean the EPA Administrator. References to California are deemed to mean the United States. Test vehicles may be registered in any U.S. state or territory.
(2) Model year 2027 through 2029 vehicles must be designed to maintain 70 percent or more of the certification range value for at least 70 percent of the vehicles in a test group. Model year 2030 and later vehicles must be designed to maintain 80 percent or more of the certification range value as an average value for all vehicles in a test group. These requirements apply for a useful life of 10 years or 150,000 miles, whichever occurs first. If vehicles do not comply with these battery durability requirements, the manufacturer must adjust all credit balances to account for the nonconformity by forfeiting GHG credits calculated for all the vehicles within the test group (see § 86.1865-12(j)(3)). Manufacturers must similarly adjust NMOG+NOX credits (see § 86.1861-17(f)).
(3) EPA may perform compliance and enforcement testing to support a finding of nonconformity as described in 13 CCR 1962.7(e).
(4) A minimum nationwide sampling rate of 500 in-use vehicles applies under 13 CCR 1962.7(d)(1). Select vehicles as described in paragraph (f)(3)(i) of this section.
(5) Manufacturers must meet the data standardization requirements in 13 CCR 1962.5 (incorporated by reference, see § 86.1).
(6) Vehicles continue to be subject to warranty requirements as specified in 40 CFR part 85, subpart V.
(7) Meeting requirements under this paragraph (h) does not depend on creating battery durability families and monitor families. The Part A testing requirements for monitor accuracy also do not apply.
(8) Include the following information in the application for certification for each test group instead of the information specified in § 86.1844-01(d)(19):
(i) The worst-case certified range value to represent the test group, instead of certified usable battery energy.
(ii) A statement attesting that the SOCE monitor meets the accuracy requirement appropriate for the model year.
(iii) A statement that each test group meets the design targets in paragraph (h)(2) of this section.
[89 FR 28166, Apr. 18, 2024]