Five major car manufacturers are collaborating on a test for a blockchain-powered car identification and payment system. BMW, General Motors, Ford, Renault and Honda will start a test next month in the United States. The news outlet Nikkei Asian Review reported this on Monday. The blockchain system is in development under the Mobility Open Blockchain Initiative (MOBI).
For this test cars will be assigned digital IDs, which is linked to ownership, service history and a wallet. This wallet allows the vehicle to automatically pay fees without the need of any specialized hardware. MOBI wants this system to be applied to electric vehicles, so that toll payments, maintenance and rest stop purchases can all be recorded and paid when the car is being charged. Car drivers can benefit from this blockchain car identification and payment system. Drivers can earn rewards by providing data to the blockchain.
Each of the car companies involved, has already been working on blockchain technology for months. For example General Motors filed a patent to share data between self-driving cars. BMW and General Motors are pushing for standardization of blockchain data in the automotive industry.
It’s all about combining data from thousands of cars. For example, these cars drive millions of kilometers, and all kinds of data can be gathered. This could be a mix of data from cameras, sensors, the car itself and other cars. Blockchain will help companies to share, sell, buy and obtain data. All this is possible without anybody doubting on who the actual owner of the data is.
Thanks to electric cars it will be easier then ever before for car companies to start using blockchain technology. Daimler Chrysler wants to build hardware wallets into its cars. This will benefit fleet management for rental car companies for example. In addition it allows consumers to easily pay for parking and toll fees.
Hyundai wants to pair phones with cars using blockchain technology, while BMW and VeChain will combat fraud. Volkswagen is implementing IBM’s supply chain technology. As a result they can make sure that all resources for manufacturing are being obtained in a proper way.
