UBS, Innogy and ZF jointly develop blockchain car e-wallet, blockchain becomes the basic technology of future private transportation

If we can use our phones to pay in shops, supermarkets and on public transport, why can’t we use a built-in electronic wallet in our cars to pay for parking, motorway tolls and car-sharing? That’s exactly what UBS, German energy company innogy and Germany’s ZF Friedrichshafen are developing.

Swiss bank UBS is working with German energy company innogy SE and automotive technology company ZF Friedrichshafen AG to create a blockchain-based electric vehicle e-wallet that will allow car owners to directly pay for charging, parking, tolls and car-sharing fees using the new technology.

Maybe soon your car will be able to pay for itself!

The way this payment system works is that users transfer money from their PC or mobile wallet to their car wallet, and then authorize the car wallet to make certain special payments with limited amounts. For example, the car electronic wallet can automatically pay highway tolls and then notify the car owner that the transaction was successful.

The e-wallet also plans to accept payments and access authorizations from third parties in the future. For example, by allowing users to gain access to the trunk of a car to place a package, those idle cars can be integrated into the wider sharing economy.

According to innogy director Carsten Stöcker, another potential use case for the blockchain wallet is integration with smart power supply systems , which could use the automotive blockchain to control the vehicle charging process.

Stöcker believes that “ technology-driven innovation in mobility and transportation systems will be an important driving force of the Fourth Industrial Revolution.”

“In our project, the backbone of a decentralized mobility platform has already taken shape, integrating communication networks, including blockchain, the Internet of Energy and the Internet of Mobility/Logistics to create a new transaction layer. We are looking forward to developing an open decentralized mobility platform. Innogy is working with other European utilities to bring an electric vehicle charging network through this platform.”

UBS, Innogy’s financial services partner in this project, said

“As the Internet of Things develops, we will see more and more devices being able to automatically make payments. It is important for UBS to experiment and learn how to support clients in managing and authorising payments from devices.”

Given the rapid development of the Internet of Things, electronic payments, clean energy and sharing economy technologies, it is reasonable to assume that we will be able to buy into the era of car sharing in the near future. By then, our cars will be powered by solar energy and paid for using automatic electronic payment systems.

The future of private transportation

In a recent World Economic Forum publication, Carsten Stöcker and Thomas Birr, senior innovation managers at Innogy, expressed their vision for the future of private transportation. Stöcker and Birr believe that in the future, individual car ownership will be replaced by "fleets of autonomous vehicles (FAVES)" that will be powered by electricity and shared by the general public. Car parking, use and payment will all be controlled via smartphones.

This new private transportation system not only makes real economic sense (since there is no need to buy individual cars) but car insurance will become a thing of the past. It also makes sense from a social perspective, since vehicles will be used more efficiently, streets will be less congested, and the negative externalities associated with private transportation’s impact on global warming will be addressed.

Stöcker and Birr believe the main drivers of the future of private transportation lie in two emerging technologies: self-driving cars and blockchain .

Self-driving electric vehicles can use real-time updated traffic information to navigate in the fastest and most efficient way and be ready for passengers at all times.

Blockchain allows for secure, decentralized peer-to-peer transactions, creating the underlying financial structure for future private transportation without relying on any centralized third party to pay for vehicle use. Through a blockchain-based payment system, users can rent and pay for self-driving cars at a precise point in time, without having to verify the terms and conditions of the ride with a third party. All payments during the ride, such as parking fees or tolls, will be automatically deducted from the user's mobile wallet or the built-in car e-wallet mentioned above.

At the same time, blockchain can also be used to verify identity, age, insurance coverage and user payment ability, and this information is anonymous and cannot be accessed by third parties.

In a blockchain-based private transportation system, car owners and users can participate equally in this transportation system without any barriers to entry or reliance on centralized services, and all participants will be able to set relevant terms, including pricing.

Although Stöcker and Birr's predictions sound far-fetched, they highlight in their report that some auto industry analysts predict that self-driving cars could cut car purchases in the U.S. by 40 percent. They also point out that U.S. automaker Tesla has announced plans to allow Tesla owners to rent their cars to shared autonomous fleets when not in use. Tesla's plans are clear evidence that Stöcker and Birr's predictions about the future of private transportation may arrive much sooner than people think.