Not many years after the blockchain revolution has left the entire world under the impact of cryptocurrency wallet, triggering financial services, retail, trade, energy, government, and most important media, it has finally come to the automotive sector. The latest news that is trolling down the news, internet and capturing everyone’s attention is “Porsche introduces blockchain to automobiles”. To everyone’s amazement including the entire automobile industry, blockchain is now the new innovation in the automobiles.
We all are familiar with the smart technology, as it has become a part of our daily routine and not surprisingly, we are aware or probably heard of the smart automobiles. It is a concept that has been in the air for a while with the onboard computers, that were the beginning of this concept which appeared a decade ago. Self-driven cars or driverless cars are what the current automobile industry is working on or moved to. Moving ahead, the automotive industry started taking its baby steps to the blockchain domain. It may be recalled that in the recent months, automobile giants like BMW, Honda, Hyundai, Ford, Mercedes-Benz, Toyota, etc., have presented innovative technologies at various expos, with blockchain technology earning a significant presence among them.
Porsche, in collaboration with the Berlin-based startup XAIN, is currently testing blockchain applications directly in vehicles. The German automaker even claims to be the first automaker to begin testing the blockchain technology directly in vehicles. The startup XAIN offers various blockchain and artificial intelligence solutions, with a particular focus on intelligent industrial applications.
For all those readers, who still have a little or no knowledge of the Bitcoin, here’s a gist of it to help them understand what a blockchain is. A blockchain is a decentralized public ledger of cryptocurrency transactions that are recorded and secured in a chronological order using cryptography which allows the market participants to keep track of digital currency transactions without central recordkeeping. Porsche is using this blockchain technology to secure data transactions between business partners without relying on a centralized server.
According to a statement quoted in the Porshe’s official website by Oliver Döring, Financial Strategist at Porsche, Blockchain can be used to transfer data more quickly and securely, giving our customers more peace of mind in the future, whether they are charging, parking or need to give a third party, such as a parcel delivery agent, temporary access to the vehicle. Porsche is even exploring ways on how blockchain could benefit in-car features such as locking and unlocking via mobile apps, temporary access authorizations and encrypted data logging for autonomous driving.
The technology also makes it possible to assign temporary access authorizations for the vehicle in a secure and efficient manner. A protected connection can be established to vehicle data and functionalities using blockchain, simultaneously protecting all communication between participants. Porsche claims that the services developed on the foundation of blockchain are fast and very secure. Using the blockchain protocols the car is made a part of the blockchain and an offline connection can be established or made without the need for a server. The process of opening or closing a car via an app will take just 1.6 seconds i.e., six times faster than before. The automaker giant is also working on new business models based on blockchain like swarm data.
With the introduction of Blockchain Technology Solutions for smart cars, very soon, the application is expected to be adopted by other automobile manufacturers as well. It may be mentioned that the Japanese multinational automotive manufacturer, Toyota, has earlier developed a strategy that uses blockchain to increase the availability of information that could improve driverless car technology.