| Vehicle Payments
The decision of major
automakers, including
Renault, Ford, BMW, GM
and Honda, to produce
a joint Vehicle Identification
Standard (VID) could have
far-reaching repercussions
for the industry.
Chris Ballinger, founder and
CEO of the non-profit Mobility
Open Blockchain Initiative (MOBI)
consortium that produced the new
standard, says it is the foundation
stone that will allow vehicles to
participate in the economy.
“Vehicles today have enough
intelligence and sensors, but the
one thing missing has been a
secure identification and secure
ways of paying,” says Ballinger.
“That’s where VID and blockchain
come in. It allows the vehicle to
say, ‘this is me and my payment
is secure’. In an economy that
relies on machine-to-machine,
vehicle-to-vehicle or vehicle-toinfrastructure
transactions, a lot
of economic transactions become
possible once you have a secure
way of identifying each vehicle.
“Essentially, cars become nodes
on the Internet of Things (IoT) and
can then pay for services in realtime.
It is a huge opportunity that
could be worth trillions of dollars,
potentially an even bigger market
than the existing economy of
selling cars.”
Will the dream come true?
Ballinger says vehicle participation
in the economy is likely to happen
much faster than Level 5
automation. “Cars making
payments for infrastructure and
acting to maximise profits on their
own is sophomore calculus level,
whereas driving autonomously is
March/April 2020 Traffic Technology International 049
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