Charles H. Miller
Car makers are among the world’s biggest companies and they, obviously, are expected to keep up with the latest trends and technologies. And we have seen a few of them already working with blockchain, and now BMW has completed a pilot with crypto startup DOVU. It is a rather interesting approach to use incentives to solve the current system that doesn’t work. Here’s what’s it all about…
Reward drivers with tokens for tracking their car mileage
The test project BMW and DOVU completed involved a tokenized rewards system using DOVU’s ERC-20 token, DOV, that encouraged drivers to track mileage on their leased vehicles.
Car mileage is said to be the single most important factor that determines whether the resale value of the vehicle in question will be negatively affected. So tracking it properly makes a lot of sense. And simply put – the current system is broken:
Currently the system to track vehicle mileage across fleets inside BMW is via a fuel card. When a driver fuels their vehicle, the fuel station is supposed to enter and store the mileage of the vehicle, also printing the mileage on the fuel receipt. For a number of reasons including mistyped numbers, oversight or even just being too busy, this data is at best inconsistent but often useless.
In the pilot, drivers were offered DOVU token rewards for inputting the mileage of their vehicles. It wasn’t a totally manual process though — drivers used a special app to take a snapshot of their dashboard at a specific time each week, and the software in the background did the rest, recognizing and identify the numerics and converting them into meaningful figures that were then stored on the blockchain. A smart contract would then reward drivers with 1 DOV token for each submission.
BMW is also working with VeChain Thor
DOVU is not the only blockchain company BMW is working with; the German auto giant has also teamed-up with VeChain Thor to use the technology in its vast supply chain operations. Said partnership has yet to produce any meaningful results and we’ll have to wait a little longer to learn more about this endeavor.
Chances are the two parties will extend the deal to include some sort of Internet-of-Things solution that would enable users to remotely access their cars, check on its location and so on. From what we’ve understood, this sort of use case is ideal for anti-theft solutions.
Mercedes-Benz has a crypto coin that rewards eco-friendly driving
Mercedes-Benz is also working on a crypto-based rewards system; it has unveiled an eco-friendly, crypto-based initiative during this year’s Mobile World Congress in Barcelona. The company has its own blockchain-based digital currency — called MobiCoin — that rewards drivers for their environmentally-friendly driving, including smooth and safe driving at low speeds.
The project has started in February, and its testing phase will last for three months, during which 500 drivers will be rewarded with MobiCoins. Those who accumulate the most crypto-tokens will be eligible to receive rewards like VIP tickets for events such as the DTM Races, the MercedesCup Final, or Fashion Week in Berlin. It is, however, unknown whether MobiCoins could be converted to Euros, which would be a nice add-on, though perhaps not the best motivator for Mercedes owners, I presume (I doubt they mind that much for the pennies).
Meanwhile, Porsche is working with the Berlin-based startup XAIN to test blockchain apps in its vehicles, and Ford has filed for a patent that envisions a vehicle-to-vehicle communication, with cryptocurrency serving as a mean to help drivers get out of congestion.
All in all, we can’t help but love how established players are moving into the new world of decentralized computing. Can’t wait to see what comes next.
