Automotive data collection has become a strategic sector for the entire industry as connected vehicles are on the rise.
The Blockchain XDEV, a subsidiary of The Blockchain Group and the SystemX Technological Research Institute are developing a certified data platform ‘PPC’ or the ‘Passport for Connected Car’. This solution is intended for the entire automotive industry and is based on blockchain technology.
This platform would record all vehicle life cycle data directly on the blockchain. A way to obtain maximum verifiable information on any vehicle in a rapidly growing market. It will therefore be useful for purchase, daily use, resale, and even maintenance. This project is not only embodied by this French company, but by a whole consortium of players in the automotive industry.
What is the “Passport for Connected Car”?
The PCC (Passport for Connected Car) solution allows the driver or owner of a connected vehicle to reliably manage their vehicle data for daily use, purchase, resale or maintenance.
The platform created will make it possible to issue and manage an NFT representing the vehicle and all the data that characterizes its life cycle (administrative, usage, maintenance data, etc.).
The PCC solution aims to develop a multi-stakeholder platform for certified vehicle data, based on native properties and on the ability of blockchain technology to adapt to changes in the volumes of data processed. It thus responds to a key issue of data portability for the automotive sector and is part of a collaborative approach to sharing and enhancing vehicle data on the French market.
This PCC solution, on the initiative of IRT SystemX and The Blockchain Xdev, is based on Blockchain technology.
In the automotive ecosystem, “everyone collects data, and everyone is interested in data collected by others”, notes Charles Kremer, CEO and co-founder of Blockchain Xdev.
Charles Kremer, explains:
“The idea of this solution is to compile, trace, certify and make available all the data that characterizes the value of a vehicle: mileage, maintenance history, driver behavior, etc. Data that is already accessible.”
For this, it uses the Tezos blockchain.
“This is the means that will make it possible to trace and timestamp the data in a decentralized way, while leaving it where it is. It would be possible to do it centrally in a database, but that would be unthinkable from a business point of view.”
PPC is supported by the consortium of industry players
Aimed at the entire automotive industry, this solution is supported by the consortium formed in 2020 by Stellantis, Mobivia, MATMUT, Crédit Agricole PACIFICA and Inter Mutuelles Assistance, recently joined by Société Générale Assurances and the Covéa group.
This solution offers industry players a framework of trust in accordance with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) to provide adapted services and products over the entire life cycle of a vehicle.
An NFT Representing the vehicle
Concretely, the platform created by Blockchain Xdev will make it possible “to issue and manage an NFT representing the vehicle and all the data that characterizes its life cycle”, explain Covéa and Société Générale Assurances.
NFTs will change ownership when the vehicle is resold. If the collection will rely above all on the manufacturers and the maintenance networks, the insurers, themselves, will be rather consumers of the data. “They see a lot of benefits in analyzing the risk ,” comments Charles Kremer.
Portability Issue
Everyone will therefore draw, for a fee, from the available data. Hence the idea of a multi-stakeholder and decentralized platform. Insurers are not the only players likely to be interested. For example, manufacturers today have no visibility on repairs that are not carried out in their network. Dealerships need this information for the repossession of a vehicle, and even the authorities are concerned, in the event of mileage fraud or a wreckage in circulation.
The solution responds to a key issue of data portability for the automotive industry and is part of a collaborative approach to sharing and enhancing vehicle data on the French market.
Note that owners of the vehicle passport retain full control over all of their data. And this even if these are stored in a system connected to the PCC. All other CCP actors will only be able to have temporary access to the data with the explicit permission of the owner .
The more detailed project white paper is available here.
What are the use cases of the Passport for Connected Car?
With the establishment of this digital identity for vehicles, the IRT SystemX and The Blockchain XDEV identify many use cases. All actors in the sector are concerned. For example :
- An owner can obtain an estimate of the value of his vehicle using the analysis of the data traced and stored in the PCC platform, and therefore obtain a better second-hand resale price;
- The potential buyer of the used vehicle can in the same way check the data of the PCC platform, carry out the same type of evaluation, and therefore reduce the risks when buying a vehicle;
- An insurance company can better anticipate the change of vehicle of its customer and offer him a new personalized insurance;
- A repairer can offer predictive maintenance services based on the analysis of the maintenance and repair history of the vehicle;
- A manufacturer can track the life of the vehicle beyond the warranty period;
- Finally, the public authorities can access all the data relating to the administrative and technical monitoring of the vehicle (registration, technical inspection, CO2 emission rate, etc.)
The 2 tokens of the “Passport for Connected Car” system
With the idea of ensuring the management of economic flows relating to the services of the PCC solution on the one hand and the governance of the solution between the industrial members on the other hand, 2 tokens accompany the ecosystem: the PCC_Token and the PCC_Gold .
The PCC_Token
The PCC_Token will be at the heart of new economic exchanges between the owner of a vehicle and the industrial members. This token will have many use cases, including:
- Promote the creation of and contribution to the Vehicle Passport application;
- To offer discounts or rewards for subscribing to the Services in return for sharing its Vehicle Data;
- To ensure the distribution of the value of a service between the different contributors within the PCC platform.
The PCC_Gold
The second token of the solution, the PCC_Gold , is intended to allow members of the consortium to manage:
- Aspects relating to the operation and use of the PCC_Token;
- The governance of the solution in proportion to their respective contributions.
- The PCC _Gold is used in all operations involving a collaborative decision. Each decision will be validated or not through a vote of each member of the consortium.
On the same model as DeFi protocol tokens, the weight of each voter is proportional to the amount of PCC _Gold they have.
Certainly, the automotive industry is increasingly turning to blockchain. Many vehicle component traceability solutions are being developed around the world.
Already supported by many players, this “Passport for Connected Car” therefore seems quite promising. However, its success depends on the real participation of industry. For the system to work properly, the consortium will need to welcome many new members from across the industry.
This connected passport project for cars could be launched at best in 2023 or 2024 and it could well find a form of utility for non-fungible tokens in an industrial context.
Read Also: Blockchain Technology to Improve Efficiency and Transparency in the Global Mobility Supply Chain
