IOTA Demonstrates Real-World Use Case With Smart Vehicle Charging Stations

IOTA integration into vehicle charging stations demonstrates the potential of seamless Machine-to-Machine transactions.

Netherlands-based ElaadNL has officially unveiled the world first Internet of Things capable charging station by harnessing the IOTA tangle to facilitate direct transactions between vehicle and charger.

The ElaadNL test lab charging site, located in Arnhems Buiten business park, demonstrated its first completely autonomous transaction on April 13th with Harm van den Brink charging a toy mini Tesla that had been specifically outfitted with the prerequisite hardware.

To facilitate this transaction, the IOTA charging station is outfitted with an e-Mobility ISO 15118 charging port.

This charging standard has been developed the International Organization for Standardization, a worldwide federation of national standards bodies, to establish universal compatibility for the vehicle to grid communications infrastructure.

Communications between the vehicle and charging bay transact directly through the plug, establishing TCP/IP communications via the charging station to exchange data with the vehicle.

The digital contract used in the transaction is outlined by the vehicle, meaning the open standard allows customers choose their vehicle's energy provider.

This contractual handshake allows the consumer to link their transaction to a legal binding contract supplied by their vehicle manufacturer, mobility operator - or in the case of IOTA - a compatible blockchain smart contract.

For those with incompatible vehicles, the system also allows for direct transactions to the charging station, users simply direct a transaction to a charging stations address, and leftover tokens will be returned to the wallet.

ElaadNL's implementation of the IOTA tangle demonstrates one of the core use cases for the IoT focused technology, creating a fee-free, seamless transaction settlement layer allowing both humans and machines to participate in the flourishing digital economy without the interference of third-party establishments.