A Blockchain-Supported Framework for Charging Management of Electric Vehicles

Abstract

Profound changes driven by decarbonization, decentralization, and digitalization are disrupting the energy industry, bringing new challenges to its key stakeholders. In the attempt to address the climate change issue, increasing penetration of renewables and mobility electrification augment the complexity of the electric grid, thus calling for new management approaches to govern energy exchanges while ensuring reliable and secure operations. The emerging blockchain technology is regarded as one of the most promising solutions to respond to the matter in a decentralized, efficient, fast, and secure way. In this work, we propose an Ethereum-based charging management framework for electric vehicles (EVs), tightly interlinked with physical and software infrastructure and implemented in a real-world demonstration site. With a specifically designed solidity-based smart contract governing the charging process, the proposed framework enables secure and reliable accounting of energy exchanges in a network of trustless peers, thus facilitating the EVs’ deployment and encouraging the adoption of blockchain technology for everyday tasks such as EV charging through private and semi-private charging infrastructure. The results of a multi-actor implementation case study in Switzerland demonstrate the feasibility of the proposed blockchain framework and highlight its potential to reduce costs in a typical EV charging business model. Moreover, the study shows that the suggested framework can speed up the charging and billing processes for EV users, simplify the access to energy markets for charging station owners, and facilitate the interaction between the two through specifically designed mobile and web applications. The implementation presented in this paper can be used as a guideline for future blockchain applications for EV charging and other smart grid projects.

Incorporation of Blockchain Technology for Different Smart Grid Applications: Architecture, Prospects, and Challenges

“…Security has to be evaluated systematically to improve the SG's dependability, despite the technology's widespread repute for usefulness [54]. In response to this, the implementation of blockchain-based EV charging infrastructure is fully described in [55]. The Ethereum blockchain technology, widely used for implementing decentralized applications, serves as the basis for this research [56].…”

Bibliometric Analysis: The Use of Blockchain Technology in Smart City Mapping Concept

“…Concerning Electric Vehicles (EVs) and smart communities, consensusdriven, distributed, and decentralized Blockchain technology can introduce two-way electricity trading between vehicles and buildings and vice versa [40]. Research by [41] proposed secure and reliable energy exchange computation in a trustless peer network, thereby facilitating the deployment of EVs and promoting blockchain technology in routine activities like fueling electric vehicles via private and semi-private charging infrastructure. The potential cost reduction in general electric vehicle charging business models is underscored by the outcomes of a case study on implementing a blockchain framework involving multiple actors in Switzerland.…”

Blockchain-Enabled Smart Grid Applications: Architecture, Challenges, and Solutions

“…Motivated by previous development, Marina Dorokhova et al [66] proposed integrating electric vehicle charging systems based on blockchain technology. The study is based on a popular blockchain platform, Ethereum, for interconnecting EV infrastructure and real-world infrastructure [67].…”