Toyota, MIT Partner on Bitcoin-type Tech for Vehicles

Toyota Motor Corp. is working with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Media Lab to develop a “blockchain” technology—similar to that used for Bitcoin digital payments—to manage data related to autonomous and connected vehicles and new mobility services.   

Blockchains are a series of independents computers that create a distributed database. Bitcoin, which was released in 2009 as an open-source software system for digital payments, uses advanced encryption and blockchains to process payments and keep permanent secure transaction records that can’t be retroactively modified.

In the auto industry, blockchains could be used to share autonomous vehicle data to improve performance. The technology also can be used to process car-sharing and ride-hailing transactions, and to pair empty vehicles—and storage capacity—with drivers, riders and cargo providers.

Another possible application: Driving data could be shared—and possibly monetized—for third-party purposes, including setting insurance rates. Using blockchains would be more secure than current methods such as sharing onboard diagnostics information, according to the researchers.

Noting that “hundreds of billions of miles of human driving data” may be needed to create autonomous vehicle systems, Toyota says that blockchains and distributed ledgers can help pool data from vehicle owners, fleet managers and carmakers to accelerate the development process.

In addition to MIT Media Lab, Toyota is working with several startup companies to develop different blockchain-based applications. The initial partners are BigchainDB (autonomous vehicle data), Oaken Innovations and Commuterz (ride/car-sharing), and Gem (usage-based insurance).