Stable coins for ev charging
unlocking the potential of cryptocurrencies in every charging session
The Share&Charge Foundation develops tools based on distributed technologies, like blockchain technology, to support solutions around Electric Vehicle charging. Different to fueling an ICE vehicle, charging an Electric Vehicle increases the amount of transactions between users of vehicles and their provider of energy. Charging will take place at many new locations, be it at home, along the journey or at any destination (e.g. work place). These use-cases create the necessity of a simple and efficient payment method for charging sessions - including the possibility for micro-transactions and instant payments.
Blockchain technology provides a solution for these kind of requirements. However, due to increased volatility of current cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin to fiat currencies like the Euro, most native cryptocurrencies can’t be applied to Electric Vehicle charging. This is because the prices of charging session are usually set in fiat currencies and companies don’t want to expose their users to heavily fluctuating prices.
A solution to this problem comes with so-called “Stable Coins”. These are cryptocurrencies that are linked to the value of a fiat currency. This can be achieved in many ways, which can be divided into three general strategies: Fiat-backed, Crypto-collateralized, Algorithmic (More information on this topic can be found here). Up-to-today Share&Charge has worked with three different kind of stable coins, giving the Foundation vast experience in the application of Stable Coins in Electric Charging.
From Blockchain’s State of Stablecoins Report
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Stable coin concepts used by Share&charge
Euro-Backed Stable-Coin
(2017-2018)
The Share&Charge 1.0 App used an Euro-backed Stable Coin which was exchangable 1:1 to Euros. It could be used for Electric Vehicle Charging at over 1300 Charging Stations throughout Germany.
Learn more here
Crypto-Collateralized Stable Coin
(2019)
A solution that we’ve showcased at the Event Horizon Summit 2019 in Berlin was using the crypto-collateralized cryptocurrency DAI by MakerDAO. More information about the currency can be found here: DAI