“Calculated chain reaction”

RWE’s green split-off innogy is working on a system that could make payments between users of e-cars and private providers of charging stations simpler and more secure, writes Manuel Heckel in Handelsblatt. The mode of payment based on the technology blockchain, which is also used for the digital currency bitcoin, could allow owners of charging stations to sell their power at a fixed rate without having to rely on the honesty of consumers. The technology could “make supervisory authority unnecessary” as a large number of computers connected to the internet individually documented every transaction, Heckel writes.

For more information on Germany’s infrastructure for e-mobility, read the CLEW factsheet Energiewende in transportation: Vague goals, modest strides.