When many hear Automotive Giant, they think Volkswagen, Toyota, or General Motors. Many do not know Bosch. Bosch is an automotive supplier. They have research in just about every part of the automobile, from controller hardware to controller software, electric vehicle technology, and even autonomous technology. They are perhaps most famously known for inventing the Communication Area Network (CAN) which is the standard communication protocol across controllers on modern cars. Bosch products can be found on almost any car on the road today.
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Bosch recently held their annual Bosch Connected World 2019 on May 15 and May 16. Though little information has been made public regarding Bosch's research with Ethereum, Bosch has a portion of their website dedicated to blockchain technology. It is here we see Bosch's official announcement regarding Ethereum - "The distributed ledger as a platform allows the creation, management and execution of digital programs such as, for example, →Smart Contracts using a blockchain technology. Bosch is exploring the Ethereum platform with projects such as self-charging and self-paying cars at charging points." Its not much, but its enough to let us know there is interest from the automotive industry.
Back in 2016, Germany’s RWE electricity supplier demonstrated Ethereum as a use case for interacting with customers when charging electric vehicles. Now it is time for the automotive industry to support from their side, and Bosch is leading the way.
Bosch has explored other distributed ledgers such as IOTA and Hyperledger in the past. Will Ethereum come out as the dominant network for Bosch, we'll have to wait and find out.
Sources
https://bosch-connected-world.com/conference/program
https://www.bosch.com/stories/blockchain-technology-explained
https://www.newsbtc.com/2019/05/23/bosch-announce-trial-to-use-ethereum-one-step-closer-towards-mainstream-adoption
https://www.coindesk.com/german-utility-company-turns-to-blockchain-amid-shifting-energy-landscape
Image Sources
https://www.freepik.com/free-vector/ethereum-cryptocurrency-illustration-blockchain-platform-ether-mining-farm_3090649.htm
https://www.freepik.com/free-vector/transport-isometric-set_3997936.htm