Using NFT’s to Track Vehicle Ownership & Service History
Overview
In this article I will go over a process that can be used by manufacturers and dealerships to track a vehicles historical data from the moment it leaves the factory floor.
By storing the history on the blockchain in this way, we can track the entire supply chain path as well as the ownership and service data of a vehicle throughout it’s entire lifetime leading to more informed purchases on secondary markets.
Benefits of This Approach
By using a unique owner NFT’s manufacturers could open up doors to token gated communities so that only owners of a specific vehicle can join and earn exclusive benefits and members club style features and perks, opening up a whole new world of consistent revenue through loyal consumer based re-engagement and upselling.
Loyalty point systems could also be built in so that when a consumer purchases added extras for the vehicle directly from the manufacturer they can earn loyalty points towards exclusive company sponsored events furthering a VIP like experience for another echelons of the supporter community.
The benefits of this approach don’t stop there. You could also use this NFT as a key to start the car itself. By using bluetooth broadcasting you can write custom logic to send a transaction to the users connected phone which triggers a check of the users holdings. If it matches the token ID inscribed on the firmware unlock the door and free the ignition.
Smart Contract
The code for our smart contract can be found below. Once a vehicle is produced the manufacturer mints the NFT pairing the token to the physical. Owners can add approved service technicians to their token so that only they can add service history for the vehicle, approvals can be revoked too.
Once the manufacturer sells the vehicle to a dealership they transfer the NFT to them with the vehicle. Only the token owner can transfer the token after this point so that as soon as the first sale happens the transfer is recorded and the history of ownership is tracked.
To interact with the token manufacturers can create their own react native app to handle the smart contract functions. The user doesn’t need to know the blockchain is involved they just need to know that fees are required for processing interactions but on polygon or other EVM L2’s this is miniscule and could be wrapped into a generic admin fee.
Extending Beyond Manufacturing
The brilliant thing about tokenisation is the ability to facet information through official processes in an immutable way, this means governments can use these tokens in order to tie vehicle ownership to individuals.
For example the DVSA could use a database of these token IDs to track who owned a vehicle and when it was serviced. With no gaps in history and guaranteeing authenticity this process could save government sectors a substantial amount of money if standardised through the supply chain and public consensus.
Conclusion
Vehicle manufacturers have consumers who appreciate luxury and community, tapping into this exciting and welcoming place is the best way for larger companies to connect with their consumers and offer unique experiences and benefits to help bolster loyalty and brand longevity.
