BlockDEV: Blockchain-Based Decentralized Charging Service Provider Selection for Electric Vehicles

In future, the substantial rise in number of electric vehicles (EVs) will increase the charging-power demand significantly, placing considerable strain on existing charging stations. The adoption of renewable energy resources (RESs) is seen as a potential solution to address scalability of existing charging network, by leading the households to trade and capitalize on their surplus power. However, the centralized nature of EV charging infrastructure pose several security and privacy threats for EV owners and prosumers. Distributed ledger technologies offer a potential solution to the current privacy and security challenges. Thus, we propose a blockchain-based EV architecture that integrate prosumers into existing EV infrastructure. To begin with, we propose BlockDEV: a decentralized charging provider selection mechanism, which allows EVs to select a charging provider without sharing any personal information. A smart contract design is then proposed, allowing households with RESs to trade their surplus energy using dynamic pricing based on energy supply and demand, and, allowing EVs to make a decentralized charging slot reservation. Assessments reveal that BlockDEV provides 98% more dynamic pricing updates that accurately represent genuine energy shifts in the network. Furthermore, it incurs 50% fewer blockchain transactions compared to the baselines, and outperforms them on the effectiveness of the reputation system, and the preservation of location privacy.