On Monday the 29th April 2019 the IOTA Foundation announced (read here) that they have entered a strategic partnership with the UK’s largest car manufacturer, Jaguar Land Rover. The nature of the new union between the two companies is one which is set to provide real world rewards for drivers of Land Rover vehicles, through a ‘smart wallet’ system.

The proposed system is one which is being developed by Jaguar Land Rover themselves, but will be using the IOTA Tangle for the sharing of data and value. Although the proposed system is still being developed, Jaguar Land Rover have confirmed that they have equipped “several” research vehicles with their proposed smart wallet system. Currently they have enabled testing on “various models” of Land Rover vehicle, including the F-PACE and Range Rover Velar.

Why Install a Car With a Wallet?

The current climate of technology has seen a huge focus being placed on the, which seeks to connect all varieties of devices. The reason for doing so is a seemingly simple one: allow them to communicate with each other. As you may have witnessed withenergy meters, this interconnectivity allows users to control devices from different locations while allowing the data which is collected, over time, to make the user’s life more efficient (a smart meter may know that you come home from work at 5pm everyday so begin to heat the house at 4:45).

Jaguar Land Rover’s plan is no different. In layman’s terms the company wishes to enable the seamless sharing of data regarding everything from potholes and hazards, to traffic and parking availability. While the use of the smart wallet to report said occurrences will rely on implementation of the system by third parties, the company will be able to instantly use the IOTA Tangle to acquire vast amounts of data regarding their own vehicles’ performance. This mass acquisition of data should lead to the Jaguar Land Rover being able to drastically increase the efficiency of their own vehicles, as well as highlighting any trends between their drivers.

By using the IOTA Tangle and rewarding willing participants with IOTA tokens for their data, the smart wallet system will pave the way for a driving experience which allows drivers to focus on the road and automatically pay for things such as tolls, parking and congestion charges. It also paves the way for smart vehicles which are driverless. Of course this is all in the testing phase at the moment and will, no doubt, not be available to the public for some time.

Love, peace and happiness.