The automobile giant Ford on Tuesday, announced a pilot project, which would use blockchain technology to track and enhance energy-efficient vehicles. This pilot program is taking place in London and Valencia, Spain. The company is working with five municipal fleets and the City of Cologne to test nine Ford Transit Custom Plug-In hybrid vans and one Tourneo Custom Plug-In Hybrid people-mover.
Mark Harvey, director, Commercial Vehicle Mobility, Ford of Europe, said that they are committed to delivering new, more environmentally sustainable vehicles to help address the mobility challenges that cities face. He added that the plug-in hybrid electric vehicle trials with their partners in the city of Cologne build upon their ongoing electrification programs elsewhere in Europe.
Henriette Reker, Lord Mayor of the City of Cologne, said that the city would keep its drive in the future, and it would be emission-free. He also stated that transforming city fleets and using climate-friendly vehicles is a matter of high priority to them.
Earlier, Ford used blockchain technology to trace the supplies of cobalt from a Chinese-owned mine in the Congo for the batteries in its electric cars. The mining of cobalt in African countries had been a major human rights issue as child labor is extensively used there. But Ford used blockchain technology to ensure cobalt they used had no links to human rights abuses.
