Secure Electric Vehicle Charging Infrastructure in Smart Cities: A Blockchain-Based Smart Contract Approach

Increasing adoption of electric vehicles (EVs) and the expansion of EV charging infrastructure present opportunities for enhancing sustainable transportation within smart cities. However, the interconnected nature of EV charging stations (EVCSs) exposes this infrastructure to various cyber threats, including false data injection, man-in-the-middle attacks, malware intrusions, and denial of service attacks. Financial attacks, such as false billing and theft of credit card information, also pose significant risks to EV users. In this work, we propose a Hyperledger Fabric-based blockchain network for EVCSs to mitigate these risks. The proposed blockchain network utilizes smart contracts to manage key processes such as authentication, charging session management, and payment verification in a secure and decentralized manner. By detecting and mitigating malicious data tampering or unauthorized access, the blockchain system enhances the resilience of EVCS networks. A comparative analysis of pre- and post-implementation of the proposed blockchain network demonstrates how it thwarts current cyberattacks in the EVCS infrastructure. Our analyses include performance metrics using the benchmark Hyperledger Caliper test, which shows the proposed solution’s low latency for real-time operations and scalability to accommodate the growth of EV infrastructure. Deployment of this blockchain-enhanced security mechanism will increase user trust and reliability in EVCS systems.