Sustainable and Trusted Vehicular Energy Trading Enabled by Scalable Blockchains

The integration of electric vehicles (EVs) into the transportation network has positioned their battery packs not only as power sources for mobility but also as crucial components of energy storage. This dual role enables EVs to trade energy with the grid and among themselves, introducing an innovative approach to energy transactions. Their ability to mitigate peak energy demand and engage in vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) exchanges represents a significant step toward a more interactive and adaptable energy infrastructure. This paper introduces a blockchain-based V2V energy trading system that utilizes EVs as mobile energy storage units to effectively promote the trustworthiness of energy trading in an environment of mutual distrust through decentralized protocols. The system includes a V2V energy trading protocol that facilitates secure energy transactions, guarantees data integrity, and builds trust among participants. Additionally, it employs a new group fairness-based trade matching algorithm for sustainable energy trading services, encouraging greater participation from EV owners and fostering a more responsive energy market. To support these decentralized and trusted V2V trading services, an efficient and scalable blockchain prototype is proposed. This prototype features a novel sharding consensus scheme, which has been implemented and deployed for real-world experiments and performance evaluation. This system contributes to the green energy economy by enabling a transparent and trust-based approach to energy trading, offering a transformative model for sustainable energy commerce.