- The IOTA network has partnered with Bolt. Earth to create a more decentralized and optimized EV charging infrastructure.
- The IOTA EVM is suitable for tokenizing EV charging infrastructure since it enables scalable, fast, and secure smart contracts.
Salima, an IOTA enthusiast, recently shared an exciting development on X: “Three days ago, the first smart contracts appeared on IOTA’s testnet, marking the beginning of the real-world tokenization of EV charging infrastructure by bolt_earth.”
Bolt. Earth, founded in 2017 and headquartered in Bengaluru, has become India’s largest electric vehicle (EV) charging network. The company has deployed over 100,000 chargers across more than 1,800 cities.
The company controls approximately 63% of India’s private charging market. Serving over 307,000 active users, the company operates a peer-to-peer, distributed charging network that supports two, three, and four-wheeled EVs, offering both standard and fast charging options.
Their extensive network includes various charging solutions, from residential and workplace settings to high-speed Blaze DC and Lightning DC chargers designed for all types of EVs. The company plans to deploy around 1 million chargers annually by 2028, targeting 60–70% of the country’s EV charging demand.
The partnership is now taking its “RealFi” initiative beyond India, with testnet deployments at four pilot locations.
In Malaysia, the pilot sites include Eco Majestic in Semenyih, a forward-looking township just south of Kuala Lumpur; Mount Austin in Johor Bahru, a rapidly expanding urban district with high EV adoption; and Majestic Labs in Klang Valley, Bolt Earth’s R&D center located in the nation’s primary technology corridor.
Across the globe, Nottingham in the United Kingdom serves as Bolt Earth’s first European pilot site. According to Salima, each of these stations has been registered and tokenized on-chain during this testing phase using the IOTA Rebased Move VM.
This development confirms an earlier report from October 18, when Moon, an IOTA enthusiast, noted that an Indian company operating over 100,000 EV charging stations was planning to expand into Malaysia, Singapore, and Europe. Based on those figures, Moon concluded that the company in question is Bolt. Earth.
What Makes IOTA Ideal for EV Charging?
EV charging involves countless microtransactions. This consists of each vehicle charging session, often for just a few kilowatt-hours, which generates a payment event. Blockchains like Bitcoin (BTC) or Ethereum (ETH) can be slow or expensive for such high-volume small payments.
For example, a fleet of 1,000 EVs charging across multiple stations can all process micro-payments simultaneously without clogging the network.
The EV users also expect near-instant confirmation that charging has started or ended, and billing should reflect that immediately. With IOTA, these transactions are confirmed quickly because the Tangle allows parallel processing rather than waiting for a sequential block confirmation.
It supports real-time accounting and automated reconciliation for EV charging operators.
There’s scheduling, dynamic pricing, loyalty rewards, energy trading, and even vehicle-to-grid (V2G) interactions. IOTA’s advantage is that the smart Contracts are deployed via the IOTA EVM, which is compatible with Ethereum tools, allowing automatic execution of agreements between parties.
With Bolt. Earth’s recognition, IOTA is poised for increased adoption. Currently, the IOTA EVM has processed a total of 15.628 million transactions, including 41,242 transactions in the past 24 hours.
By being mining-free, energy-efficient, and optimized for smart charging, IOTA ensures that EV charging networks can run on the blockchain without undermining the environmental benefits of electric vehicles.
Further strengthening the network, CNF has reported on IOTA’s recent integration with the private key management platform Turnkey. This partnership allows developers to leverage transaction automation, integrate non-custodial wallets without seed phrases, and build secure applications on IOTA.