> “We take the information we know about that nickel and we create a digital replica of it,” said Carey. “Where was it mined? What was its geolocation? What was its weight? What was the elapsed time in terms of processing?
“Then all of that information that we gather – at every step along the journey about that same piece of nickel – we can tie to that VIN or that QR code.”
This opens so many possible control and regulation scenarios...
> Carey said that this could influence buying decisions.
And 'soft' discrimination/protectionism scenarios.
Yea the problem with this is tracking basic materials, commodities is HARD. Nickel is about 15k a ton... so a buck a KG to track (not unreasonable) you're adding quite a bit of cost. How about zinc at 2k a ton... that's a huge cost addition.
The reality is that people who think these things up have little context for the complexity, scope and scale of what they are proposing. If they want the information to be accurate and useful then it's going to be expensive. If they want the system to of reasonable cost then it isnt going to do the job...
I had the opportunity to examine a Dacia recently, and I was blown away by the apparent build quality. Just closing the door felt as solid as any German luxury brand if not as heavy. The owner smiled and mentioned, yes, this vehicle is designed to still be functional after driving on Romanian roads.
I'm a bit confused, you one side say there's no cheap car in Europe, then give a price in USD - are you actually in Europe and know what you are talking about? You can get a new Fiat, Citroen or Mitsubishi under 15k (some even hybrids) even here in the high-price-island Switzerland.
Well, that's the same for all documents. You can just make them up, it's not that hard with 5 minutes of photoshop.
But if there is a control and a manufacturer get caught lying about the provenance they are going to have a bad time (or the car manufacturer/battery resellers which didn't do their due diligence).
Yes, but my point is rather the opposite: This allows to enforce various sanctions and controls against, for instance, Chinese manufacturers or specific mining countries, or to steer consumers away from certain producers while claiming that this is not protectionism but only "consumer choice".
For instance, Wikipedia says that Russia is the 3rd largest producer of Nickel in the world (and France is 4th through New Caledonia...). This system, and indeed assuming that data are not falsified, allows them to indirectly hit them.
Once the EU has visibility of so many data I'm sure they'll get creative ;)
The vin is a unique key in a database which contrails the data. Sure you can forge the vin, just like you can today, but that can be discovered and comes with a ton of risk
“Then all of that information that we gather – at every step along the journey about that same piece of nickel – we can tie to that VIN or that QR code.”
This opens so many possible control and regulation scenarios...
> Carey said that this could influence buying decisions.
And 'soft' discrimination/protectionism scenarios.