Could this be how we pay for gas in the future? NC toll roads try new technology
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- NC Turnpike Authority pilots in-car toll payments with Volvo and Mastercard.
- Up to 100 Volvo drivers will test infotainment payment on NC toll roads.
- Program aims to assess digital wallet technology with potentially wider uses.
The N.C. Turnpike Authority is teaming up with Volvo and Mastercard to test a new system that allows people to pay highway tolls from their car’s infotainment system.
Up to 100 Volvo owners will try out technology that essentially turns their cars into digital wallets. Mastercard says Mercedes-Benz drivers can already use a similar system to pay for fuel at more than 3,600 gas stations in Germany.
But North Carolina is the first place the approach will be used to pay tolls, said J.J. Eden, the Turnpike Authority’s executive director. Drivers who use the system won’t need to keep a transponder in their car or pay by mail after receiving a bill.
“We’ve been talking about in-car payment for years,” Eden said. “Now is the time.”
The turnpike authority and the two companies announced the pilot program Thursday at the N.C. Transportation Summit, a two-day conference organized each year by the N.C. Department of Transportation.
The pilot is scheduled to begin late this year or early next, after participants have been enrolled. Their cars must have Google built-in, which is now standard on Volvos sold in the United States. They will need to download an app to their car, but no additional equipment is required.
Volvo created the app. The company built it on the Google android base used by several automakers, and Volvo plans to make it available to them, said Jim Nichols, head of product and technology at Volvo Car USA.
“We think it’s one of those things that, once it’s proven here, that in a few years it will be the standard that’s used throughout the country,” Nichols said.
The N.C. Turnpike Authority collects tolls as vehicles pass under gantries over the highway, by either deducting money from pre-paid transponders or reading the license plate and sending a bill in the mail. Drivers enrolled in the Mastercard program will automatically receive a charge on their credit card.
The card itself will be tokenized, which means it will be replaced by a randomized code tied to the car that can’t be used elsewhere. One reason the companies consider the North Carolina program a pilot or test is they want to ensure it all works as designed, said Chapin Flynn, a senior vice president with Mastercard.
“We really want to make sure that it ticks all the right boxes and that we’re securing everything across the entire transaction spectrum so people can trust that this is being done the right way,” Flynn said.
That said, like Volvo, Mastercard believes it won’t be long before people are paying for gas, food, car washes and other products and services from their dashboards.
“What’s happening with in-vehicle payments is the future of payments,” Flynn said. “We will see material leaps forward in this over the next two years.”
The turnpike authority operates three toll roads in North Carolina — the Triangle Expressway in Wake County, the Monroe Expressway in Union County and express lanes on Interstate 77 between Huntersville and uptown Charlotte.
This story was originally published September 4, 2025 at 3:47 PM.
