Charging Station Finder App for EV Automobiles

Our client is a Canada-based firm that manufactures components for machines installed at charging stations. In addition, it runs various ventures under it, one of which is to provide vehicle servicing to EV automobile owners.

To expand their service and establish themselves as a reliable company in the Electric Vehicle domain, they want to develop a charging station finder app for their current and target customers. The primary target of crafting this application is to increase the customer base and partner with more charging station organizations.

And later, the company wants to add a car servicing module in the application after reaching a specific user target.

• Challenges
• Solution
• Result

For fabricating the application, our team discussed the requirements with the client and identified the primary needs and challenges.

Path Direction

A primary requirement of our client was to provide direction to the customer for reaching the nearby EV charging station. The demand was to provide an accurate map with voice controls for easy navigation. In addition, the application must be able to connect with the car to evaluate whether the car can reach to destination station with current charging or not.

Online Payment

The following requirement was to leverage customers to pay via multiple online payment gateways. And it must include digital wallets, debit cards, credit cards, net banking, UPI, USSD, Pre-paid card, and AEPS. In addition, the application should enable the user to add money to their registered app account and directly pay through it.

The app should support all major modes, whether VISA, Mastercard, PayPal, Paytm, Amazon Pay, Google Pay, or any other mechanism.

Push Notification

The next challenge was to introduce custom notifications and alerts. The app must connect with the electric car and allows the user to set a charging limit. The application must send a charging alert whenever the charging goes below the defined limit. Besides, the user must get notifications about charging the vehicle and reminders about booked slots at the charging station.

Slot Booking

To streamline the operations at the EV charging station and make the process effortless for end-user, our client demanded a slot booking facility in the app. Through it, the customers can find a free slot according to their comfort and visit the station to charge their vehicle. Additionally, they can pay in advance for smooth punch-in and punch-out.

Data Security

The application inputs, stores, and processes personal and confidential information about the vehicle and the user. And it makes it necessary to maintain data integrity and availability to only authorized customers. Our team proposed the requirement of aligning the app with all major security standards for protecting overall data flow, comprising payments, automobile details, and personal information.

User Registration

According to our ally, users must create an account to utilize the services through the charging station finder application. For registering on the app, a name, phone number, and email id are basic needs of the user. In addition, a customer can create an account by using third-party login mechanisms, such as Google and Outlook.

Moreover, if someone wants to register their charging station on the platform, they must create an account and fill out the required information.

Portal for Charging Station Owners

The following requirement was to create a portal to be used at charging stations. Through this interface, the station staff must be able to view the booked and free slots along with payment status. In addition, the app leverages them to cancel bookings 32 hours before the user’s slot.

Filter and Find

Each electric vehicle requires a different plug for charging its battery. And to find the most appropriate station for the vehicle, the filtering feature was an essential requisite. In addition, it must leverage customers to find all the charging stations between their starting and destination location, along with discovering the charging station of a specific company.

Built-in Maps

We provided the built-in map functionality in the application. When the user opens the software, it will determine the live location and provide details of nearby charging stations. In addition, if the app gets connected with the vehicle, it will analyze its current charging to give information on the distance traveled with the existing power.

Multiple Payment Options

While booking a slot at a charging station or paying after availing of the service, the app will allow the user to pay through its integrated secure payment gateways. It allows users to pay with credit cards, debit cards, net banking, and digital wallets. In addition, customers can also add money to the app wallet and pay directly from it.

Alerts and Notifications

The app has various advance notification settings to ensure the user never misses an important update. While using the app, the stakeholder will get the following notifications and alerts:

• About the booked slot
• Successful and unsuccessful payment status
• Warning about charging the vehicle, if the percentage drops below the defined value
• About the wrong turn gets taken while driving towards charging station

Multiple Slot Booking Features

The app provides various features while booking charging slots to comfort the customer.

• The customer can book a slot in advance along with payment.
• The flexibility of changing the slot time is 24 hours before the current booking.
• Book slots at multiple stations while traveling.

Advance Security Controls

We configured all the essential security controls as per client requirements. All the users have to authenticate themselves while logging in. Data transmission will take place in the encrypted format, and the app complies with all ISO, NIST, and COBOL standards and best practices. In addition, we tested the app to assure there are no loopholes in its architecture and its functioning is perfect as expected.

Account Login Mechanisms

As per the business requirement, the application allows to register themselves using third-party accounts. People can use their Gmail, Apple Mail, and Outlook emails to directly log in and share the required information.

Dedicated Portals

Each user registered on the app will get an interface according to the assigned role. For instance, if some register as a customer, who wants to find a charging station, a different interface will get provided. And if a person registers as a charging station owner, who wants to onboard as a service provider, a separate interface will get displayed to it.

Multiple Filtering Options

While searching for a charging station, the user gets multiple filtering options as follows:

• Filter for different station vendors
• Filter for finding a particular charging plug availability
• Filter to discover additional amenities at the charging station, such as restroom, lodge, Wi-Fi, and many more.

After the development of the Charging Station finding application for EV Automobiles, the organization assesses the following metrics:

• Their customer base increases rapidly, as very few applications provide build-in maps and navigation mechanisms.
• The customer satisfaction rate was high due to the advanced filtering mechanism.
• Due to slot booking and multiple payment gateway options, it was leading the trending app charts.
• With the streamlined onboarding process, more charging station owners and companies registered themselves on the platform.
• The organization was getting offers to display ads from third parties, monetizing the application.
• The firm had extensive details about EV charging stations and its customers, leading them to analyze it and improve their business strategies.