Roast my app for electric vehicle drivers and charger recommender

[larymac47]

Hello, I've recently released an app for electric vehicle drivers to make it easy to find great charge points.

What is unique about the app

What is unique about the app is that its focus is on making it easy to compare charge points by providing users with a ranked list based on travel time, connector numbers, crime rate or the types of amenities or brands users want to have present nearby. i.e. if you'd like a charger with a Starbucks nearby it can find it quite easily.

Why this matters

The goal is to be able to find the chargers where the environment and amenities provide the experience the driver wants. The reason why this is important is that recharging can easily take >20 minutes, no in person support is present at charging stations most of the time and thus the environment at charging stations matters much more than at gasoline stations. It is for example not fun to stop at an isolated location by yourself in the middle of the night.

Open data aspects

It currently covers the UK and US and uses the Open Charge Map and OpenStreetMaps databases. We will send user submitted data about chargers to the Open Charge Map database as well to share user contributions with the broader community.

Please roast!

I was looking for feedback on the app and testers to find how to further improve it. Download via electro-app.com or directly from the iOS and Play stores. I'm also appending a link to a short video showing how charger ranking and the recommender work.

 

[noeljack]

@larymac47 It would be great if you could set up some sort of messages (with privacy, no names, etc.) that people can communicate through. For example, when I put my car in the charging station, I always check to see if it's ready to take out, not only because of the cost, but also because there may be someone who wants to charge it too. Find a way to let the person know (sticker on the car) that they can ask me when I take it out. Or at least, if I don't get a message, I can assume that no one is there to charge, and the car can wait a few more minutes.

 

[larymac47]

That is a good idea and should be relatively easy to implement too.

 

[graceseeker164]

@larymac47 I would think right now EV owners would be happy to find ANY charging station. It might be too early to be so choosey. Besides, why isn't there a website like this for regular gas stations? Because nobody cares.

 

[larymac47]

@graceseeker164 That was the case a few years back, but now there are so many chargers especially in Europe! Charging takes significantly longer than refueling at a gas station and there is no in person support. If you are to spend 20 to 60 minutes somewhere you might want to ensure that you will feel safe there and that you can combine charging with other activities which matter to you.