Moritz Kuhn

chargeBIG

Smart and scalable EV charging

YEAR

2020

DURATION

9 Months

ROLE

Product Designer

Home screen and charging screen of the chargeBIG app

chargeBIG by Mahle is an award-winning full-service electronic vehicle charging provider.

The corporate startup provides centralized and scalable charging infrastructure for day parkers, fleet operators, and use cases with 18 to 100 or more electrified parking lots.

By prioritizing and distributing the charging power via an intelligent single-phase, the cars are charged with a dynamic charging power between 2.3 – 7.2kW. This allows the efficient charging of many vehicles simultaneously at one location.

Download the app or watch a short video to learn more.

Schematic illustration of the chargeBIG infrastructure

As design and development team at Intervall we build a seamless end-to-end whitelabel service.

chargeBIG app screens: How to charge, scanning the plug and charge point details
A guide shows beginners in detail how to start charging

Simply charge.

Users simply scan the QR code on the plug of the charging point at which they want to charge. The connected charging point is shown in the app, and the user can continue to arm the charging cable by confirming the ID. The car will start charging as soon as they plug the cable in.

Frictionless payment and account flows

Users can set up a profile to prefill all needed information or add their details on the spot. After they confirm their information, everything is ready, and the charging point is armed. The car will start charging as soon as they plug the cable in.

chargeBIG app screens: Payment and activating the charge point
Activating the charging point
The charging screen of the chargeBIG app with educative visuals and audio-haptic interactions
The highlight of the app experience

Feel the electrons flow

This feature combines haptics, audio, and visuals into one delightful user interaction. While charging, the animated background will visualize the speed of the electrons, and on iOS, a fine-tuned AHAP vibration pattern and a matching sound play.

Full service design

chargeBIG was the first provider of a regulation-compliant display of charging progress for smartphones in Germany. We also developed an user-centered service design flow and designed all related email and billing assets.

chargeBIG app screen of successfully finishing charging and the bill received as email
chargeBIG billing services

The chargeBIG app is part of a bigger vision for a more efficient and scalable charging infrastructure.

My contribution to the venture was limited to my UI design work at Intervall, but I closely follwed the journey of chargeBIG and was excited to see how it continued to reach new milestones. Two highlights: Winning the German Innovation Award 2020 and facilitating Stuttgart Airport with over 100 charging points.


Images: Electrive, chargeBIG

chargeBIG charge points at the LBBW bank © Electrive
Person holding an iPhone with the chargeBIG app on display © chargeBIG
chargeBIG charge points in a parking lot © chargeBIG
A Tesla Model S being charged at a chargeBIG charge point © chargeBIG
Two chargeBIG plugs at the MAHLE parking lot © chargeBIG
Data visualization of resistance measurements © Intervall

Being part of the interdisciplinary Intervall team was a particularly inspiring and valuable experience.

During my last year at university, I had the pleasure of joining Intervall as their first employee. This small and specialized design consultancy based in Stuttgart works at the intersection of computational and creative methodology.

I was deeply impressed by the level of expertise and eye for detail that the two founders put into every aspect of their work. Their understanding of computational design thinking greatly influenced my definition of the designer's role in the age of digitalization.

Thank you for your interest. Do you have a similar project in mind that you'd like to discuss or want to know more about the one above? Contact me!

Or have a look at my other projects →