The Challenge
Our client, a renowned supplier of Electric Vehicle (EV) charging solutions across the UK, was grappling with outdated third-party software that severely limited customer engagement and was hindering their business growth.
Problem Statement
The charger (OEM) software lacked features and required cumbersome manual processes which were detrimental to customer experience and operational efficiency. To drive their business forward and meet the specific needs of their customers, our client chose to collaborate with Talink for a comprehensive software overhaul.
Understanding Customer Personas
Together with Talink, the client identified three distinct customer personas. The software was then designed to cater to the specific needs of each persona to enhance customer engagement and satisfaction.
Technical Challenges
The project was a complex endeavour involving two main components:
· Customer Software Users needed an intuitive and user-friendly app tailored to their specific needs allowing them to easily manage their charging profiles.
· Control Software Built to manage an Open Charge Point Protocol sockets-based protocol, the control software had to handle high data volumes produced by the continuous stream of data from hundreds of thousands of active chargers.
The Solution
Over a 12-month timeline, Talink successfully delivered a robust, full-stack EV Charging software ecosystem:
· Infrastructure Leveraged Google Cloud Platform (GCP) with a serverless, Kubernetes strategy and data-first ideology for seamless backup, replay and scaling.
· Backend Utilised Python for real-time data processing; Node.js with Typescript for graph API and MongoDB as the database which provided excellent system performance and ease of maintenance.
· Frontend Developed a user-friendly Flutter-based iOS, Android and Web apps that met the needs of the client's diverse customer personas.
Agile and Scalable Development
The project evolved from an initial Proof of Concept to a mature, agile delivery approach. Our team seamlessly scaled resources, ensuring uninterrupted team performance and continuous delivery to the client. The project is supported by a development team covering new product roadmap features, bug resolution, and supporting customer queries.
The Impact
· Enhanced Customer Engagement With tailored software, customers now enjoy a more interactive and satisfying experience.
· Operational Efficiency Manual processes have been eliminated and the new system is primed for scaling, perfectly aligning with the client's growth strategy.
Future Roadmap
The project has transitioned from development to ongoing optimisation and is perfectly positioned for future expansion and updates.