What is Bolt.Earth?

Bolt.Earth stands as the nucleus of the burgeoning EV revolution, offering an all-encompassing ecosystem and comprehensive solutions for establishing EV products and infrastructure.

From chargers and integrated charging solutions to software, making vehicles smart to user-centric products for charger discovery and B2B products for charging, vehicle, and fleet management—it’s a singular platform that allows you to choose EV products and services from its vast ecosystem.

The Role of Design at Bolt.Earth

If you consider the EV ecosystem as a whole and the role of the user at its center, it presents an interesting scenario. The user can be a vehicle owner, someone charging the vehicle, a fleet owner or a public charger/station owner. There are various personas and user types, but they lie at the center of the EV ecosystem.

Now, consider an EV owner. Is mobility within this ecosystem merely about reaching from point A to point B? Or is it something more? Just as the phone is no longer merely a tool for vocal communication, I believe that in the very near future, mobility, in some ways like the phone, will not solely be about transportation.

Where does design come in, in this scenario? It's central to this scenario, I would argue. One of the main points of interaction between the user and the vehicle will be the dashboard cluster. What is the role of the cluster? What will it display? How will it aid and engage the user? These are some important questions to ask.

A real-time solution my team and I worked on involves near-future/present-day use cases. For example, when the vehicle's battery is low, the cluster displays nearby chargers on the Bolt.Earth network for navigation. Or, making the UI/UX modular to accommodate real-life use cases such as incoming calls or listening to music while riding. These are just a few examples that make for interesting design interventions.

More than just charging an appliance?

The charging experience becomes a fascinating scenario when you think about it. It's not merely about filling up petrol/diesel at a station; it's more than just putting an appliance on charge. How does the user interact with chargers? How do they pay? How much time does the activity take, and what do they do during that time? Not all users will use personal charging overnight in the near future as EVs and EV usage become denser. How do you prioritise and incentivise this activity? These are very interesting questions.

This is where my team and I paid a lot of attention and detailed out the Bolt.Earth app. The Bolt.Earth app isn’t just a charger discovery app. Payments, usage, behaviour, and lifestyle are key areas where close attention has been paid. Gamified features allow users to discover and charge easily, as well as coaxing the user to use the vehicle more, making it part of their lifestyle. An issue, especially in India, is range anxiety regarding a switch to EVs.

We aim for the Bolt.Earth app to not just be a charger discovery app but a deep tool for users to track metrics, engage and immerse into th EV ecosystem, as a lifestyle. Dashboards tracking fuel cost reduction,carbon offset metrics as well as charging habits such as charging frequency, energy consumption etc will be staple metrics for a user to track in the near future (if not right in the present). Gamification features like charging streaks, usage and ranking will be used to increase engagement. The app will not just for be EV users but also for CPOs (charging point owners) to track usage metrics, health, damage, and earnings and tips.

I keep stressing the fact that the EV ecosystem for the user is actually an interaction design project. It’s all about how a user interacts with the ecosystem. It is a blank slate and a keen behavioural trait to be sculpted. It's about how a person experiences the phenomenon of EVs and charging as a whole!