DIANDIAN: Mobile Charging System

DIANDIAN is a mobile charging system, which contains mobile charging post, vehicle HMI and Vehicle-Road-Cloud Platform, designed to solve the problem of charging difficulty on highways during peak holiday periods in China, providing car owners with high-speed, intelligent and considerate charging solution.

Project Type

System Design
HMI Design
Mobility Design

Timeline

Dec 2023 - Jun 2024

Team

1 Designer
2 Engineer
2 BA

My Role

Team Leader
Product Owner
UX Designer

Tools

Figma
Blender

Background

▶ Holiday travel dilemma in China

➤ EVs take more than twice time to travel to their destinations due to difficulties of charging in service-areas on highways during holidays.

▶ Service-areas on Chinese Highways

➤ About 6,000 service-areas in China

➤ Average of 4.2 charging piles per service-area

➤ Each EV queues for 2hr+ to be charged at peak times

▶ Retired EV batteries in China

➤ Batteries retire when the capacity is less than 80%, but they can still be used in other scenarios

➤ There are already 580k+ retired batteries until 2023

➤ The recycling market for retired batteries is expected to exceed 100 billion yuan by 2030

▶ VOLVO's battery recycling planning

➤ Volvo plans to reuse retired batteries in energy storage systems

➤ Aiming to achieve carbon neutrality by 2040

➤ Exploring innovative solutions for sustainable development

Research

▶ Existing Solutions

More Fixed Charging Piles

Sufficient supply

Too high cost

Advanced Travel Planning

Intelligent

Ineffective in chaotic situations

High-voltage Fast Charging

rapid recharge

Worries about damaging batteries

Battery Swap Station

Time-saving

Limited to NIO cars

Conclusion

Lack of economical and user-friendly solutions for complex situation which is adapted to all brands of vehicles.

▶ User Interviews

We interviewed a number of owners, and the following is a selection of the two most representative of them.

My Thoughts

He mainly suffers from time-wasting during the charging process.

My Thoughts

She always has unsureness about any problems and conditions.

▶ Persona

Based on the user interviews, we generalized the persona and mapped the user story for this character.

▶ User Journey Map

Based on the research, we believe that the charging problem involves a long time period, in which the behaviors, moods, goals and pain points are complex. So we used the User Journey Map to further sort out and identify design opportunities.

Insights

Mobile Charging Station

economical step-use of electricity

Vehicle HMI

user-friendly charging experience

Vehicle-Road-Cloud

platform for complex situation

System & Service

▶ System Map

To refine insights' feasibility, we use a system map to analyze the stakeholders involved in the project and their internal flow relationships before conducting specific touchpoint design from a macro perspective.

▶ Service Blueprint

We then use the service blueprint to help us understand the service process and touchpoints from both the user's and provider's perspectives, ensuring not only a seamless charging experience, but also the whole step-use of electricity.