Elton makes public EV charging a breeze
Elton is a startup building the ultimate on-to-road charging experience. With Elton you can find, navigate to and pay for EV charging - all easily accessible in the Elton app. Now with direct EV connections via Enode, they can create the ultimate charging experience. But more on that later.
Before Elton came along, EV drivers in Norway had to have 5+ apps for each of the many charge point operators (CPOs). Not all of these apps had a great UI and UX, so say the least. This created frustration for EV drivers on the road who many already suffered from range anxiety.
Improving the charging experience - one charger at the time
The Elton team had seen this frustration and also lived it themselves, and set out to build an app that would make horrible charging experiences a thing of the past. They started talking to users to map out the main pain points and quickly found a few areas they wanted to address:
- One single app for all charging networks = no more switching apps
- Better information while charging = do I have time for a coffee?
- A better route planner that actually knows if I will get to where I’m going = kill range anxiety
The Elton team quickly started enrolling CPOs onto their platform and making new networks available for their users. This work continues today as not all networks are open for collaboration (yet).
The next part was creating an optimal charging experience with enough data to build trust with users. Here we at Enode were happy to help, and with our EV API the Elton app now talks directly to the users’ EVs to get state-of-charge, location, charge rate, and much more. Now the Elton users don't have to switch between their charging app and OEM app to know when the EV will be ready to go. Simpler for everyone!
Thirdly, Elton wanted to kill the infamous range anxiety. Never heard of it? Try a road trip with an (older) EV in Norway during winter in minus 20 degrees…
The way Elton fixes this is pretty smart. With SoC and location data from the EV and information on all public chargers, they can calculate the optimal route between A and B - charging stops included! The user knows exactly where to stop for extra e-fuel, and for how long they need to charge. Nice!
Road trip to Europe and beyond!
With the success the Elton app has seen in the mature EV market in Norway the team now has even bigger plans. Every European market is up for grabs is what they are telling us, and we at Enode look forward to being part of the journey.
Making the EV charging experience better is something that will increase adoption and help the world move towards a sustainable future. Apps like Elton will be a big part of that and we are huge supporters.
