About MAINGAU Energie
MAINGAU Energie is a nationwide energy company that offers a wide range of products in the fields of e-mobility and mobile communications, in addition to electricity and gas.
In the e-mobility sector, MAINGAU has become one of the leading charging providers in Germany and Europe in recent years. Since 2018, numerous users have relied on the charging service and benefited from flexible charging options via app or charging card. With over 880,000 charging points across Europe, MAINGAU Autostrom has received numerous awards – including an overall rating of "very good" in the Auto BILD market comparison.
Project goals
- Take the feedback from the previous app, combine it with MAINGAU's ideas, and develop more user-friendly features.
- Development of a reliable and easy-to-use Flutter app for electric car drivers.
- Improving user guidance to reach the desired goal faster.
- Improved overview of station availability on the map.
- Intuitive and improved display across both iOS and Android platforms.
- Release of the final app in the Apple Store and Google Play Store.
The challenge
The existing app needed further development in terms of functionality and design to unlock its full potential. To this end, shared communication channels were established between the client's internal IT department, q.beyond, and other service providers and partners.
The project
Based on an existing native app, q.beyond, in collaboration with MAINGAU, conceived and developed a new app. The cross-platform framework Flutter (open-source software) was chosen to efficiently integrate new features in the future.
At the start of the project, a requirements workshop and UI/UX workshops were held to analyze the customer's needs and cover them with user-friendly features.
The workshop served to document the client's requirements and translate them into user stories. In addition to developing the Flutter app, the project also included connecting the client to the backend. Furthermore, it encompassed app quality assurance and the development of new features. As is typical of agile collaboration, the scope continuously expanded and adapted throughout the development process.
The handover of the app to the relevant app stores, as well as the provision of development documentation and code to the client, was also part of the project. The final app release in the Apple App Store and Google Play Store was successful. The agile project team at q.beyond consists of four developers, one tester, and one project manager.
Convincing results
- Successful release of the new app for iOS and Android with positive user adoption.
- Long-term partnership: Following the initial release of the car power app, further features were developed with MAINGAU for the app, which are now being implemented step by step and made available to users.
- We were able to convince MAINGAU to develop the app using the cross-platform framework Flutter, in order to save development time and costs in the future.
From idea to implementation: Our project highlights
Images of the application
"The q.beyond team not only enriched our app project with their expertise and best practices, but also proved to be a dynamic, proactive advisor on equal footing. As a result, we can offer our customers an optimized, more innovative app with an appealing design. Thanks to the agile collaboration, we can also better address the wishes and needs of app users in the future, as well as adapt optimally to market demands. For us, the q.beyond team is not just a service provider, but also a reliable partner for our internal app team."
Maraflor Bolch, Lead Expert E-Mobility, MAINGAU Energie
Sounds exciting?
Do you have any questions about our reference? Please feel free to contact me. I look forward to hearing from you.
Moritz Hanisch