VoltVan

I drive an electric Volkswagen ID.Buzz for mobile dent repair. The manufacturer's app does what it does; I wanted the few things I actually check ten times a day on one screen, and I wanted the van to charge itself around my calendar. VoltVan is that app.

What it does

• Status at a glance. Battery, range, charging state, locked or not, on the phone and on a home-screen widget.
• Lock, unlock, start and stop charging from anywhere.
• Smart charging. Hold at 80% overnight, then top up so the van finishes charging shortly before I leave. The departure time can come from a clock I set or from my next appointment in Dent Repair USA.
• Where is my van. A map pin and directions to it.
• Alerts. Charging complete, left unlocked, moved after hours, and manufacturer recalls.
• A log of efficiency against the weather, so I know what a cold morning really costs in miles.

How it is built

A native iPhone app talking to a small cloud service that holds the connection to the vehicle through Smartcar, the same bridge the car makers themselves license. The service is multi-user from the start, so opening it to other electric-van owners is a matter of a plan upgrade rather than a rewrite. Today it runs on one van: mine.