A California-based company called MarsCharge is dedicated to developing EV infrastructure. To design their flagship product, a freestanding commercial charger that can top off two EVs at once, they turned to industrial design consultancy DesignStein Studios.

After extensive industry feedback, MarsCharge realized that there was a huge demand for large, standalone EV charging station chargers that actually work. The client built a highly-engineered prototype freestanding DC fast charger that can fully charge most EVs in approximately 20 minutes, which is nearly twice as fast as most standalone DC fast chargers, and arguably one of the fastest on the market today. However, they found it lacking a beautiful design and easy-to-use interface.

Styling was paramount. Our client did not want a clunky, boxy-looking charger like most of what exists on the market today. After collaboration with them, we selected three design themes that would embody the charger's design: Monolithic, Annular and Premium. Monolithic designs aren't simply large, their presence stops you in your tracks. Annularity promotes a natural, swooping flow, eliminating the slightest hint of "boxiness" in our design. Premium structures stand alone. You know them when you see them. Together, these Mood Board elements became the inspiration for our sketches.

MONOLITH, ANNULAR, PREMIUM

With our mood board completed, we explored multiple design directions (below). The first drawings below, with the pencil sketches behind them, are the initial configurations:

Our client loved them, and through the collaborative process we encourage with all our clients, they evolved into these detailed concepts:

The video below has the full story on how we employed our process with MarsCharge, and helped them use this design to increase their profitability.

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You can see more of DesignStein Studio's work here.