Nicola Carlon, you are the co-founder of this project. How did it come about, and in what spirit?
The project grew out of a personal need: finding hotels with a charging point for my electric car, preferably Type 2 with adequate power. I really like charging at the places I stay rather than having to go looking for a charging point. My philosophy is to charge while I'm stopped rather than stop to charge.
Unfortunately, my favourite booking site only showed a generic “EV charging” label, which often turned out to be just a socket for e-bikes, not for cars. What's more, there was no way to filter reviews by our niche of users. I had even suggested to the portal's technical support that they develop this kind of search, useful not only for me but for all electric car owners, but I never received a reply.
So during the first lockdown I decided to develop a portal with this aim myself, drawing on my skills as a computer engineer. The project then became part of the innovative start-up FlexSight, of which I am a co-founding partner, while remaining a non-profit project. Indeed, EViaggio's mission is to make life easier for those travelling electric, completely free of charge. We also want to raise awareness among venues such as hotels and restaurants, encouraging them to install a charging point, which we believe will be the new Wi-Fi: sooner or later, everyone will have to have one.
Who are the project's partners?
Along this self-funded journey, many people have helped us gain visibility. Several partners have believed in this project: for example, automotoelettriche.it has supported the project from day one; MOTUS-E, with whom we collaborate by displaying on the site the Electric-Friendly badge for the properties they have certified; Sagelio srl (a charging point installer and supplier), which helped us populate our database with the hotels in its network. As it started as a personal project, we have not taken any national or European funding: the philosophy was, and still is, to build a community open to all.
How does it work?
It works very simply, much like Tripadvisor. Anyone, whether owners or ordinary users, can add the destinations they know of. We notify the owner that their venue has been added and ask whether they want to “claim” their page, i.e. take control of it to update the information, add images and, above all, reply to reviews. In this way, in exchange for visibility, owners put their name to it, and for us this is a guarantee that the charging point is accessible and working. This is what sets us apart from other apps for finding charging points. The portal is designed mainly for people planning a trip who need to choose where to stop.
Is it free or paid?
The project is strictly non-profit, so it is free for both customers and owners. There are also no ads or tracking cookies.
People who travel electric are pioneers of this new technology, and the owners who make it possible for them deserve maximum visibility without being forced to pay.
We are planning to launch a donation campaign so that the service can keep up with growing traffic and, above all, to add important features such as an iOS app (currently there is only the Android one) and multilingual support to attract non-Italian electric travellers too.
How many properties have been added to the site so far?
To date, users have added almost 1,700 properties. 245 of these have been claimed by their owners, who now have full, independent control of their page on our site.
How do you join the network?
It's very simple: just register and add the property, and we'll publish it shortly.
If the person adding it is also the owner, they can request to claim it, and we will assess the request by checking that it really comes from the owner.
How can people get in touch with you?
For further information you can write to info@eviaggio.it or follow us on our pages Facebook and Instagram
What is your relationship with Centro Consorzi and Cultura Concept?
Since February 2021, FlexSight, the start-up behind EViaggio, has formally been one of the member companies of the “Consorzio CULTURA CONCEPT”. We are happy to collaborate with you or to give visibility to any of your businesses that install a charging point.
[Source: Centro Consorzi, Crescere col Centro, April–June 2021, Edoardo Comiotto, download the PDF]
