Flexicharge EV Charging Stations
- Case Design a complete family of EV charging poles and wall charging points, including brand identity, usability innovation and industrialisation
- Client Flexicharge
- Industry Mobility
Flexicharge entered the EV charging market with products sourced from an external supplier. To grow, the company needed something of its own: a full family of charging stations that customers would recognise as unmistakably Flexicharge and that would look equally at home in three very different worlds: at the office entrance, in the public charging space, and on the wall of a private home.
The brief went beyond styling. For businesses and institutions, a charging station is a calling card at the front door, a visible statement of moving with the times and being ready for the future. An earlier design exploration with another agency had stalled, and Flexicharge asked MODYN to take the development all the way: from analysis, brand identity and concept design through to engineering and industrialisation.
Our competitive analysis revealed a market full of lookalikes: robust, neutral basic shapes with a plastic-like surface quality and the anonymous feel of public infrastructure, products branded around the energy provider rather than the user. Meanwhile, the automotive world that these stations serve had moved in the opposite direction: high-grade materials, refined surface quality, sharp edge definition and balanced, confident branding.
User feedback from the B2B market sharpened the picture further. The frustrations were practical: fumbling to insert the plug, cables in the way, stations that felt like street furniture rather than a product. Simply supplying power is not enough. A charging station is the daily touchpoint between driver and car. So why shouldn’t it feel like it belongs to the same ‘new age’ product ecosystem as the car itself? Our mission became clear: design a functional and desirable EV charging station. The Apple charger for cars.
We started by taking the existing products apart, literally. MODYN analysed the assembly and production of the current range, how the stations are installed and serviced in the field, and the Flexicharge brand DNA. We benchmarked the direct competition and the automotive sector, and gathered user feedback from the B2B market to understand where charging stations fail in daily use. From plug handling to cable management.
The findings converged into one sharp design mission: a functional and desirable EV charging station that belongs in a ‘new age’ product ecosystem, alongside the premium consumer electronics people already love. Not infrastructure, but a product. One design language that performs in every context: representative at the office, robust in the public space, and refined enough for the home.
To carry that ambition, MODYN also developed the Flexicharge brand identity (logo and typography) so that product and brand would speak with one voice, balanced and confident rather than loud.
We explored three distinct design directions, each developed for both the charging pole and the wall charging point:
- Geometric: simple and rectangular, calm and architectural
- Sculptural: a curvy design with a strong focus on visibility
- Fold: defined by a dominant aluminium exterior
Usability drove the form as much as aesthetics. The charging socket is positioned at an angle, making it noticeably easier to insert the plug (no bending, no fumbling) while the cable routing was designed around real-world ergonomics. Through sketching, physical presentation models and side-by-side evaluation, the directions were tested against the brand DNA and the realities of production, installation and servicing.
MODYN translated the selected concept into realistic presentation visuals, 2D dimensional drawings and full 3D CAD files, and supported Flexicharge through the industrialisation engineering. Working towards a design that could be produced, installed and serviced efficiently. Design intent, ergonomics and engineering logic captured in one package, ready for production.
A recognisable Flexicharge product family with its own face and its own brand. From home and business chargers to public charging poles and dedicated bicycle charging stations. Today, Flexicharge builds its charging stations in the Netherlands with durable stainless steel housings, designed for serviceability, low total cost of ownership and a long working life and is scaling up with a new factory in Den Bosch that the company itself calls “a sustainable calling card.” The calling card the 2019 brief asked for, delivered and then built into a company.
