Haptic-EV-Chargeflow

AI-powered EV charging platform using Gemini API to find stations, book slots, get smart assistance, make secure payments, and verify bookings with QR codes.

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Inspiration

The idea behind Haptic-EV-Chargeflow came from a simple problem faced by EV users: finding a charging station is only the first step. Users may still have to wait for an available slot, deal with uncertain availability, and lack a reliable way to verify their booking. In emergency situations, finding roadside assistance can also be difficult.

We wanted to build a single platform that makes EV charging more convenient, organized, and secure. Our goal was to reduce waiting time, simplify slot booking, provide secure booking verification, and give EV users an intelligent assistant for their charging-related questions.

What it does

Haptic-EV-Chargeflow is an EV charging station discovery, slot booking, and verification platform.

Users can:

  • Find nearby EV charging stations based on their location.
  • View station details, ratings, distance, and available charging slots.
  • Select a date and time slot and make a booking.
  • Complete secure payments through Razor pay.
  • Receive a unique booking confirmation with a QR code.
  • Use the QR code for secure booking verification at the charging station.
  • View their previous and upcoming bookings.
  • Cancel bookings according to the cancellation policy.
  • Get roadside assistance through the Emergency section for issues such as battery problems, charger problems, or mechanical assistance.
  • Ask EV-related questions through our AI EV Assistant.

The AI EV Assistant is powered by the Google Gemini API. Users can ask natural-language questions about EV charging, batteries, charging speed, charging time, and charger selection and receive AI-generated responses.

Station owners can also manage their charging stations and slots through the platform.

How we built it

We built Haptic-EV-Chargeflow as a full-stack web application.

The frontend provides the user interface for station discovery, booking, payments, QR-based verification, booking history, emergency assistance, and the AI Assistant.

The backend is built using Django and provides APIs for authentication, station management, bookings, emergency assistance, and the AI Assistant.

For AI functionality, we integrated the Google Gemini API to provide conversational EV-related assistance. The Gemini API key is stored securely in the backend environment variables rather than being exposed in the frontend or GitHub repository.

We integrated Razorpay for online payment processing and implemented a booking cancellation and refund policy based on the timing of cancellation.

QR codes are generated for confirmed bookings and contain the necessary booking information for verification.

We also used location-based functionality to help users discover nearby charging stations and display station locations.

Challenges we ran into

One of our major challenges was integrating multiple components into one working platform, including authentication, station availability, booking management, payments, QR verification, location-based station discovery, emergency assistance, and AI functionality.

Integrating the Gemini API also required handling API limits and service errors while keeping the API key secure.

Another challenge was designing a reliable booking flow where slot availability, payment status, cancellation, refund rules, and QR verification work together without creating conflicts.

We also had to ensure that sensitive credentials such as API keys and payment secrets were not accidentally pushed to GitHub. We solved this by using environment variables and configuring .gitignore to exclude the .env file.

Accomplishments that we're proud of

We are proud of building a complete EV charging ecosystem rather than just a station-finding website.

Our key accomplishments include:

  • Location-based EV charging station discovery.
  • Real-time-style slot availability and booking flow.
  • Secure QR-based booking verification.
  • Razor pay payment integration.
  • Booking history and cancellation management.
  • Rating and review-based station discovery.
  • Emergency roadside assistance with mechanic, battery, and charger support.
  • AI-powered EV Assistant using the Gemini API.
  • Secure handling of API keys and payment credentials.
  • Separate user and station-owner workflows.

The combination of charging management, secure verification, emergency assistance, and AI support makes Haptic-EV-Chargeflow a more complete solution for EV users.

What we learned

Through this project, we learned how different parts of a full-stack application work together in a real-world use case.

We gained practical experience with frontend and backend integration, API development, authentication, database-driven booking systems, payment integration, QR-code verification, location-based services, and AI API integration.

We also learned the importance of secure credential management, especially when working with APIs and deploying projects to public repositories.

Most importantly, we learned how to transform a real-world problem into a practical technology solution and continuously improve the product based on user needs.

What's next for Haptic-EV-Chargeflow

Our next goal is to make Haptic-EV-Chargeflow more scalable and intelligent.

Future improvements could include:

  • Real-time charger availability through charger/vehicle connectivity.
  • Smart recommendations based on vehicle type, battery level, distance, and charging requirements.
  • AI-based charging and route planning.
  • More advanced analytics for station owners.
  • Expansion to more cities and charging networks.
  • Mobile application support.
  • Integration with more EV charging providers.
  • Predictive maintenance and charger fault detection.

Our long-term vision is to create a smarter EV charging ecosystem that reduces waiting time, improves accessibility, and makes EV charging more reliable and convenient.

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