RaskLeie is a Norway-based startup planning to create a mobile app that customers can use to find and rent electric vehicles. Norway has been pushing for greener transportation, and today, almost 80% of all new cars sold there are electric. This makes this country a perfect place for an EV rental business. Our client wanted to offer the ease and convenience of driving EVs without the need to own one, for local people and tourists alike.
Developed an MVP Within 55 Days and Got 2x Investment for an EV CAR Rental Startup
Industry
Automotive
Client Location
Norway
Project Duration
<2 Months
Engagement Model
Time and Material
Team Size
4 Experts
Client Background
The Vision
To get started, the client decided to build a minimum viable product (MVP) - a simpler version of the rental app that includes only the core features. It's an Ingenius strategy, especially for startups, to test a product idea, get feedback from real users, and find out what people really want before launching the final app. It would also help them get funds, find development resources, and estimate the total project cost.
Project Brief
Originally, the startup was struggling to narrow down the scope of the EV rental app. They did their market research right, got a comprehensive idea of the final product, and secured the funding as well. All they were looking for was a development team to work on the early-stage development and deliver the MVP as soon as possible.
We got into the scene right there. After the initial discussion, we got heavily involved in their daily briefings and scrum sessions and understood their business model and revenue streams to decide the basic features they wanted in the app. Those were signing up, a list of available cars, bookings, and payments. If the MVP passes the test, developers will integrate advanced features like a smart reservation system, dynamic pricing and discounts, chat support, vehicle condition monitoring, insurance, and so on.
We also defined and set up the software architecture. One of the important things about building MVP solutions is that we’re responsible for designing the building blocks of the application, which means we have to make the prototype clean, compact, and error-free for future iterations and enhancements.
If we don't make sure that core functionalities are well-architected and thoroughly tested, the entire application could face scalability and performance issues down the line. It’s important to optimize the UX and offer enough product value early on to set a solid groundwork for further development.
Faisaluddin Saiyed
Project Manager, Radixweb
Development Challenges
- Building a comprehensive MVP with a tight deadline (2 months max) without accumulating technical debt.
- Deciding what features are essential for the MVP that strikes a balance between keeping it simple and offering enough value to users.
- Working under a limited budget and making careful decisions about tech stacks, resources, and development priorities.
- Creating a minimal MVP with simplified functionalities but not at the cost of poor user experience.
- Integrating the MVP with third-party payment gateways without any compatibility or technical issues.
Solutions Provided
Our app development team had a fantastic time working with this team. We worked on the foundation of a future product that we believe will make the EV renting process hassle-free for users. Here are the features we’ve come up with, in addition to registration, sign up, log in, and log out:
List of Available Cars
The MVP had an intuitive dashboard that provided real-time data on available electric cars. Users can see important information like the car model, how old it is, battery level (SOC - State of Charge), and current location.
Quick Booking and Payment
There was an automated booking system that syncs with a secure payment gateway. We utilized an API to integrate payment processors, which supports multiple payment options (credit/debit, digital wallets).
Car Tracking and Telematics
With advanced telematics, the early version of the app allows users to track the exact location of their rented EV in real time. We’ve integrated the telematics system with the backend to continuously relay vehicle data (speed, location, battery usage) to both users and the admin.
Charging Station Location
We integrated the MVP with EV charging station networks using an API that connects to public and private charging infrastructures. Users can locate the nearest available charging stations, book a charging slot in advance, and even get updates on charging station occupancy.
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Tech Stack Used
Not all the high-end technologies were mandatory to build the MVP, but it really depended on what the client was trying to achieve with the EV rental app. Typically, the goal was to quickly test their idea with the essential features, so we’ve used simpler technologies or even pre-built tools in some cases.
Frontend
We used HTML, CSS, and JavaScript (with Bootstrap for easy styling) for the UI. This is the simplest setup to create a functional interface. We also gave the client the choice to use Vue or jQuery, which are lighter than React and easier for quick MVPs.
Backend
For the backend, we chose Firebase. It’s simple, serverless, and has real-time database features, so it can handle things like bookings without the need to manage a full backend server like Node.js
Database
Firebase Firestore was our first choice of database, which makes it easy to store and retrieve data for things like car availability and bookings. However, we went for SQLite as we wanted something even more lightweight.
Payment Integration and Hosting
For payments, we used QuadraPay, a widely used payment gateway in Norway. For hosting, we went with Netlify. It's free for small projects and can easily host an MVP without complicated setups.
10 Days
for Stakeholder Approval
>80%
Positive User Feedback
2X
Investment Gained
Benefits Gained
The project was a success; in fact, a huge one. We hit some impressive benchmarks. Investors took notice and our partnership with the client only grew stronger. Here are the outcomes of this successful MVP.
Stakeholder Approval
The MVP hit the mark fast within just 10 days – that's pretty remarkable! It got full approval from both users and stakeholders. That’s almost unheard of for such projects, but it shows how spot-on the solution was.
Positive User Feedback
Out of the early users who tried the MVP, over 80% gave positive feedback. This means people genuinely liked using it. Users found most of the features simple and convenient, which played a huge role in getting the MVP greenlit. The only thing that got a mixed review was the not-so-accurate locations of the charging stations, but we fixed it soon enough.
Additional Funding
Most importantly, the MVP was a huge validation point that made investors feel confident in the project. The client attracted twice the number of investors compared to what they were supposed to get in initial projections. This helped them secure heavy funding that they’ll now use to develop and promote the app further.
Next Phase of Development
Initially, the MVP was fully outsourced to us. The client was setting up their own in-house team for the final app development. However, instead of completely shifting from us, they’ve decided to hire two of our dedicated developers to work alongside their in-house team, which shows we passed the test!
The setup we followed was a very standard process. Everyday EOD meetings, bimonthly sprints, and once or twice a week demo of work. We achieved it at a fairly fast pace, faster than I expected at first. Glad we took the Radix team in for the rest of the work. Things are going really well.
Ingrid Bjornsen
CTO
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