Leaf Pro is a proof of concept progressive web app that was designed to provide a better app experience for the Leaf electric vehicle (EV). It was designed to sync with a device in the vehicle so that the owner could quickly check remaining battery percentage, range, location, charging information, and diagnostics from the vehicle.
The official app for the Leaf is slow to fetch vehicle data, has a dated and glitchy design, and has no way to alert when a desired charge level is reached. This is an important feature for owners who don’t want to charge to 100% for battery longevity, as the vehicle has no built-in way to limit charging. This app was built to overcome these issues.
Full stack development for the app was done on the codeless platform Bubble. Bubble allows for fast, secure, performant and scalable full stack web and native app development with limited coding. A database was built for the app that securely handled user and vehicle data. A custom API was built that was designed to be accessed by an LTE-connected sync device installed in the vehicle to regularly and securely send vehicle data to the app’s database. A frontend landing page and native design progressive web app were also designed on the platform. Google Maps, iOS and Android push notifications, and NHTSA database lookup were all integrated into the app.
A fair amount of work had to be done to decode the data received from the vehicle and show it in a useful way to the user. The app was also designed to work with the full range of Leafs that were produced from 2012, with varying battery capacities and charging capabilities.
The app never reached a Beta due to technical challenges faced with the way the vehicle is able to send data over its diagnostic port. The app would have had limited usefulness when the vehicle is charging, which was the main feature it was designed for, so it was ultimately abandoned.
An archive of the project can be viewed here: https://leafy-greens.bubbleapps.io/version-test/
