Do Charging Stations Need to Look Good?

When you look at these electric vehicle charging stations designed by ECOtality, you might be impressed by their sleek aesthetics. Sure, they look nice and minimalistic, but good design often means higher prices. And if there’s one place I don’t care about aesthetics, it’s my garage. A big, bright orange power station will do just fine in my garage next to my EV, thank you. It can be the ugliest thing ever, for all I care, and I wouldn’t want to spend an extra dime for a prettier one.

I’m also not sure why you’d need to separate the hose from the charging station. The company says it’s for cramped garages; the two pieces are right on top of each other in the display.

The public charging stations are similarly minimalistic and look like they’d fit  in on a Chicago street. You’d just have to make sure they actually “blink” or tell drivers they’re there in some manner. Otherwise you could drive your Nissan Leaf right by it while looking for a spot.

The public stations will start rolling out this fall as part of a larger program looking to install 15,000 chargers in 16 U.S. cities.

ECOtality and Frog Design debut eye-catching Blink EV chargers (Engadget)

Comments

Good design is about more than good looks. The aesthetic of a product connects to our emotions & impact what we feel about the quality of a product and our emotions effect what we buy and desire. Research has shown that emotions affect the decisions of even the most rational people.

So, a well designed and attractive charging station conveys that this is a simple and safe technology. It can be trusted, it's reliable, it was well thought out. With no thought to design, it may appear scary or complicated. It may seem that you need special knowledge to use it. It may appear fragile, or of low quality.

A good, attractive design can help speed the adoption of a new technology or a poorly executed design may inhibit acceptance.

Dave T. I agree with you. I don't need good looking juice dispenser for the garage. It's all about the function for me on this one. The money I save over a fancy dispenser I can use on other things.
For public Charging stations aesthetics would mean more to a business who hopes to draw you in.

Many of the first adopters of electric vehicles will be individuals who want to be seen as trendy, cool, and conscious. It will be the type of people who buy Macs or the early hybrids. As such, making products that fit their needs and desires will be important to getting the technology off the ground. These people aren't particularly price sensitive, but they are VERY sensitive to aesthetics and appearances, even if the end product is no different. So making a cool designed, slick looking charging station just makes them more likely to pay the early adopter fee. This is good for the rest of us, as once things get off the ground and running, we'll benefit from lower costs due to the maturity of the technology and the simplifying of the design.

I may change my mind because of intelligent and thoughtful comments to a blog post. This has never happened in all my years of blogging...need to sit down.

A product that is well designed shouldn't cost any more than one that is ugly. And typically, the functionality of a well designed product is better than one that has been carelessly slapped together. So the comment about, "I only need functionality in my garage", should encourage a more careful purchase and an even greater appreciation for design.

[shameless plug alert]

I have a degree in Industrial Design and work for a design firm [1] that has done quite a bit of work in the area of emotional connection to products and what that means for design, brands, products, etc. It's not simply about 'pretty' or not 'pretty'. Aesthetics, perceived quality and customer satisfaction are all interrelated.

While good designed products don't inherently have to cost more, the thinking behind them does take time and effort and it's not uncommon for design to add complexity and cost. However, if the perceived value is greater than the added cost and is backed up with a superior user experience, the customer will pay more and feel as though they have gotten a better deal. This produces a positive emotional connection between the user and the product and by extension the brand and a very loyal customer base.

Apple knows this very well, as does Honda and others.

[1]- www.design-central.com

It worked with Apple..