From October 20th to 23rd, 2025, EV4EU researcher Toni Garcês and Project Coordinator Hugo Morais attended the IEEE PES ISGT Europe 2025 conference in Malta.
The conference is a leading international event dedicated to power grid modernization and the application of ICT to enhance energy systems, with a strong focus on the integration of renewable and distributed energy resources. This year’s theme was “Harnessing Innovation: Powering a Sustainable and Resilient Future.”
At the event, Toni Garcês (INESC ID | Universidade da Madeira) presented a poster titled “Designing for Simplicity: Lessons from a Minimalist EV Charging App”, co-authored by João Pedro Taveira and Larissa Montefusco (INESC ID | Técnico), Cindy P. Guzman (INESC ID), Lucas Pereira (Técnico | ITI), and Hugo Morais (INESC ID | Técnico).
The poster explores the challenges of balancing research goals with user interests, along with the evolution of a minimalist electric vehicle (EV) charging mobile application developed within the EV4EU project.
Initially designed with a single core function, the app evolved through user feedback to include key features like real-time charging status, account management, and smart charging. These additions improved usability while addressing both research and user needs through a clean interface, underscoring the importance of balancing simplicity with functionality and involving users early in the design process.
“While developing this app, I aimed to align evolving user expectations from the EV landscape with the requirements of our research. Its success relied on maintaining simplicity and fostering user engagement throughout the process”, explains Toni Garcês on the work presented at the event.
Hugo Morais, together with other members of the INESC-ID | Técnico team, attended the event to represent several Horizon Europe projects — including Shift2DC, AHEAD and InnoCyPES — as well as the Energy Transition Alliance (ATE), a key pillar of Portugal’s Recovery and Resilience Plan (PRR). Throughout the event, the team actively engaged with the scientific community and shared insights from the R&D Institute’s ongoing research and innovation activities.
More about the event here.
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