Envoy is an inclusive electric car-sharing amenity that provides short-term cars where you live, work and stay. It allowsany member of that community - office workers, neighbors and such - to access electric car mobility with their generalaccess cards. The cars are designated for communal use and are available for short or long durations.

Partnering with real estate (apartments, workplaces, and hotels) and local government, the ambitious startup is aturnkey alternative to car ownership, reducing congestion in cities so they're sustainable and affordable. Envoy arepoised to lead the way to the next mobility revolution.

Envoy's service design is made to be as seamless, vibrant and dynamic as the company, its founders and targetaudience.

Current car-sharing solutions (Zipcar, Uber etc) have major disadvantages- the timely service varies and often neglectsplaces away from city-center, car inventory is not designated to specific users or close enough to these customers.Hence immediacy of use and proximity to your needs is essential- no need to wait 15 min for Uber or walk 3 blocks withyour groceries from a city-mandated parking spot.

Our challenge was multifaceted:

First, solving for the inconveniences of current car-sharing, Envoy aimed for the cars to be as integral as an elevator -you simply walk down to the building's parking lot and pick the car that is parked in a designated spot.

Second, with no sense of community, the cars and infrastructure around them could face neglect, misuse or even abuse- we needed to create an amenity people love and care for!

Third, being a new solution presented by a young upstart, we needed to create a sense of reliability and solidity that willgive new customers a sense of confidence in the startup's seriousness and longevity.

Fourth, attracting attention and self-advertizing is an important goal. Tenants and real-estate professionals should takenote of the service and ask for it. Early-adopters should feel a distinct business upside and Envoy should take offquickly, ahead of imitators.

Fifth, Envoy envisions service combination of cars, bicycles and public-transportation for city-wide integration. Aneffective presence across many touch-points will draw new users and guide them as they cross from one mobility modeto another.

Unique Design

Our design solution is built around three elements, combined to a holistic experience strategy:

a. Lively Identity System - using graphics as a message, Envoy's identity system is setting a stylish tone for autilitarian service. Bold, colorful and youthful, the graphics is a brand-building effort just as much as its a way-finder andimplicit advertising. it is designed to be noticed for all those good reason, addressing many of the challenges describedabove.

b. The Property Kit - Each Envoy location is clearly marked and visible using lit signage, redesigned EV charge-pointsand pavement markings. Together the Kit is designed to ease the property's tenant's identification of the new service,locate their specially-designated parking spots and promote the use of Envoy for current and prospective tenants. TheKit is made to be easily configured, adapting to many architectural needs and locations. Such flexibility allows Envoy'svarious business models – from local residential property owners, to community-related initiatives and, finally,government-funded city-wide grants.

c. App - the Envoy app is using the same visual design language and is geared to manage the use of the cars as wellas finding end-to-end solutions, incorporating bikes, mass transit and electric vehicles. The app also shows alternativessuch as sharing a ride or providing driver services to tenants. The app is designed for flexibility allowing Envoy's variousbusiness models – from local residential property owners to community-related initiatives and finally government-fundedcity-wide grants.

User Experience

The next generation of mobility solutions requires a lot from the users. Often car-sharing or mass-transit neglect the lastmile or the importance of timely availability. Envoy delivers an end-to-end mobility solution right from your door step, toyour preferred shopping or work destination. Using electric vehicles mostly, yet with tangible integration of cycling ormass-transit, Envoy makes the alternative to owning a car, a real and easy lifestyle choice. Our work addresses thisthrough layers of Experience :

a. Lively Identity system - Bold, colorful and youthful, the graphics are a brand-building effort just as much as they are away-finder.

b. The Property Kit - Designed to ease the property's tenants identifying the new service, locate their specially designatedparking spots and promote the use of Envoy for current and prospective tenants.

c. App - Geared to manage the use of the Envoy cars as well as finding end-to-end solutions, incorporating bikes, masstransit and electric vehicles. The app also shows alternatives such as sharing a ride or providing driver services totenants.

Benefit to Client

Our Service Design for Envoy made its initial ideas into an end-to-end Mobility 2.0 service. It addressed all the initial service offering needs, from brand visibility to property setup and finally digital integration of various service alternatives into an app. Getting out of 'stealth' mode a startup must fight for its commercial success by attracting customers, investors and public interest. Our work provided Envoy with these essentials and promoted a keen interest by private real-estate companies and local government, including $1.5M in grants from California Energy Commission. Envoy is now expanding from its initial LA location to Sacramento and San Francisco. Its rate of growth is rapid and its presence in the industry is felt well beyond its locale.

Benefit to Society

Car ownership is expensive, a huge burden and not the only choice in Mobility. It's cheaper to be a user than an owner.In 2016, 24 million Americans were considering car sharing as an alternative to ownership. And according to a McKinsey& Co study, by 2030, potentially 1 out of 10 cars will be a shared vehicle.

Seamless availability of electric cars is helping spark a mobility revolution. The next generation of mobility is at theheart of the ecological, social and economical changes restructuring our society. Car ownership is no longer a given,electric cars are a reality and sharing a ride is a new paradigm.

However, current car-sharing solutions (e.g. Zipcar or Uber etc) have major disadvantages. Envoy is set to provide theimmediacy of use and proximity to your needs, just like any basic amenity. Envoy service aims to be 'built' into ourbuilding and in doing so make Mobility 2.0 a reality.