---
title: "Circuit"
description: "Circuit (Porsche, 2018/19): One click plans an electric road trip, including restaurants and charging stops"
url: "https://www.sugar-network.org/en/projects/circuit-2018-19/"
lang: "en"
---

# Circuit

**One click plans an electric road trip, including restaurants and charging stops**

_Happens under the hood so you can unwind!_

- **Corporate partner:** [Porsche](https://www.sugar-network.org/en/network/partners/porsche/) (https://medium.com/next-level-german-engineering/tackling-e-mobility-with-human-ce[…]gn-porsche-and-the-sugar-design-thinking-challenge-e6740d827c61)
- **Cohort:** [2018/19](https://www.sugar-network.org/en/projects/cohort/2018-19/)
- **Theme:** [Mobility & travel](https://www.sugar-network.org/en/projects/themes/mobility-travel/)
- **Type:** Digital service
- **Universities:** [Hasso Plattner Institute](https://www.sugar-network.org/en/network/universities/hpi/), [Karlsruhe Institute of Technology](https://www.sugar-network.org/en/network/universities/kit/)
- **Team:** 8 master students
- **Disciplines:** IT Systems Engineering, Industrial Engineering and Management, Information Engineering and Management

## Challenge

With the Taycan, Porsche entered the electric car market, and user experience became almost as important as technology. The brief: delight electric Porsche drivers with a smooth, personal experience.

## What they built

Circuit is an app and in-car extension that plans a weekend getaway to the driver's taste: viewpoints, restaurants, charging strategy and a road book. It books tables, sends the route to the car's entertainment system, and stores photos and driving statistics to share afterwards.

## Impact

The team argues that easier planning gets owners driving more, while shared trip memories act as advertising and build loyalty to Porsche.

## Full project text

An app and in-car extension that provides unconcerned, seamless, and personal road trips with your premium electric sports car.

### Challenge

Porsche enters the electric vehicle market for the first time with the release of the Taycan. It marks a shift, making the user experience almost as important as vehicle technology. Therefore, the following challenge was posed:  
How might we delight customers of an electric Porsche sports car by providing them a seamless user experience?

### Solution

CIRCUIT inspires to plan a road trip by providing a recommendation that fits the users’ individual preferences. The app undertakes all the necessary steps to finalize planning, like making reservations for a table or finding charging stations. Until the trip starts, it takes care of everything and keeps users notified, e.g., with booking confirmations. During the journey, CIRCUIT transfers all trip-related information onto the in-car entertainment system and provides related information about the highlights of the tour. After a perfect trip, CIRCUIT offers a memory function that holds pictures of the trip and driving statistics.

### Impact

The reduction of time needed to plan a road trip enables the users to use their electric vehicle more often and to discover new roads and locations. The automatic inclusion of charging points together with POIs reduces range fear and useless time at charging stations. The memory function gives the users an easy way to share their past road trips with their friends, which for Porsche is advertising.  
Additionally, it increases the brand loyalty of the users with Porsche, and longer driving is a monetary benefit for Porsche.

## Who built it.

- Ramin Gharib, IT-Systems Engineering (Hasso Plattner Institute)
- Johanna von Hammerstein, Industrial Engineering and Management (Karlsruhe Institute of Technology)
- Julius Landwehr, Industrial Engineering and Management (Karlsruhe Institute of Technology)
- Benedikt Liebig, Information Engineering and Management (Karlsruhe Institute of Technology)
- Maximilian Schall, IT-Systems Engineering (Hasso Plattner Institute)
- Paulina Schmid, Industrial Engineering and Management (Hasso Plattner Institute)
- Nils Thamm, IT-Systems Engineering (Hasso Plattner Institute)
- Tobias Wuttke, IT-Systems Engineering (Hasso Plattner Institute)

## Sources

Summarised by the SUGAR editorial team from the team’s project page and SUGAR Expo booklet.

Open the 2018/19 booklet: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1LXAxO2gzyp7wzqCeOPwAfQZG15NYTX0L/view?usp=sharing