Electric delivery fleet · San Francisco, United States · Operations

A fast charger found before the van slows down

Hannah leads a fleet of electric delivery vans for a big grocery delivery company in San Francisco.

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The challenge

Her drivers run low on charge mid shift and call dispatch: where is a working fast charger near me? Dispatch looks it up on three apps while the van waits by the curb. That is twenty calls a day, and each one costs a delivery window.

How the flow works

With xMap Flows, Hannah built Spark. Spark is an AI employee: a flow of 5 blocks.

  1. When a driver writes where they are in the team's Slack,

    A driver asks in Slack (Slack event)

  2. Spark reads the question,

    Answers like dispatch (AI agent)

  3. finds the working fast chargers closest to the van,

    Fast chargers nearby (EV charging)

  4. finds somewhere for a coffee while it charges,

    Coffee while it charges (Nearby places)

  5. and answers in the thread within seconds.

    Answer in the thread (Reply)

What it solves

The result

At two o’clock a driver in the Mission writes that he has twelve percent left. Spark answers in eight seconds with a fast charger four blocks away and a cafe next door. Dispatch takes no charging calls now, and the vans keep their windows.

Hannah's drivers stopped calling for directions. They just ask, and go.

8 sto answer a driver
0charging calls to dispatch
20calls a day, gone

An illustrative scenario: the figures are modelled to show what the flow produces, not a customer's results.

The flow, block by block

  1. 1

    A driver asks in Slack

    Slack event

    Starts the flow when something happens in Slack: a new record, a message, a change.

  2. 2

    Answers like dispatch

    AI agent

    An AI agent: for each incoming message it thinks, uses the blocks you link to its Tools port (data, xMap AI, lookups, your tables, other flows, apps), remembers the conversation and writes an answer in {{reply}}.

  3. 3

    Fast chargers nearby

    EV charging

    Public charging stations for electric vehicles from Open Charge Map, the open, worldwide register: around each incoming place with counts (stations, charge points, fast stations, the highest power, the nearest and the main operators), or the stations themselves around places, in the Area of interest or around a point, each with its operator, connectors, power, status and address.

  4. 4

    Coffee while it charges

    Nearby places

    Places around a point from xMap’s own places database (300M+ places, refreshed every month): pick the types of place (more than 5,000, such as Restaurant, Cafe, Pharmacy, Hospital or Gas station, or a whole group of them) and how far to look.

  5. 5

    Answer in the thread

    Reply

    Answers whoever started the flow, on the same channel: the app or system that called its Webhook / API gets the answer back, and a message from Slack, WhatsApp, Telegram, Teams, SMS, Outlook or Discord gets a reply in the same chat, through the account of the block that received it.

Templates to build it

Ready-made flows with the same blocks. Open one, change the city and the kind of place, and run it.

Industries

FMCG & distributionEvery new outlet found in its first week, routes planned around closures, and coverage gaps on a map.Logistics & deliveryKeep goods moving around closures, storms and port queues, and find shippers who need you.Energy & EVRank charger and station sites, plan for heat and storms, and grow installer networks.Automotive & mobilityPlace showrooms and workshops, grow dealer and service networks, and keep fleets moving.

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