Illustrative example — this shows how a job like this typically runs, not a specific client engagement. Figures are representative, not measured outcomes.
Building a Shared E-Mobility Platform Around a Pricing Model That Had to Hold Up
How a solo founder's 40-rule pricing spreadsheet became a booking platform that charges the right amount every time, in every council zone.
Where they started
Local councils were willing to grant an operating permit, but only if the platform itself could enforce their rules — no-go zones, speed caps in shared paths, mandatory parking bays — without relying on riders to behave. On top of that, the founder's pricing model needed to combine time, distance, zone surcharges and membership discounts correctly on every single ride, with no room for a pricing bug to quietly undercharge or overcharge a customer.
Two agencies had quoted for 'an app', without seeming to register that the pricing and compliance logic was the actual product — the app around it was comparatively simple. Get the rules engine wrong and the business either loses money on every ride or loses its council permit.
What the first version had to get right
From the first read-through40-plus conditional rules across vehicle type, time of day, zone and membership tier, worked out by the founder but never written down as logic.
Each council had its own no-go zones, speed caps and parking rules, and reserved the right to change them with little notice.
Councils and the insurer both wanted ride and incident data retained and retrievable, not just a promise that the rules were being followed.
The founder had done the hard thinking on pricing and unit economics — it needed software that wouldn't break under real bookings, not a rethink.
How the five weeks ran
Done in 5 weeksTurning the spreadsheet into a rules engine
Rebuilt the 40-plus pricing rules as data the app reads and recalculates from, live, instead of logic buried in code — so a rule can change without touching a line of code.
Geofencing each council's rules
Built zone maps for each council area with its own speed caps, no-go areas and approved parking bays, checked automatically against the vehicle's live location.
Booking, unlocking and payment
Built the ride flow — unlock, live pricing as the ride runs, in-app payment on completion — plus the member tiers and discounts from the original pricing model.
Compliance logging and launch
Added ride and incident logging that councils and the insurer could be handed on request, tested the pricing engine against every rule combination, and launched in three council zones.
What was handed over
- A pricing engine driven by rules data, not hardcoded logic
- Geofencing enforcing each council's no-go zones, speed caps and parking rules
- A full booking flow — unlock, live pricing, in-app payment
- Ride and incident logging ready to hand to a council or insurer on request
What we built it with
We pick tools with low ongoing licence costs, solid privacy, and no lock-in — so you can take the work elsewhere if you ever want to.