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Total Members Voted: 86

[BrianTRice@gmail.com]

I wish DigiNow would speak up for themselves.

They've been making revisions to the control system based on early customer experiences. I think they're solving problems well, it just takes time for a tiny company to fully vet changes and get them out.

[Shadow]

I wish DigiNow would speak up for themselves.

I just finished my weekly call-in to Grand Canyon Cycles to ask for an update.

There is no update.

I did a long distance trip on my Zero and had a great time but every charge station I want to know why it's with a borrowed Elcon and not the digiNow Supercharger I have already paid for months before.

This business transaction must come to a conclusion before 2017, and I too would like some kind of information just what kind of delays are happening.

[dukecola]

Has anyone received one recently?

[Shadow]

Has anyone received one recently?

Grand Canyon Cycles was sent a dealer / demo fulfillment unit some time ago, and there's one person in the queue ahead of me ordering through them.

Brandon wrote this week to share that a family emergency came up recently, he's okay himself though not available for the moment. No delivery updates yet.

I'm trying to hash out what the US tax code actually says about the 30%-up-to-$1000 incentive on alternative fueling station.  Is it by purchase date as the "internets" are saying, or by date put into service as US law and IRS forms from 2015 would indicate?

...cue for intrepid tax professionals to speak up...

[Electric Cowboy]

Reposting here just so it does not get lost.

Just to fill you in a bit more. EMW (electric motorwerks) has been avoiding our contact attempts for over a month now. They have a lot of our money and seem to have no intent to respond to us in any way.

I have heard from other people in the industry that this may be common place for them. And that some people are leaving the company because of this and similar behavior by the owners.

I really had high hopes for working with them, however it seems they were just out to take a lot of my companies money and pretty much all of my savings. I have put everything I had into this, and now that it has been their turn to deliver they have pulled several dirty tricks.

I have covered for EMWs mistakes a lot over the past year because I wanted to believe they could handle manufacturing the super charger for us, and because I thought they were good people. It really hurts my feelings that they would take advantage of me this way when all I want is to advance our industry.

I am a very trusting and honest person, and I will always give people more than one chance, some times too many more chances. It seems I protected EMW for too long taking the heat as digiNow to prevent them from getting a bad name. However it looks like that is exactly what they were counting on.

This was my first experience manufacturing a product at scale and it looks like I made a very bad choice choosing EMW, but I have learned a lot and will never ever be taken advantage of this way again. The world looks a lot less sunshiney knowing there are businesses out there like EMW that seek to take advantage of young entrepreneurs like me and my partners.

If anyone here has recommendations for the appropriate measures to take or can offer assistance I would appreciate your messages. Currently we are discussing going to the federal trade commission, and considering counsel for what I have been told will likely end up in a legal battle. Very depressing

The other side of this is that we do have a very small number of Super Charger V1 units left, @erik, im setting yours up tomorrow.

Super charger V2 details and specs along with full testing data will be released within 7 days. After that we will have detailed info on the dates for product arrival and will have a policy of full transparency. So far the V2 and manufacturer seem to be reliable and quality driven as well as able to supply our orders, which EMW was not able to do. Depending on the build a customer wants we currently should have enough to deliver 10 V2 chargers. With another 20 on the way, dates will be openly published and I will not be covering for anyone this time.

My apologies that I have not been more transparent about the issues we were having with EMW, I did not want to speak poorly of them and felt that it was my fault for choosing them. The combination of these lead me to not be as open with all of you as I could have. I promise not to let anything like that happen again.

-EC

[pacificcricket]

If anyone here has recommendations for the appropriate measures to take or can offer assistance I would appreciate your messages. Currently we are discussing going to the federal trade commission, and considering counsel for what I have been told will likely end up in a legal battle.

EMW seems to be based in California, so perhaps you could try arbitration under California Arbitration Act.

[Doug S]

Keep at it, Brandon. Your product is a bona fide game-changer, with an extremely eager, highly motivated audience already waiting for it. Startup throes are never fun...Elon Musk once said he'd rather eat ground glass than to go through the startup phase one more time.

Do stay in touch, though! We're all on your side, and we can put up with most anything and sympathize with you to boot, if you'll just keep us up to speed with what's going on. Delays and setbacks are one thing, feeling abandoned is entirely another.

[Ethestral]

EC,

Sorry the rose colored glasses have dropped.  In my experience they come back, not in a predictable way. It's never when you think. Keep forward and someday it'll feel right again.

 I've heard electronic manufacturing can be a nightmare,  both in house and through third party. I do belive the digi-now charger is a significant shift in AC charging if not all forms of mobile charging. As such, once it's live on the market you should gain a staggering amount of attention and interest. As if you didn't have enough of those right now. The only reason I've found to protect a business partner is if you need their aid,  I'm happy to hear you've  to a new plan.

Lastly the coolest part of electric vehicles is the community that builds, modifies, and engineers (or kludges) keep using us as a resource if we can help at all.

[SteveInNC]

Reposting here just so it does not get lost.

Just to fill you in a bit more. EMW (electric motorwerks) has been avoiding our contact attempts for over a month now. They have a lot of our money and seem to have no intent to respond to us in any way.

I have heard from other people in the industry that this may be common place for them. And that some people are leaving the company because of this and similar behavior by the owners.

I really had high hopes for working with them, however it seems they were just out to take a lot of my companies money and pretty much all of my savings. I have put everything I had into this, and now that it has been their turn to deliver they have pulled several dirty tricks.

I have covered for EMWs mistakes a lot over the past year because I wanted to believe they could handle manufacturing the super charger for us, and because I thought they were good people. It really hurts my feelings that they would take advantage of me this way when all I want is to advance our industry.

I am a very trusting and honest person, and I will always give people more than one chance, some times too many more chances. It seems I protected EMW for too long taking the heat as digiNow to prevent them from getting a bad name. However it looks like that is exactly what they were counting on.

This was my first experience manufacturing a product at scale and it looks like I made a very bad choice choosing EMW, but I have learned a lot and will never ever be taken advantage of this way again. The world looks a lot less sunshiney knowing there are businesses out there like EMW that seek to take advantage of young entrepreneurs like me and my partners.

If anyone here has recommendations for the appropriate measures to take or can offer assistance I would appreciate your messages. Currently we are discussing going to the federal trade commission, and considering counsel for what I have been told will likely end up in a legal battle. Very depressing

The other side of this is that we do have a very small number of Super Charger V1 units left, @erik, im setting yours up tomorrow.

Super charger V2 details and specs along with full testing data will be released within 7 days. After that we will have detailed info on the dates for product arrival and will have a policy of full transparency. So far the V2 and manufacturer seem to be reliable and quality driven as well as able to supply our orders, which EMW was not able to do. Depending on the build a customer wants we currently should have enough to deliver 10 V2 chargers. With another 20 on the way, dates will be openly published and I will not be covering for anyone this time.

My apologies that I have not been more transparent about the issues we were having with EMW, I did not want to speak poorly of them and felt that it was my fault for choosing them. The combination of these lead me to not be as open with all of you as I could have. I promise not to let anything like that happen again.

-EC

I've been following this thread for quite sometime in hopes of purchasing one of these units. I'm a GM dealer and I love Volts, Zeros and I am eagerly awaiting the new Bolt. Electrics are the future. I'm also involved in a startup company in another industry and I have found out just how ugly and unscrupulous people can be. It's a shame there are so many dishonest people in the world but, it's a fact of life. Electric Motorwerks will never see a dime of my money for as long as I'm on this earth. I can promise you that. I'm sorry this has happened to you. Now having said all that I hope that you are being completely honest here too. If I were you I would hire the meanest, nastiest attorney that specializes in this area to represent you. Now. Yesterday. EMW is probably going to try and contact you now that you've made this public and make all kinds of promises to delay your actions but, don't even answer their calls. They've already told you what you need to know. You know it in your gut too. They're are hoping you won't put up a fight. Lastly, I hope to god you have your patents in place otherwise I can guarantee you they're going to try and steal your I.P. Good luck.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[wavelet]

Brandon,
Very sorry to hear about this.
I've been following the DigiNow charger for a while now. While I'm not yet a potential customer (don't yet have a Zero), I consider this kind of thing to be a key enabler for electric bike adoption, and am very happy that you're working on this -- esp. as Zero seemed to have dropped the ball on the matter in recent years.
City range on current Zeros (and other street electric bikes) is fine for commuting, but that misses the point:
If all one does is (sub)urban commuting/errands, a motorcycle is total overkill (unless you live in twisties-land ); an electric scooter (even e-bicycle for <10mi distances) would be quite enough.

Until I can do a day's worth of sport-touring (100mi at freeway speeds each way to get to the nice roads, plus another 150-200mi of slower twisties/sweepers), an e-motorcycle isn't on the table for me, as much as I'd like the idea.

Since neither expected battery improvements or normal fairings will get us a 400mi-range bike, convenient quick charging is the only solution.

Anyway, back to the issue at hand:
As much as I and probably others would find it interesting, I suggest you not post any details whatsoever on your interactions with EMW on the forum -- you don't want to provide them any ammo if it gets to legal proceedings or settlement negotiations. If there are people specifically affected (had orders in etc.), contact them via e-mail.

[DPsSRnSD]

City range on current Zeros (and other street electric bikes) is fine for commuting, but that misses the point:
If all one does is (sub)urban commuting/errands, a motorcycle is total overkill (unless you live in twisties-land ); an electric scooter (even e-bicycle for <10mi distances) would be quite enough.

Diverting from the topic of this thread for a moment:

As a former e-bicycle commuter, I feel much safer on my Zero. I can use power to stay out of the way of cars and I'm not trapped against the curb. Every time I've been knocked to the ground while riding a bicycle, It's been by a car making a right turn. It didn't matter how loud my horn was, how bright my lights were, how many flags I had on my trailer, nor how many times the car and I had passed each other over the previous three miles. Frankly, I wonder if it'd be better for bicyclists if cars didn't have a right mirror. Bad drivers don't use it for looking; instead they stick it in my ribs.

[wavelet]

City range on current Zeros (and other street electric bikes) is fine for commuting, but that misses the point:
If all one does is (sub)urban commuting/errands, a motorcycle is total overkill (unless you live in twisties-land ); an electric scooter (even e-bicycle for <10mi distances) would be quite enough.

Diverting from the topic of this thread for a moment:

As a former e-bicycle commuter, I feel much safer on my Zero. I can use power to stay out of the way of cars and I'm not trapped against the curb. Every time I've been knocked to the ground while riding a bicycle, It's been by a car making a right turn. It didn't matter how loud my horn was, how bright my lights were, how many flags I had on my trailer, nor how many times the car and I had passed each other over the previous three miles. Frankly, I wonder if it'd be better for bicyclists if cars didn't have a right mirror. Bad drivers don't use it for looking; instead they stick it in my ribs.

 Fully agree.
 I didn't mention it since e-bicycles weren't the subject... I'm a big promoter and advocate of bicycles, electric and pedal, but not at the expense of safety.
I do most of my 8mi-radius traveling, in crowded city, on a bicycle (pedal one, since terrain is flat), but we have decent bike paths, and riding on the sidewalk usually works where there aren't paths. However, I would not do this if I had to share the road with cars.

That said, >50% of Americans have a <10mi (one-way) commute, see here.  Frequently, one car of the common 2-car households is used for commuting only, by one person, whereas the other car is larger and is used for chauffeuring kids & weekend trips. The short-commute car could in many cases be replaced by a bicycle.
[/offtopic]

[protomech]

City range on current Zeros (and other street electric bikes) is fine for commuting, but that misses the point:
If all one does is (sub)urban commuting/errands, a motorcycle is total overkill (unless you live in twisties-land ); an electric scooter (even e-bicycle for <10mi distances) would be quite enough.

Diverting from the topic of this thread for a moment:

As a former e-bicycle commuter, I feel much safer on my Zero. I can use power to stay out of the way of cars and I'm not trapped against the curb. Every time I've been knocked to the ground while riding a bicycle, It's been by a car making a right turn. It didn't matter how loud my horn was, how bright my lights were, how many flags I had on my trailer, nor how many times the car and I had passed each other over the previous three miles. Frankly, I wonder if it'd be better for bicyclists if cars didn't have a right mirror. Bad drivers don't use it for looking; instead they stick it in my ribs.

 Fully agree.
 I didn't mention it since e-bicycles weren't the subject... I'm a big promoter and advocate of bicycles, electric and pedal, but not at the expense of safety.
I do most of my 8mi-radius traveling, in crowded city, on a bicycle (pedal one, since terrain is flat), but we have decent bike paths, and riding on the sidewalk usually works where there aren't paths. However, I would not do this if I had to share the road with cars.

That said, >50% of Americans have a <10mi (one-way) commute, see here.  Frequently, one car of the common 2-car households is used for commuting only, by one person, whereas the other car is larger and is used for chauffeuring kids & weekend trips. The short-commute car could in many cases be replaced by a bicycle.
[/offtopic]

I have a 10 mile round trip commute, and for the last year or so I've commuted about 50% by pedal bike, 50% by motorcycle. Commute takes about 20 minutes on a conventional bike, 15 minutes on a pedal-assist electric bike, 12 minutes on motorcycle. Motorcycle can be slightly faster with little traffic.

On back roads, I view the safety as similar. On the main drag or at night, I vastly prefer to be on a motorcycle even though we have bike lanes. People just don't pay attention.

[Patrick Truchon]

Hi Brandon,

Thank you so much for the update.  I was starting to worry that you had dropped the project.  I'm sorry to hear of all the $h!# that's going on, but I'm happy that you're still at it.  Keep it up and keep us in the loop, we're all with you!

My charger is a game changer.  I haven't been able to use it as much as I would have wanted to now that winter is here, but the few longer rides that I've been on have been amazing.

Best of luck!

[Electric Cowboy]

Thank you guys for all of the support! It really helps me feel better and charge on. We are machining some custom parts here locally in Thousand Oaks for the v2 and trying to build strong relations with other local or afar but very reliable companies.

Everything is on track for specs, photos, install and other related information to be released next week sometime. We should have some attainable dates and product quantities that will be available to share as well. No hype over promises hidden responsibilities. We will give detailed information which I look forward to hearing your feedback on.