Evolve It Motors FL

@hostage: Posting that information in a forum like like this is exceptionally inconvenient to those folks concerned. Having your e-mail address plainly posted as such is a reasonable way to cripple your e-mail account with massive volumes of spam. It would be better if you masked [email protected] as userName at hotmail or some other such thing so that it wasn't so easy to find algorithmically.

Further, to quench future inquires on this topic in an objective manner: if you are considering a sizable investment in technology which you don't have a full understanding of and the origin has a nebulous reputation / presentation (at best) - then know that you're the fool.

It's all fine and dandy to consult people who have had previous relationships with an individual, but things change. The present can be very much different than the past in either a 'good' or 'bad' way. What you should try to do is evaluate your relationship for yourself.

From my own experience in the matter here are some recommendations that will help you objectively evaluate your own risk in dealing with such garages:

• Ask for a demo of a similar project. A reputable company would never use a customer's money for product or prototype development (grants and investment are more suitable for such high risk ventures). If you intend to invest in the company rather than a private project, make sure the business plan wasn't written in crayon at a 5th grade reading level.
  
• Ask for a white-paper. Any practical company would provide solid quantitative analysis of the benefits and operation of such a system. This is what engineering is. It would be most encouraging if the paper were published by the company in question rather than a supplier or some such distant corporate relation. Ask to see their test-bed/platform if possible.
  
• Ask for references from previous customers.
  
• Don't allow jargon. Truly ignorant people, or people who are trying to keep you on your heels will often try to bend people to submission through the use of jargon or unnecessary specifics. If they use a term you don't understand - ask them to explain it. What's a kWh? Oh, well, 1000J (3600sec)/sec - its 3.6MJ. What's a J?.. oh, well, it's a N*m, what's a newton? oh, well.. it's f=ma, so kgm/sec^2. How do they answer your questions? thoughtfully or casually?

If you decide to go ahead, make sure you get a detailed/professional contract for work to be done that will hold the company liable for the inability to meet specific project metrics, and be prepared to test those metrics independently.