whilechukwuzout
1 W
- Joined
- Jul 15, 2013
- Messages
- 59
Hey all. So as I mentioned in the Yuneec thread, I recently decided to buy an electric pintail from Evolve. Ive looked around and I haven't seen any reviews of this board on here, so I figured I would share my experience with everyone. So when I decided I wanted to buy a complete board, I had the following criteria in mind:
-Range: ~15 mi
-Battery: LFP
-Top speed 15-20mph
-Svelte enclosure form factor
It basically came down to the Evolve and the Yuneec. What tipped the scale in favor of the Evolve was availability, top speed, and access to user reviews. Everything else was lacking in range, or speed, or was too heavy or bulky.
So I began by calling the number on the Evolve website. That number led me to a man named Bruce. I expressed my interest in the Evolve boards, but had a few questions before I ordered. Mostly:
Q: What is the availability of spare parts, as they are not listed on the website?
A: Spare parts are available if needed. Evolve wants to distinguish itself as NOT a parts or kit manufacturer for DIY builds, so spare parts will only be offered to documented customers with legitimate needs for replacements.
Q: Are the decks interchangeable?
A: Sort of. To those with moderate engineering aptitude, it is possible to swap the components from one board to another, in the event that a board breaks, or you want to swap from a snub nose to a pintail. That being said, I can't speak to the availability of replacement decks, or Evolve's willingness to send them out for self-repairs.
Q: Can the board be brought onto an airplane?
A: Due to the battery capacity, the Bamboo series CAN be brought onto an airplane. The Carbon one cannot.
(I looked into this further, and it looks like the only exception is any flight into Japan)
Satisfied with these answers, I decided to order. Bruce was friendly and told me that he could take my order over the phone, although all he was really doing was entering my information into the website (I didn't have my computer nearby at the moment). The order was placed, I got a confirmation email, and he told me my board would go out the following day. This was great, because citing the 4 day shipping quote to CA, this would have the board at my house by Friday, just in time for my trip to SoCal on Sunday.
Come Tuesday, there was a big snowstorm in Michigan, and I was told my order would probably have to go out Wednesday. I was a little concerned by this, but according to a 4 day quote, this still had the board arriving at my home in San Jose on Sat. so all was well. Wednesday passed, Thursday passed, and finally Thursday night I sent an email saying that I still had not received a shipping confirmation email with a tracking number. I got a strange response saying that there was another individual who assembles the boards, and he had injured himself and was not able to assemble my board until today (Friday).
Lo and behold, Friday afternoon I got an email with a tracking number, telling me that my order was finally sent out at about 3PM on Friday afternoon. I hoped that after all these shenanigans the folks at Evolve would pony up and ship overnight to make good on the initial 4 day shipping estimate. My hopes were in vain. FedEx told me that although it wasn't posted online yet, the estimated arrival time would be next Thursday. 9 Business days, as opposed to 4. Its one thing to miss a shipping quote by a little, its another to double it, particularly when urgency has been stressed on multiple occasions.
So currently I have not yet received the board. I will continue my review with an unboxing, initial product impressions (I am a product design engineer), and a user experience review. I am very excited, but thus far extremely disappointed at how Evolve has handled my order. I hope my experience is not typical.
-Range: ~15 mi
-Battery: LFP
-Top speed 15-20mph
-Svelte enclosure form factor
It basically came down to the Evolve and the Yuneec. What tipped the scale in favor of the Evolve was availability, top speed, and access to user reviews. Everything else was lacking in range, or speed, or was too heavy or bulky.
So I began by calling the number on the Evolve website. That number led me to a man named Bruce. I expressed my interest in the Evolve boards, but had a few questions before I ordered. Mostly:
Q: What is the availability of spare parts, as they are not listed on the website?
A: Spare parts are available if needed. Evolve wants to distinguish itself as NOT a parts or kit manufacturer for DIY builds, so spare parts will only be offered to documented customers with legitimate needs for replacements.
Q: Are the decks interchangeable?
A: Sort of. To those with moderate engineering aptitude, it is possible to swap the components from one board to another, in the event that a board breaks, or you want to swap from a snub nose to a pintail. That being said, I can't speak to the availability of replacement decks, or Evolve's willingness to send them out for self-repairs.
Q: Can the board be brought onto an airplane?
A: Due to the battery capacity, the Bamboo series CAN be brought onto an airplane. The Carbon one cannot.
(I looked into this further, and it looks like the only exception is any flight into Japan)
Satisfied with these answers, I decided to order. Bruce was friendly and told me that he could take my order over the phone, although all he was really doing was entering my information into the website (I didn't have my computer nearby at the moment). The order was placed, I got a confirmation email, and he told me my board would go out the following day. This was great, because citing the 4 day shipping quote to CA, this would have the board at my house by Friday, just in time for my trip to SoCal on Sunday.
Come Tuesday, there was a big snowstorm in Michigan, and I was told my order would probably have to go out Wednesday. I was a little concerned by this, but according to a 4 day quote, this still had the board arriving at my home in San Jose on Sat. so all was well. Wednesday passed, Thursday passed, and finally Thursday night I sent an email saying that I still had not received a shipping confirmation email with a tracking number. I got a strange response saying that there was another individual who assembles the boards, and he had injured himself and was not able to assemble my board until today (Friday).
Lo and behold, Friday afternoon I got an email with a tracking number, telling me that my order was finally sent out at about 3PM on Friday afternoon. I hoped that after all these shenanigans the folks at Evolve would pony up and ship overnight to make good on the initial 4 day shipping estimate. My hopes were in vain. FedEx told me that although it wasn't posted online yet, the estimated arrival time would be next Thursday. 9 Business days, as opposed to 4. Its one thing to miss a shipping quote by a little, its another to double it, particularly when urgency has been stressed on multiple occasions.
So currently I have not yet received the board. I will continue my review with an unboxing, initial product impressions (I am a product design engineer), and a user experience review. I am very excited, but thus far extremely disappointed at how Evolve has handled my order. I hope my experience is not typical.