This started to take over the Z20 thread. I wanted to comment, but not derail that thread any further.
Pls don't sum up everything to Chinese reputation or quality.
Both EVTA and E-max were not just buy & sell of Chinese products. Thomas,boss of E-max spent 4 year in china and control every details and every parts by himself.
First of all, thanks for hanging in there, Mountain. I appreciate your perspective on the other side of the ocean. I sincerely hope that you continue to post here.
I don't think there is anything about the Chinese people that means a good scooter can't be produced there. The biggest problems I see are anonymity and lack of accountability of the manufacturers. When I buy an EMax or EVT or whatever it is very difficult to tell precisely where it came from. I don't care if it was made in China, Indonesia, or Cameroon. I am trusting Emax/EVT has setup manufacturing and quality control processes that can deliver a quality scooter. Perhaps these companies believed they could. But they couldn't. Each time the parent company folded and the manufacturing company just started making another scooter for somebody else. In the United States it wouldn't be possible to make money this way, but evidence suggests that in China (and perhaps other places in the world as well) it is possible.
Again I do not think this is a China problem. I think it is a problem with the business model: a small, new, parent company outsourcing manufacturing to another small, new company. It just so happens that China is where most of the manufacturing is outsourced to. I view this as more of a coincidence than a cause.
You are correct that Vectrix hasn't succeeded yet either. I hope they fix their design and/or quality control problems and make a go of it. The difference is Vectrix isn't outsourcing manufacturing. They don't have to worry about the manufacturing plant changing it's name and selling scooters to somebody else next week. Vectrix has more to lose if they can't get it together.
The next EV I buy will have to conform to one of the following:
- Be sold by a company with a long enough track record that I know they can address likely problems or at least stand to lose a lot if they can't. This would be a company the size of Mitsubishi or General Motors.
- Be a product that has proven itself over a period of at least two years.
- Be cheap enough that I won't care if it only lasts a year or two. Fortunately most eBikes fall within this category.
