We Will NEVER Do a Paid Review
Before I started E-Powersport.com, to help people get affordable electric transportation, I was a Tech Recruiter. For over 20 years I operated counter to the normal operations of most recruiters. I'm honest, up front and tell you straight how it is at the company. Over the years and many successful placements, I earned a reputation as one of the few recruiters in the industry that operates with exceptional Integrity.
And perhaps that's what drew me to Electric Transportation. As I looked across the landscape, I saw very little integrity. I'm not just talking about these, "charge you $2k and never talk to you again" companies. That's just become the norm. I'm talking about the most of the media that covers it.
There was a time, before Internet, where what you read in a newspaper or magazine was validated multiple times. Where you couldn't pay for a story or review of a product, but had to get honest and truly informative stories out there. As our media has grown, we've seen the advent of "fake news", "false stories" and advertising based media assets. When you start looking at Electric Vehicle news it can be hard to distinguish the honest actors from the paid shills. And there's a lot of them.
Many of the media spaces I thought were doing it for the story, have shown to me since starting this, they're in it for the payday. Not the candy bar but the Monetary Support of the companies for which they review. Great example, one of the Kollter dealers paid a major EV review website, $10K to review the Kollter ES-1. Interesting that we never saw it hit 75mph as claimed. Because it can't. It's interesting that the reviewer doesn't actually dig into the Kollter as you might expect, but instead, gives it glowing commentary. And you can find this same format across most of their stories. I found myself asking, "Wow, how much do they charge for these factory tours. Must be like a $20K fee or something."
Now, don't start to think that it's just that one group that get paid to tell you how wonderful, mediocre E-bikes and EVs are, but many more out there do the same. The big problem is that none of them are acting in YOUR best interests. They're acting in their own, by taking the money and the interests of their financial backers. This is the same with many of the YouTube reviews you'll see. Like, why is a woman who likes to fish in a bikini telling you about how great this Ebike is that some "branded" Ebike company sent her? She knows absolutely nothing about them and you're all just watching her because she's fishing in a bikini. If it helps sell them to you and instill a sense of integrity for you, I will do a YouTube video in a bikini with our E-bikes. Not going to look near as good, but you'll get how serious I am about this issue.
"But, John, you sell Ebikes and e-Motorcycles aren't you going to tell us how good they are so we buy them from you?"
Yes and No. If you saw our Kollter ES-1 disassembly video you know that we may sell it to you, but still want you to know and be happy with your purchase. Even at the cost of our dealership license, we gave you the straight dope on those units. And, for everything we sell, we will continue to do so. I say, what we sell, because I've already made a short clip to explain how we Will Not, review units we're not selling. We see that as an unethical approach for a Retail business. Every time I see other dealers reviewing units they don't sell the summation ends with, "We wouldn't sell this for reasons XXX, but you can buy our more expensive unit that we prefer." Well of course you prefer it, you sell it! We see this as a conflict of interest.
"Who, oh who will think of the consumer!?"
Just as we've found many a questionable actor in this media section of the industry we have also found those that are honest and operate with integrity. Similar to recruiting, they are few and far between. These teams operate for the story. It keeps them from having any unconscious bias for or against the product. Some may take a fee for their time, but the reviews stand based on the experience.
Some of these are:
Anything Action Magazine - When we've had discussions with editors from this group of media assets, we found they are truly interested in the story and wouldn't even think of taking a Reviewer's Fee. That is the true identifier of Honest Media.
The Inja on YouTube- This team has produced some amazing materials. Not just in the review category, but also in the DIY EV category. Best part about them, as a company they will take your money, but the review is the review. If your product sucks, it sucks, if it rocks, it rocks. But they don't create Reviewer Fluff.
SurRonster on YouTube - He does mostly riding videos with his crew, but still has some great review and assembly/DIY category stuff. So far, I haven't seen him shill on anything. Plus, when I offered to pay him for a review, he declined. He showed and we discussed how he's more interested in the content and creation than getting a payday. Made props and respect out to that him!
We've also started the production of a truly non-biased set of tools to help you make the most informed decision when making your electric purchase. We have our Ebike Buyers' Comparison tool. This is an always updating tool, that has some very exciting developments coming. You can compare some of the top brands in the industry to the units we carry and their own. This is a great objective tool to help you make sure you're getting the best overall value for your dollar. Not just promises of a good time. We already have more tools to implement that will work together to help you make sure you're making not just the best purchase, but the best purchase for you.
