Got thrown off the GT, board took off without my command, petition to Evolve to fix remote

Just got a response from EvolveUSA and they said that the board shouldn't be acting odd like I had reported, even with the new remote. They wrote up some new pairing instructions that they want me verify if that makes the issue go away or not. Will try that here in the next couple days. They said they'd like to have the board shipped back to them so they can diagnose and resolve the issue fully. So all is strong and in good communication as before. Very happy to see that and raises my confidence level. So I'll be patient as long as they do to fully correct the issue.

As for the video above, they said they didn't experience nor have any customers report that issue in the US. They also noted that if you ride with a group that the proper way to do the pairing is one at a time so that the remote/boards don't get confused.

 

As a future Carbon GT AT owner I just wanted to say thanks wiztecy for doing all of this troubleshooting. And also thanks to all the members on this forum who have added constructive criticism. My board will hopefully arrive the first week of December. Hopefully it won't kill me like yours almost did.

 

Are these different than the standard pairing instructions ? - please post them if you are able - thanks

 

---------------------------
Pairing tips and procedure:
1) Turn on Board FIRST by itself.
2) Turn on the Remote by pressing and holding right button until Evolve Logo appears. You should finally see the initial screen with NO BATTERY PERCENTAGE displayed at this point.
3) As soon as remote is at this point, press and HOLD the left button until the battery percentage screen appears. Do not let go of the button until battery percentage appears.
Note: Make sure the entire time during the pairing/re-syncing process, that you are NOT touching the trigger or the board, so it finds its neutral point.
Even when turning on thereafter before each ride, do not touch anything until pairing is complete and battery percentage pops up on the screen. You can now enjoy your ride !
---------------------------

 

Mine has been back twice, both times new motor controllers, and it's still having dropouts. Also, that most recent pairing procedure shown (and is also a printed insert included with the board) is different than the pairing procedure I was told to use about 10 days ago. I was told to first power on remote fully (let it boot for 5-7 seconds), with the board off. Then, turn on the board's power button and IMMEDIATELY hold down the left button on the remote, keep it held down, until the battery % appears.

 

Same exact situation for me. Made a video yesterday to show the dropouts I am experiencing. I really don't think it's a controller/receiver issue (appears the control protocol is RC actually, not bluetooth), but something loose in the board. I experience the same dropouts using either my newer CGT remote, or my old style Bamboo GT remote (which works perfectly with my Bamboo GT - I have never experienced a dropout with that board).

 

They are using bluetooth, I posted the the FCC filing.

 

Wiztecy,

The same thing happened to me about 11 days ago. As I was riding near a park in San Diego, in Fast or GT mode, I was passing by a lady as she was remotely locking her car, about 30 ft away. As I saw her lock her car, my board immediately went to a STOP. Not slow, but STOP.

At 19 mph, I was immediately thrown off the board about five feet. I was wearing a helmet and the lady pointed out that I was lucky have to have been wearing one. She wouldn't leave me alone because she was sure I needed the hospital. Worst things were a badly scraped hip, knee, elbow, and the back of a brand new Ruroc helmet. Because I was thrown off, the remote was completely damaged.

I bought a new remote immediately after. Two days after buying the new remote, it no longer pairs. I am working troubleshooting with the USA office, but it is a slow process with them. I replied back to their slow replies with a picture of the screen at 3pm yesterday and am still waiting a reply. Now I cant use my board(s) with my family today. Metroboard and ILAN is definitely quicker with customer service.

I want Evolve to fix this issue too. It is becoming a nightmare as it is affecting my wallet, my health, and my overall life. I have an important job, and I will not hesitate to make things right when things are not.

I attached a picture of my elbow as well as a screenshot of another person, Benjamin, posting about his similar experience.

I will be extremely upset if they force me to purchase yet another remote. After only having the board for two weeks, I can already hear noise coming from my front left AT bearing....

 

These issues are starting to make me wonder if I should cancel my order before it ships :-(

 

that's the part that sucks - when you either get run away acceleration (stuck throttle - like i did) or braking when you didn't input it (which seems like a new one) - drop outs and coasting are one thing and yes something you should be able to handle without coming off - but what some of us are experiencing is an ACTIVE input up or down that we didn't initiate (or gets stuck on) (not just a passive drop out)

 

Sorry rayson2017, I'm still hurting in my shoulder. Evolve in my opinion needs to seriously do a mass recall on these boards, it can be voluntary. Those who feel they have issues should send them back in. We can exchange emails and CC Evolve together, the more we have as a mass and voice, the more power we have to have these boards fixed correctly. I honestly don't have confidence that when I send my board back that it will be returned and be 100% safe. There's something wrong in the protocol / communication they're using that's overwhelmed with interference big time.

Ilan @ Metroboard would not allow his boards to experience these types of issues at all. I want an electric skateboard that I can trust 100% with my life, I honestly can trust MetroBoard. Even my 1st Generation Metroboard with the brushed motors and Wii bluetooth remote was safer and more reliable than the GT in terms of getting back home safe and sound. One of my older Metroboards experiences cutouts every so often, but it won't ever jam on the brakes nor will it give full acceleration on you. Ilan went to the RC remote, he 1st used the bluetooth one, saw that there's issues there, did the IR remote which is better in some cases but has its own issues such as its directional and in bright sunlight you need to keep the line of sight in focus. However it won't brake or accelerate on you on its own, I have that one on my newer Metros. And now he's running the RC remotes which people love, more resolution, no cutouts reported, and safe. He offers an upgrade for the owners with the IR remotes to purchase the remote and receiver for under $100 if you'd like to go that route. And yes, customer support is A+++ from him. A genuine good person who's passionate about Electric Skateboards and has been part of the DIY community since 2003.

Anyways.... I knew before buying the GT that there would be some refinement issues, minor quality issues that were there. But didn't ever think my life would be in danger. I skate by the ocean, what happens if the board jets off again and ends up in the ocean. Am I to eat $2000+ dollars of my hard earned cash due to a severe communication defect in the board let alone any medical bills I could end up with? An that's getting lucky still.

These issues should not be happening and they can send these boards to a communication test facility to find out where the issue is. I have zero confidence that Evolve in their controlled warehouse is going to reproduce my issue in my environment.

Lastly, Evolve needs to smooth out their motor controller. With a trigger remote and the resolution it has combined with the way the controller is dialed in, you have zero feel in your initial acceleration / deceleration. I bite down on my teeth in both of those stages hoping something bad doesn't happen. They could soften that up a bit, not too much, but enough to take out that crappy jitteryness it has right now.

I honestly just want to give them back my board, say hey, when you guys figure this stuff out maybe I'll buy another one but I'll need a confirmation that all this stuff has been cleared up before I do.

I feel everyone who owns any Evolve board should be concerned about this. When a person gets hurt bad enough and decides to file a lawsuit, this first of all will be bad for the Electric Skateboard Community and possibly restrictions may be put in place. Speed limit governors, etc. But if someone does sue and manages to bring Evolve down, that means existing customers won't have replaceable parts and no longer can maintain these boards. It also means that the resale value has dramatically dropped as well. So surprised nothing is being done here about this such as a mass email to customers letting them know about the issue.

Lastly I wouldn't let anyone else ride these boards if you have any of these issues described in this thread and wear a helmet at ALL times on this board.

Sidenote:
One thing that's odd, the customer has to pay shipping back to Evolve as well as pay for insurance in-case your board gets damaged in transit in order to have Evolve resolve these issues. I don't understand that, its a safety defect with the board, why does the customer have to pay for shipping+insurance? Now I asked Evolve that and they said they'll credit me a $50 gift certificate to use on their site. Ok, that's a good compromise. And happy to meet them in the middle like that. However if the issue with the board does not get resolved, what good is this $50 credit? I don't want the board at this point due to being concerned about my personal safety. So I have mixed feelings on this one. Honestly Evolve should be sending out a UPS label that's prepayed when trying to resolve issues due to a design flaw.

 

I strongly agree with everything you said here. I haven't gotten my board yet but the fact that the customer has to pay for shipping and insurance on what seems to clearly be a manufacturer defect is pretty appalling. Unless otherwise convinced, It looks like I might be making a call to evolve USA tomorrow to cancel my order.

 

If you do cancel, state why so they can understand why they're loosing customers and hopefully that will escalate Evolve to do the right thing. Also did you hear that I believe the next shipment of Evolve Skateboards, the one's in transit now, are going to be delayed due to a strike or something like that with the shipping company and the ship that's currently at sea with the boards?

 

Oh I will definitely let them know why. In fact I will direct then to these forums so they can see themselves. No, I have not heard anything about a strike. Hmmm, issues keep coming it seems.

 

I sent an email escalating my issue and made a formal request for an UPS label that's pre-paid and insured. If the board comes back with the same issue or anything like it, I want my money back in full. That' $50 gift certificate will do me no good since I'd loose confidence in any product Evolve would be selling.

This is such a downer

 

This doesn't seem to be a wide spread issue though wiztecy. How many people out of the thousands of boards out there? It seems you would have to be very unlucky to have this issue initially and then extremely unlikely after a remote replacement and then it would be ridiculous after a motor controller replacement too. They won't recall boards, so might as well forget about it. Most people wouldn't accept a refund to give them back.
Definitely don't cancel your order luckycharms. You'll be missing out on on so much fun. You'll probably never have a problem.

 

Seriously I'm curiouse to know how many people on this forum had zero issues, I bought 2 boards and had problems (shut down randomly and remote cut out) with both and I think these issues can be very dangerous. It's not a big forum and we are (at least at the beginning) evolve enthusiasts that made me think that the problem is bigger than we thought. It's sad because I will love to ride this board with trust! Now with all this unsafe issues if I can get my money back I would take it back right away but I had to pay a big amount of money for the customes fee and repaid when I had to send them back for repair, with the restocking fee I would loose at least 2000-2500$ if I go with a refund! :-/

 

It is quite interesting to see even a smaller number of Boosted boards that experienced the battery venting issue which was in the news not too long ago. This defect was even a smaller % than what we have here with the safety issue on the GT. Nobody got hurt but Sanjay, the owner, flew to the owners home to investigate and understand what happened. The issue others and myself experiencing *IS* causing injury and I can't state that any louder. My shoulder dislocated and that is still F**king painful and not right.

Any board that leaves a company which causes harm to the rider / customer from a defect is a total fail. And for a company to not take care of the situation, staying distant it seems, and asking for the customer to pay shipping of the board back to the company so they can figure out what they missed and went wrong is worse. They should be honestly paying customers who work with them as a consultant. If this issue existed before and they failed to address it, continued to sell boards as they are ignoring the safety defect, that's neglect.

I gave Evolve my personal phone number so I can discuss the issue in detail so they can fix this correctly. I have not had a single call.

I'm still having hope that my board can be fixed so I don't have any safety issues. However there is no way I'm paying shipping for my board to go back for them to figure out what went wrong in their QA or design process. Do you think Boosted would tell their customers who experienced the battery issue to say pay for the shipping back to us so we can fix our defect?

 

We run a riders group with about 150 members, we get 20-30 out each ride every few weeks, and I will say that pretty much 80% of us with GT boards have had some sort of issues, they say the amount of boards with issues is small, but taking from out sample group of 30 riders for each ride, 80% is high enough to not be considered to be a small amount. The issues range from drop outs, motor controller issues, remote issues, battery issues, and broken motors...

 

I have dropout issues, it won't take off in gt mode and go into slow mode for some reason, etc, but I love riding the board. And I agree there seems to be a lot of people with problems, could start a poll? Dropouts, no issues etc.

Wiztecy is right, where there is smoke there is Fire, some issues need to be addressed by evolve. A recall on a remote/board could seen expensive now but it's always, always cheaper than a lawsuit and the consequential losses.

Evolve is at the top of the food chain, and they have to fight to stay there by doing the right thing.

My remote is being shipped to them next week, and me paying for shipping isnt really the best idea.
And will see if the remote fixed the issues.

That's My two cents