Following on from our recent blog post Fake Kickstarter Projects: Do Crowdfunding Sites Protect Backers? where we delved into how well Kickstarter and Indiegogo protect backers from seeing products that end up not fulfilling their promises for different reasons or are even fakes, we will now look at another example of a Kickstarter project that is perhaps too good to be true, and our reasons for thinking that.
To assess this e-Wagon we tasked an engineer from our product R&D team to examine the page, product, and the creator’s claims both practical and technical. These are simply our thoughts which illustrate that Kickstarter backers have a risk of putting money down on products that may not come to fruition.
What is the EVOTRAIL: Self-Following Smart e-Wagon?
Images courtesy of EVOTRAIL Kickstarter project
This e-Wagon is motorised and will follow you independently, taking the effort out of carrying heavy loads.
The creator claims the following benefits:
- Truly frees your hands and physical hauling or pushing, making any journey a hassle-free experience
- Provides a remarkable 15-mile follow-up, ensure a worry-free tour
- Equipped with the UltraPower system, effortlessly uphill even with a 200lbs loads
- Intelligently follows your every move, adjusting its speed to match your pace and mood
- Supports remote control, always ready to deliver items to you
- Take it anywhere! Fast setup in 3 seconds with foldable design, fitting perfectly in your trunk
In principle, this sounds great as it directly solves a problem where the individual needs to pull a cart to transport cargo which can be tiring. The e-Wagon also has exciting claims such as its long range and ability to carry a very heavy load, as well as its ability to match your pace.
So, what’s the catch?
Too good to be true?
We’re not saying that this product idea is fake, but we are concerned that it may not get launched with its promises fulfilled and, as we demonstrated in the last post, Kickstarter doesn’t really control whether creators honor their promises or not when it comes to new products, which can leave backers out of pocket and disappointed.
Our engineer flagged several claims on the Kickstarter campaign page as seeming a bit “too easy to be true.”
The battery
They state that the battery will be ‘removable, waterproof, rechargeable, -10DegF to 150DegF (equivalent to -25DegC to 65DegC).’
For this type of product, we would not expect such a range or battery configuration.
The temperature range is very high for a lithium-ion battery. It is surprising as at -25C is strongly reduced and also not recommended for the chemistry. Also, it seems the battery cells are long and round, which is an unusual geometry and not very optimized for round cells.
The motors
The motors are in the wheels (as a hub motor), but where are the electronic elements (ESC controller and power board)? That doesn’t come out clearly from what is shown on the page. The product can also be folded, so the position of the electronic elements is really a mystery, including the IP68 which needs a rigid enclosure.
Also, the connection to the wheel seems quite immature and unreliable (i.e. far from a design that is ready to manufacture), as you can see here:
UWB connection
They use UWB (Ultra-wideband frequency) to measure the distance between the cart and the person, which sounds right. However, there are a lot of difficulties in doing that (imagine if someone moves in between the cart and the driver, or if the cart has to move around an obstacle, has a stone too big to move over, etc.)
That has a real impact on safety, and it should be at the center of the design planning from the beginning, yet it is not mentioned. Aren’t there ways to mitigate the risk of collision, for example with sensors? A lot of details about this fundamental operation aren’t clear.
IP ratings
They wrote “Impeccably engineered and rigorously tested in different environments, the wheels are crafted with great emphasis on durability, shock absorption, and an impressive IP67 Waterproof rating.”
That sounds like typical puffery. The page also mentions words like “boundless”, “limitless”, “countless”, which are really not a sign of serious engineering.
The IP ratings are a bit confusing. We see IP67 (full product), then later IP68 (battery), and in the specs IPX4 (for the e-wagon).
The price
The price doesn’t sound reasonable, based on what we know about the costs of batteries and motors (that’s already over 200 USD in manufacturing price, just with those components, for a selling price of 400 USD for early backers). Could this mean that they will be unable to get it into production at the promised price?… There seems a risk of that.
Prototypes
They write that their initial prototype was created in Jan. 2023, and in Jan. 2024 they wrote that they went through “10 generations of prototypes”. That’s a very fast turnaround per generation for such a complex product, especially the auto navigation.
Our conclusion
This is a cool product idea. However, based on our product design & development experience we feel that this is an example of a product where the creator is faking it ’til they make it, at least in part.
We are not accusing them of being scammers (we don’t know), but our point is that they are not likely to hold their promises based on the technical claims they’re making. As a backer, would you be pleased if the e-Wagon makes it to market, but with very watered-down functionality compared with the original promises? That’s a relatively high risk here.
This case shows the risks that Kickstarter backers face. A really interesting and innovative product like this can look attractive and for all intents and purposes like it is very technically sound and will make it to market as promised. But look under the hood and too many questions arise for comfort. They’ve well exceeded their target, but as you can see from numerous high-profile Kickstarter failures, this doesn’t actually guarantee success.
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