Small Business Spotlight: How Evolectric Enables Electrification

Like 'em or hate 'em, electric vehicles are here to stay. EVs offer several significant advantages over conventional combustion engines. They're cheaper to run, better for the environment, and entirely energy agnostic. And while the complex batteries of electric vehicles require more resources to set up than conventional combustion engines, the batteries themselves are completely recyclable after reaching the end of their operational life.

It's safe to say that electric vehicles are the transportation trend of the future. However, whenever you take a significant technological step forward, you need to learn new skills and processes. That's where Evolectric comes in.

Evolectric is a Long Beach, California-based engineering company with a mission to enable and advance electrification. In other words, if you're in the business of developing an electric vehicle, Evolectric is here to lend their engineering know-how every step of the way.

In today's spotlight, we speak with Evolectric co-founders Bill Beverley and Jakson Alvarez about technology, transitions, and transportation.  

In layman's terms, tell us what Evolectric does.

Jakson Alvarez: Our drive is to enable electrification — to help push the transition from conventional combustion engines to electric motors and batteries. We work with companies and individuals to support them at every step of the electrification process, from basic familiarization with electric vehicle systems, to design, to building a one-off prototype, to full-scale production.

What motivated you to start Evolectric?

Jakson: We believe in a future where transportation is powered by sustainable and clean sources of energy. We are deeply passionate about assisting underserved markets, those that might not have access to the know-how or the technology because of their size or location.

What makes Evolectric unique?

Jakson: We are a diverse group of individuals, not just ethnically and demographically, but also regarding our industry heritage, skill sets, and networks. We share a vision of making a positive global impact and improving the world for generations to come. We believe that we can accomplish this by enabling and advancing electrification worldwide.

Bill Beverley: We want to help advance electrification globally by supporting the people who are dedicated to putting more electric vehicles on the roads. We offer both engineering expertise and a supply chain network. Our assistance can benefit a wide range of companies and individuals in designing and building electric vehicles, while balancing timeline, price, budget, and technology requirements for their end-customers. 

Where do you hope to see Evolectric in the short term and long term?

Jakson: We are working on building the Evolectric brand as a respected contributor in the e-mobility ecosystem. We want to be known for our high caliber of expertise, for a good culture, and as an enabler for our customers.

In the long-term, we would like to use our position to serve customers in countries where technology and the adoption of it usually lags. We want to be their partners to navigate barriers and accelerate the adoption of electric vehicles in their markets.

What other companies do you look to for inspiration?

Bill: We look at Tesla, Bosch, and Scania, among other companies, for inspiration. They are industry leaders and innovators who are continuously developing the next generation of e-mobility technology and making it accessible worldwide.

What have you found Evolectric's greatest challenge to be?

Bill: The transition to electric vehicles is a major change that requires good technology at a reasonable price, along with a charging infrastructure. The challenge is that while adoption rates are accelerating, they're still slower than we would want. This makes it critical to manage cash flow very carefully.

What part of running a business do you personally find most satisfying?

Jakson: Seeing our customers succeed in their goals and projects because of our involvement and expertise is rewarding and motivating. It means we're accomplishing our mission and seeing electrification advance one customer and one project at a time.

What recent tech innovations have surprised you most?

Bill: Innovations in battery tech and other alternatives to fossil fuels. In the battery space, we like what is happening with solid-state battery research. In the alternative to fossil fuel space, we like the development of fuel cell and hydrogen tech. These technologies will be keys to the future, but it will take some time.

What would you like Evolectric to be more involved in?

Bill: We are working on becoming very involved in the Long Beach community where we're headquartered. We see tremendous potential in creating an immediate, positive impact in its economy while also advancing electrification at the Port of Long Beach. It's something that many companies are working on, and we want to do our part.

How has the COVID-19 pandemic affected your business, and what are you doing to cope?

Bill: We're doing our part to comply with state and local orders to keep operations remote. Our customers are also doing their part, so we've seen a sharp drop in activity. But we're confident that we will get past this together and back to business soon. Our small team uses the best remote working technology we can get our hands on, and keeps each other motivated and focused every day.

Where the COVID-19 pandemic has really struck a gut punch is to the face-to-face customer services industry. Our organization is relatively new, having started in October 2019. As an engineering services organization, our early growth depends heavily on in-person network interactions for securing new business opportunities.

Without this period of growth, we're focusing on our value to the engineering space — trying to offer more to our end customers at lower prices in hopes that we can play a longer game for mutual benefit.

What advice would you give someone thinking about starting their own business in the tech industry?

Jakson: Do your research and validate your assumptions before committing major resources to push your vision forward. Be wary of the hype. The industry is evolving and moving fast, but not as fast as you might think from the outside looking in.

Is there anything else you'd like to add?

Bill: Swyft Filings helped us create our corporation and take care of time-consuming administrative tasks that can distract us from our mission. We are grateful for their commitment to assisting businesses like ours. --

If you'd like to know more about Evolectric and the forward-thinking, world-saving work they do, you can visit their website or follow them on LinkedIn.