Electric Car Buying Checklist

A checklist for the message itself

A message that passes this checklist names the sender, the category entry, the individual name exactly as listed, and the questions the reply should answer, all in the first message. It does not rely on the reply to guess which entry or name was meant, and it does not postpone its main questions to a later message. The checklist below is a tool for the sender, not a form: each point is checked against the message before it is sent.

• Category entry named exactly as listed in the directory.
• Individual name named exactly as listed under that entry.
• General vehicle type described in ordinary terms.
• Destination market stated in general terms, with a request to state which requirements apply.

A checklist for the item

The item checklist keeps the message at the level of the listing. It checks that the message names an entry and a name that actually appear on the category page, that it does not add a specification, a configuration or a condition for the vehicle, and that it does not present a name from one entry as though it belonged to another. A message that passes the item checklist describes the item the listing supports, and nothing beyond it.

• Entry and name both appear on the category page concerned.
• No specification, configuration or condition added for the vehicle.
• No name borrowed from a different entry.
• Accessory names, where relevant, stated as Hub or Insect Screen exactly as listed.

A checklist for terms and documents

The terms checklist asks whether the message requests the price, the quantity terms and the timing for the specific items named, and whether it asks for confirmation of those terms before payment. The documents checklist asks whether the message names the entry and the item alongside any document question, and whether it asks which documents apply rather than assuming a list. Certificates are available upon request, and the document question should be framed in those terms.

• Price requested for the specific items named.
• Quantity terms requested for the specific items named.
• Lead time requested for the specific items named.
• Confirmation before payment requested in plain terms.
• Document question paired with the entry and the name it concerns.

A checklist for the destination question

The destination checklist asks whether the message states the destination market in general terms, whether it asks which requirements apply to that market for the item named, and whether it avoids stating a destination list or a market promise that the message cannot support. No destination list is stated on this site, and the destination question is asked so that the reply can address the requirements of the market actually named. A destination question that travels with the entry and the name gives the reply a precise subject, while a destination question asked on its own leaves the reply to ask which item and which market were meant. The checklist therefore pairs the destination point with the item point in every message, and treats a message that separates them as incomplete, even when both points appear somewhere in the text. That pairing rule is the same rule that governs every other question in the message: each question belongs beside the item it concerns, and the message is checked, before sending, for questions that have drifted away from their items.

A checklist before sending

The final checklist is read once, against the finished message, before the send button is used. It asks whether every question in the message travels with the item it concerns, whether any point has been assumed rather than asked, and whether the message can be answered without a round of clarification. A message that passes the final checklist is usually answered directly, because the reply can address the entry, the name and the questions without first asking which item was meant.