Do Washington D.C. metropolis officers not learn Jalopnik? In the event that they did, they most likely wouldn’t have entered right into a contract with a specific gentleman we’ve written about earlier than. DC’s WUSA reviews that Lawrence Hardge — a person who isn’t me— has managed to safe a contract with town’s public works division the place he would supply them with a purported “EV vary extender” for DC’s fleet of Chevy Bolts. Or: the Gas Shark, however for electrical autos.

For these of you simply tuning in, Lawrence Hardge is one a part of a bigger EV startup known as Mullen Automotive. He’s additionally somebody that I’ve been repeatedly mistaken for in current months, leading to bizarre Fb messages and pal requests from folks all internationally.

Hardge says he’s an inventor. Other than a fireplace extinguisher, his principal declare to fame is being founder and CEO of an organization known as International EV Know-how and inventing what he calls Ever-Cost Know-how. This gadget is claimed to increase the vary of any EV battery by “rejuvenating” it. This “rejuvenation” is achieved by… who is aware of. However Washington DC’s Division of Public Works thought the thought sounded respectable and entered right into a contract with Hardge earlier this 12 months.

WUSA managed to discover a deleted video put up from Hardge in late April displaying him within the garages of the DC public works. DC officers wished Hardge’s gadgets put in on parking enforcement autos: Chevy Bolts. From WUSA:

DC authorities awarded a contract in February with Hardge’s firm. The contract says it would value $14,000 per automobile to put in his modules and $3,000 per automobile for “information monitoring.” That’s a complete of $680,000 taxpayer {dollars} to refit 40 D.C. parking enforcement automobiles. The contract additionally provides Hardge’s firm unique house in D.C.’s upkeep bays.

WUSA took Hardge’s claims about his range-extending gadget to the College of Maryland’s electrical engineering labs, who debunked them; the gadget couldn’t truly prolong vary. WUSA requested GM if it was conscious of the claims Hardge was making about extending the Bolt’s vary; the corporate mentioned it wasn’t conscious and isn’t collaborating in it.

A spokesperson for the general public works division advised WUSA that they solely grew to become conscious of Hardge, his firm and tech after he did a presentation final 12 months.

“We discovered concerning the EV Applied sciences modules when the corporate made a presentation throughout the 2022 Washington Auto Present,” the spokesperson mentioned. Metropolis officers additionally weren’t conscious that Hardge is a convicted felon, one thing that they are saying they’ll now be trying into.

Court docket paperwork present Hardge was sentenced to 26 years in jail for a felony conviction in 2001. He was discovered responsible of promoting unregistered securities from his residence state of Mississippi. Hardge served 5 years in jail and tried to expunge, or wipe, his legal report in 2021. A Mississippi decide rescinded Hardge’s momentary felony expungement in March 2022, after a decide’s order exhibits allegations surfaced that Hardge used enterprise investor’s cash to repay the folks he defrauded in 2001.

WUSA9 requested the D.C. authorities whether or not it knew that Mississippi court docket information take into account Hardge a convicted felon earlier than it signed a contract with him.

A spokesperson with DC Workplace of Contracts and Procurement responded that the division wasn’t conscious of that till the day WUSA9 knowledgeable them and that it’s “actively investigating the state of affairs.

As for Hardge, he issued an announcement when requested if he may present and clarify how his gadget labored, claiming he’s “beneath a strict non-disclosure settlement. I can’t talk about something relating to D.C.”