I'm really sorry about the price increase. We honored the promised price for everyone we asked for money from, even though we lost money on each one. If we could build our technology at the original price estimate for all our preorders without shutting down, we would absolutely do so. But the only other option is compromising the quality or performance of the board, and we'd rather build a few great boards than a bunch of mediocre ones.

I wouldn't sweat it too much, the cheap knock-offs will come and go. If you guys can deliver quality, then it will be worth it. That being said, 1300 I can justify as a toy, 2k is pushing it a little.

The E-GO is far from a cheap knock off. It comes from Yuneec.com who make real electric aircraft and are experts in Electric Propulsion Systems. It is our ability to do mass production which has brought the price down. The design and testing was done by an international team in including several ex-pat Europeans and American employees of Yuneec. We make most of the components in the E-GO and our own motors have a 15 year development history. We also now use auto short circuit protection Panasonic batteries, the best and most expensive in the industry, just like Tesla does.

I wish you would've given clear cut apology in your email. Instead, your email only focused on justification of the increased price. I don't think people doubted you when you said there's been extra cost in the parts, your early adopters BELIEVED in you anyways. We know we didn't deposit any money, but we still waited 17 months anticipating to buy the product that we pre-ordered at the price of 1299. We felt special. We felt entitled. With all that being gone, it's natural for us to feel bummed, and a sincere, empathetic apology would've gone a long way.