Hi everyone,

As usual, I wanted to update you on our progress with CircuitMess Batmobile’s fulfillment.

====Short version:

We’ve made significant progress since the last update but have come to a hard realization that not all of you might get the Batmobile before Christmas.

I understand that many of you will be disappointed by this news, but I’ve concluded that communicating this openly and honestly was the best way to move forward.

I do not wish to make a promise we cannot keep for each and every one of you and cause Christmas eve disappointment if something goes wrong in the next month before Christmas.

In other words - do not count on CircuitMess Batmobile as a Christmas present.

There is a probability you will get your Batmobile before Christmas, but the supply chains are broken, the logistics and shipping are worse than ever, and our supporters (you guys) come from all over the world.

Due to all of the factors out of our control, we cannot promise a before-Christmas delivery to everyone.

Despite that, we’re working overtime to get all of your Batmobiles manufactured as soon as possible, I’m satisfied with the progress we’ve been making, and we are close to shipping out the first boxes.

====Long version:

The goods news

1. The Batmobile's molds for injection molding are at 50% completion. The supplier is having some difficulties due to peak season, but we will start receiving the first batches of injection-molded plastic casings in the next week or so.

2. We have received most of the critical semiconductors, such as the microcontrollers

3. All of the critical components have been ordered

4. We received the entire quantity of li-po batteries for the Batmobile and the controller last week - this one was critical due to the Lithium shortage

5. All of the LCD displays for the controllers have arrived at our HQ

6. The controller’s casings are at 80% completion - we’re manufacturing this in-house on our laser cutter

7. We’ve designed the test jigs for the circuit boards.
The test jigs are used for loading firmware and testing the boards once they’re finished with production.

This is what they usually look like:

We’re going to have two jigs - one for the car’s board, the other one for the controller’s board:

8. We’ve started manufacturing and assembling the boards for the car’s taillights - these circuit boards have five red LEDs on the back that create the “fire” effect on the exhausts.

9. We’ll soon receive all of the circuit boards needed to start with the assembly. We can assemble the boards fairly quickly - in 7 - 10 days after we receive them.

The bad news

1. We see the logistics and shipping chains worldwide worsening every week.
This is partially caused by the peak season (Black Friday, Christmas) and partially because of the ongoing logistic crisis building up (covid, political tensions, the war).

This is going to get better, especially after Christmas.

But promising a pre-Christmas delivery date to all of our backers right now is impossible.

2. There is one crucial component that we’re still waiting for - the electromotors.

Four motors go into your Batmobile, and we’ve been having a hard time sourcing them.
The suppliers have been citing supply chain issues and the lack of raw materials (steel) for their inability to supply them.
The problem was that no supplier in the world had the whole amount of motors we needed (we’re ordering 14000 motors), and they were giving us lead times of around 40 - 60 days.

We’ve found a reliable supplier and negotiated a 35-day lead time.
This interfered with our plans and is preventing us from shipping the product.

3. We’ve been having trouble with Warner approving the Batmobile’s packaging.

What puzzles me is that getting the approval for the product itself was a straightforward process, but the packaging was a process that took us two months to get approved.

Warner is just doing their best to protect its intellectual property, we understand that, and they’re one of our most valued partners.

But I wish we could’ve gotten the packaging approved earlier.

Apparently, they’re seeing an increased demand for product approvals, and they had internal delays.

The good news is that we have gotten the approval for the packaging today, and we’ve already sent it to the print shop.

We’re almost there, thank you for sticking with us

I understand your disappointment with the news, and I am not happy with the situation.

But simply being unhappy is not going to deliver your Batmobiles.
Therefore, we’ll continue giving our maximum to deliver a truly fantastic product as soon as possible.

Providing hard delivery dates for a product that is being manufactured is a very tough job right now.

The plan remains the same - we’ll start shipping the Batmobile as soon as possible, most likely in December.

We’ll choose the best shipping option to deliver this to your location as quickly as possible.

But, unfortunately, we cannot guarantee Christmas delivery to every one of you.

Thank you for understanding our position, and I’m looking forward to seeing Batmobiles finally delivered to all of you loyal supporters.

This product would not be possible without your support and patience.

I’ll keep writing weekly updates on our progress.

Thanks