I haven’t been excited about a car in quite a while, and I’m definitely not a pickup truck fan. That said, I’m on the waiting list for Slate because:
- Minimal electronics and no call-home. Almost every other vehicle on the market today (including all EVs) have OTA telemetry and insane data collection policies. The Slate will use your phone connection (at your option) to download OTAs if needed
- Cheap for what you get. Assuming the quality is OK sub-$30K without rebates gets you decent range and NACS charging
- Highly customizable - get what you need, and nothing else
That said, it’s a Bezos-backed automotive startup who hasn’t delivered a product yet, so there is clearly a lot of potential downside here.
Here’s the problem: Europe now has a dozen EVs under 25K euros that are signficantly better than this truck. So, it’s actually not cheap for what you get, just cheap compared to overpriced EVs in NA.
Yeah, but this is 'Murica and we’ll never get the cheap(er) imports, while tarrifs and incentive rollbacks make our own products more expensive, so now $30K is the new $20K! Yay!
Yeah this is now more than a fully trimmed new Chevy bolt was last year with tax incentives. With this you sacrifice basically everything to in theory be cheaply fixable and modable, and you get an open air trunk to haul light but bulky loads.
Slightly faster charging and slightly worse range if they keep to the website specs. If they can get work fleet vehicle sales this will probably do well, but for an average consumer seems DOA at $30k in a way it wasn’t at $20k
This was marginally intriguing at sub $20k. Absolutely zero interest without the incentives
Every two months the price goes up $5000.
The rest of the world does real work with small pickups.
Modification is the big selling point for Slate. Outside of a few accessories and the ability to change the suspension, no automaker is offering the aftermarket bonanza that Slate is. Sure, there’s no paint, but Slate will print wraps for the vehicles and ship them to owners. Want your truck to become an SUV? Order the rear top, seats, and rollcage, and you have room for more passengers.
This is absolutely an approach intended to maximize the profit from what is very likely to be overpriced customization. I won’t be surprised when they put up barriers to 3rd party or owner customization.
Not to mention how are they going to distribute the vehicles without a paint job if they don’t have a paint shop on premesis, massive amounts of plastic wrap?
If people just buy the base model and don’t add on a lot of optional and likely overpriced add ons I see the company folding within a couple of years.
I’m curious to see how this pans out, because it sounds like a customizable ev reminiscent of the old Toyota trucks. But we’ll see.
The only other ev I was interested in, was aptera, but I stopped holding my breath on production, wishing them success eventually.
I’m really curious what the different add-ons will end up costing. The long range with a bed cover and speakers could be my next car.
The Slate, R2/R3, and Telo are all intriguing to me for different reasons, but the minimalism of the Slate is definitely a draw.
I want a truck as a truck. I don’t need power windows, leather seats, or other luxury features. I need something I can jump in with muddy shoes, greasy clothes from whatever machine I was working on, and just go. The limited tow capacity (1000lbs - there are compact cars that can do that!).
I prefer driving small cars, there is no way a truck can handle as well as a car, there are too many compromises needed to be a truck. However a truck is often what I need for the real world and this is just another small car on a truck body giving the worst of both worlds.
WRT tow/haul capacity, you need to think of it along the same lines as the mini trucks that existed up until the 1990s. Yes, those capacities are still lower than, say, a 1992 Hilux, but the (short bed single cab 2WD) Hilux is ~900 lbs lighter than a base Slate. Payload capacity on the Slate is still just a couple hundred pounds less than that base Hilux. I’d bet that towing is more limited on the Slate because of it’s “not really body on frame” construction, where the Hliux was traditional full frame.
The 1992 Hilux has 3x the towing capacity. Other small pickups of the era had even more capacity.
I’m not in the market for a new vehicle but if I was, I’d definitely look at this. The tow capacity isn’t what stops me from using my sedan to move stuff, it’s the lack of space!
F150 drivers aren’t going to change, of course, but a lot of people could benefit from a truck like this.
Tow hitch and a trailer baby. Most sedans can still tow like 1000 pounds. The trailer might be like 90% of that weight, but if it fits you can move it.
The tow capacity isn’t what stops me from using my sedan to move stuff, it’s the lack of space!
I’m not sure what you are hauling, but I would not be surprised if it is beyond the maximum weight of this thing. It is very limited as a truck even though it has space. Of course there is a difference between a box of feathers and a box of gold (the later implies you are putting more than the capacity in armor on the truck)
Wood stock, furniture, etc. It’s not a feature I would use every day but I’d use it a hell of a lot more than the extra seats in my sedan!
Fuck Bezos.
I wish it had even just a basic infotainment screen and speakers with apple carplay / android auto. Literally just a screen to project your phone on to.
Also, power windows. I get it, crank windows are easier to repair, but a little convenience would be great.
You can buy that for less than $100 aftermarket.
But will it have the din slot to add it?
They just attach anywhere. It’s a display.
According to their online builder, you can get speakers and a tablet mount, putting your own tablet in. Or just using your phone directly. Power windows are also available.
The beauty of the Slate is that, if infotainment is important to you, you can easily add it. It’ll take a double din head unit, theres lots of carplay ones on the market for a few hundred bucks, add speakers of your choice, done.
For everyone else, they’re not stuck paying for features they don’t want.
Literally just a screen to project your phone on to.
if only phones had screens.
Oh so I guess I’ll just project my phone’s screen on to my phone screen then. The purpose of projecting on to a bigger screen is so I don’t have to fiddle with my phone for navigation, and it’s also easier to look at a big screen near your eye level instead of a small phone screen crudely hanging on to an A/C vent or the windshield.
Starting at only $58,995 I’m sure.
