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.
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.
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!