Would be a great daily driver. You really don’t need all the bullshit, and complexity, mod cons, etc, on a daily. This ticks a lot of boxes and I might purchase one for just this duty.

I think this is a nice affordable alternative to Tesla. Could use one to go pickup groceries or go down to Home Depot without firing up the 3/4 ton diesel. Would like to see electric tuk tuk's for in city errands.

amazon/Jeff Bezos is a major investor in Slate, and will provide distribution network.

I have also seen mentioned that parts and accessories will be available on amazon.com.

quote:

Originally posted by P250UA5:
Can't see the post at the office, but have been reading up on these.
Almost the same size as the 80s Toyota pickup, with a bit more bed length.
Fair bit smaller than the [currently smallest on the market] Ford Maverick.

If they can truly bring it to market under $30k it'd make for a great city truck.

You can get the Maverick for that price which is ten times the truck this is.

It’s going to need to stay as close to $20k after the taxpayer subsidized $7500 break or it’s DOA.

Isn’t the end in sight for electric vehicle subsidies?

quote:

Originally posted by 1s1k:
You can get the Maverick for that price which is ten times the truck this is.

It’s going to need to stay as close to $20k after the taxpayer subsidized $7500 break or it’s DOA.

I don’t know about that. Ten times the truck? That depends on what you’re actually going to do with it. Capability, capacity, etc, is worthless if you are never going to use that or utilize that. This will sell.

The thing you need to think about is fuel costs. I’ve been daily driving an EV for 11 years. I power it off my panels on the roof of my house and have done so for 11 years. No gasoline, and little to no maintenance makes up for an awful lot of lost capacity. Even this Slate, with its low capacity, has almost as much payload capacity as my current gas truck, which I will keep permanently. And the Slate can tow my motorcycle(s) to the track, as well as my ski to the lake.

This is a good vehicle for those who want a runabout vehicle. It’s not meant to be a Maverick, or a F150. It’s a solid vehicle to commute in, run errands in, daily drive, and has some extra features, being a truck, where it can be used for landscaping, light towing, dirt/gravel roads. For the money, it’s going to be a great option for many people. Vehicles have becoming ridiculously overpriced. And the Slate will be void of ADAS, IE no driving nannies. And I’ll happily hand roll my windows down.

I'm very interested in this vehicle. I'm a car guy, but I don't have hate for EVs, I see the pros and cons of both ICE and EV.

I like the idea of a small, cheap, KISS vehicle that is from the manufacturer designed for DYI.

I have a 2013 Subaru WRX Hatchback, I love it, to/for me it's an almost perfect vehicle. Fast, great handling, good fuel mileage, fairly easy to work on, great after market, great factor support. Awesome in the snow, Reliable ( the most reliable vehicle I have ever owned ).

But this Slate is just about perfect as a 2nd vehicle. It looks fun, cool, inexpensive, customizable, as an EV no stopping to fuel up, just plug it in for the next day.

The 150 mile range is good enough for what I want, but I would upgrade to 240 miles. The towing and payload is OK for what I would use it for.

Plus it's another made in the USA product that is going to be built in Indiana. I say I'm in. I have a $50.00 deposit on a retro 70's/80's built right now.

I don't know if I'll feel the same in 18 months. But for now I'm excited. I have found my 2nd car.


ARman

It is exceedingly difficult to start up a new car company, new product, and new production line, and get the quality anywhere near the established companies. Hopefully they hired people with significant experience in auto manufacturing.

Word is they will lease a 1.4M sq ft plant in Warsaw, Indiana, that used to be operated by RR Donnelly. Guessing this used to be a Yellow Pages printing plant.

The sales model is probably going to be to sell the truck at a low price with low margin, then make it up on all the modular accessories at much higher margins.

First thing I thought of when I saw the fifty dollar reservation fee was Paul Elio and Elio Motors, the three wheel car guy.

His company has been promising to build these, initially promising a release date of 2012 that has been continuously pushed back.

quote:

There's no audio or infotainment system in the 2027 Slate Truck. Rather, every Truck comes standard with a holder that allows your phone to perform these duties. The accessory division offers in-dash speakers...

No speakers, unless you pony up for the add-on upgrade?

I forsee an even bigger wave of folks driving around with their headphones on than we already have, cutting their already abysmal situational awareness down even further.

"Sorry, officer/firefighter/EMT... I couldn't hear your sirens over the podcast being piped through my noise cancelling headphones, and I couldn't see your lights because I was too busy Tweeting."

Now only if they would offer it sans the electric engine so you could plant a crate engine.

quote:

Word is they will lease a 1.4M sq ft plant in Warsaw, Indiana, that used to be operated by RR Donnelly. Guessing this used to be a Yellow Pages printing plant.

Holy crap, that's where I live! I know a ton of people who used to work at Donnely's before they shut down, and heard that somebody was thinking about leasing it but had no idea it was Slate. That would be awesome for the local economy if they did. That's a huge facility and it sucks to see it sit empty. They used to print the JC Penny catalog there, amongst other things.

I like the product. Keep it simple, basic, and cheap. I don't hate the idea of an EV, I just hate all the complexity and nanny-state stuff that comes with most of them, and we also take enough road trips that I can't have an EV be my only vehicle. Honestly, 99% of the stuff I use my truck for is local, so an EV would work pretty well. It would tow my little boat to the lake just fine, but I doubt it could handle half the firewood or stone that I can put in my Silverado.

Resurrecting this older thread.

Due to the local manufacturing commitment, these have understandably gotten a lot of interest around here over the past few months.

The company brought a pre-production copy to town this weekend for our 4th of July festivities (yeah, we're a week early...don't ask me why, not my decision I just have to work it), and I got to poke around at it a little bit.

Overall I'm impressed. I like the basic concept. Modular, user-replaceable composite body panels. Existing, off-the shelf parts (like headlights) wherever possible. Very little unnecessary stuff to break. They even have an affordable color-wrapping solution for it that sounds like it may be user applicable.

It seemed pretty well made, too, apart from some pre-production stuff that wasn't completely finished yet. Honestly I thought it was kinda cool that the company would allow that kind of access to a prototype like that.

1000lb towing capacity and IIRC 1400lb payload. 5 seats in the SUV version, 2 in the truck, and they're going to offer a modular kit to convert the truck to the SUV config.

It's very viable run-around-town transportation at an affordable price. The dude said they are looking at having production online by mid 2026. Would be awesome for the local economy if they can make that happen.

quote:

Originally posted by smschulz:
Now only if they would offer it sans the electric engine so you could plant a crate engine.

0-60 in 2.2
I want to know do they offer a decent safe, and can the sun visors actually block out the sun?

I've got another car for long hauls. I can definitely see replacing my pickup with this.

Back in ‘08 during the energy crisis/recession I was spending $140 to fill up my F-350 diesel work truck and I was doing that twice a week! Since I owned the company I had a hard look at how to reduce our expenses company wide.

I called up my truck sales guy and told him I wanted the cheapest 2WD pick up available with the best mileage. He warned me that I wouldn’t like it as it was very basic and I told him I didn’t give a shit to write it up. I ended up paying $12,700 OTD. For a new Ford Ranger XL with the 4 cylinder engine. Long story short I save enough money in fuel to completely pay for that truck in less than 18 months. I found that I really didn’t need to drive the big truck all that much and I kept the Ranger until I retired in 2019.

Now my primary vehicle is a Model YLR and we’re really enjoying it. However, I would probably not have an EV as my only car.

So if this little pick up comes to fruition I can see a bunch of people jumping on it not only for personal use but for business use as well.

quote:

Originally posted by smlsig:
So if this little pick up comes to fruition I can see a bunch of people jumping on it not only for personal use but for business use as well.

With all the Amazon Rivians working well, I could see these Slate trucks being a big hit with local service companies. Pool service, city utilities, etc.
Set up charging infrastructure at the 'home base', guys grab their truck in the morning, do their route, come back & plug in, and it's ready to go the next day.

quote:

Originally posted by P250UA5:

quote:

Originally posted by smlsig:
So if this little pick up comes to fruition I can see a bunch of people jumping on it not only for personal use but for business use as well.

With all the Amazon Rivians working well, I could see these Slate trucks being a big hit with local service companies. Pool service, city utilities, etc.
Set up charging infrastructure at the 'home base', guys grab their truck in the morning, do their route, come back & plug in, and it's ready to go the next day.

Thanks for the resurrection and feedback. Cool you got to see this. I hope it happens. I put down my $50 first week they were announced before they had a site. For me, it will be a 3x weekly commuter; enabling me to keep my (19mpg) Tacoma I hope.

Funny a modern product of the future (Modularish EV) will inhabit a now closed old printed matter factory. (FWIW, RR Donnelly was one of my companies largest customers for many years). Also good for the local economy and to see something made in the US