Slate Truck is a $20,000 American-made electric pickup with no paint, no stereo, and no touchscreen
Slate Truck is a $20,000 American-made electric pickup with no paint, no stereo, and no touchscreen
Would you buy a truck this bare-bones?
Except the company belongs to Jeff Bezos, so no thanks.
He's "just" an investor isn't he? Not the same thing. But still, if he has a major stake in it and it's publicly traded, it will enshittify in no time.
We need to start a !slatestuck community!
Headline is misleading and assumes the government is going to subsidize production. The initial, and likely optimistic price is $28k.
How much will the 240 mile extended range battery cost? That's going to be just about mandatory to make the thing useful. You don't typically fast charge past 80%, and start looking for a charger when you get down to 25%, so the effective range of the 150 mile battery is actually only 83 miles (150 * 0.55).
That aesthetic, of highlighting rather than hiding battle scars, is key to the Slate ethos.
I wonder how the owners will feel about the scars on their truck when a plastic body panel cracks and they need to caulk it back together?
They shouldn’t market this as a $20k truck “with federal incentive” if they’re expecting the incentive to go away
I’ve got a 50 mile round trip commute. I currently do it in a car with a 200 mile range just fine. I love the flexibility of a 200+ mile battery, but if cost was a concern, I’d be more than happy with 150 miles of range. Small battery would not be an issue for me. It’s cool that I could upgrade after the fact too, so I don’t have to plan ahead when I buy the car. Hopefully they give credit for the original battery when you upgrade, though
Highlighting battle scars is actually great! My previous car was brand new, and I would lament every dent and scrape. My current car was a used rental, so small cosmetic damage doesn’t bother me as much because it was never “perfect” to begin with. I’d love a car that leans into being “used in the real world” like that, and it sounds like it will be relatively easy to replace the body panels on this truck if they become too damaged. I’d never have to worry about rock chips again!
it will be relatively easy to replace the body panels on this truck
IDK, if they're injection molded plastic then it kinda seems like the only way to get major damage repaired is to buy a replacement from Slate Auto. You can't just visit the junkyard and start cutting material to weld on for patches.
Slate Auto will have a monopoly in addition to having a more expensive manufacturing process. Going with plastic panels means they need less capital to build the factory, but it also means the panels will take longer to produce. Stamping sheet metal can be done fast and cheap, but the machines to do that have a higher up front cost.
I wonder how the owners will feel about the scars on their truck when a plastic body panel cracks and they need to caulk it back together?
Delighted, because I wouldn't be worried about rust.
I remember not that long ago, there was a Silverado commercial where they threw a toolbox in the bed of an F-150 and a Silverado. Toolbox punched through the F-150's aluminum bed, and bounced off the Silverado's steel bed.
As the owner of an S10 with 20 years worth of dents in the welded steel bed, I have to wonder how soon I'd put a board clean through an injection molded plastic body. I could see making most of the cab and engine bay...well, "engine bay" out of maybe fiberglass panels but injection molded plastic with no reinforcement?
Perfect idea, wrong asshole involved
We need more cheap, good vehicles for the masses, or way better public transport. Until then the divide between those with cars, and those without, gets bigger and bigger. Also, I can crank my own windows up and down and manually lock my doors as well.
Yes please.
As much as, some people love all the bells and whistles; we need an electric "Volkswagen Beetle "
cheap~~~~ inexpensive as possibleBasic electric car. 200 miles range would be nice, but not mandatory.
Please Ford GM one of you. Please make this, you'll sell a million
I don't even like trucks, but the plain interior, ev qualities, and low price is very attractive. I hope they make a kei van version, or a sedan/crossover. A smaller vehicle could be a really interesting proposition for city use.
It's supposed to be able to modularly convert into a SUV, so we will see how that works.
Yeah I don't really like that aspect, because it kinda hints that the cab and the bed share a bulkhead and a non-permanent one at that like a Chevy Avalanche. That kind of thinking reminds me of Nintendo. That first Switch commercial, they show the guy playing Breath of the Wild on his TV at home, then it's time to go so he slides the controller apart, slides the joycons onto the console and lifts it out of the dock, and now he's playing on the bus/train/whatever it was. Then the next 2/3rds of the commercial are "Yeah! Yeah! And..." with people having rooftop parties playing two player games holding the joycons sideways like little controllers, which has happened precisely 0.0000 times since the launch of the console.
"It's a reasonably priced, reasonably sized, barebones little electric truck, and for the sake of simplicity we're only making it in one color and trim level. But we're planning on offering a bunch of aftermarket options, and we've compromised the dry chafey B-cup tit fuck out of the design to accommodate the 3% of this shit that we'll actually make before the company folds.
I hope they have A/C and heat hookups for the back seats, might fog up if they don't during winter x3
I like the idea, but I do hope they come out with a smallish car for those who don't need a bed or truck formfactor. My bed would be so clean all the time, lol.
That's not a truck, that's a render though. And not even a good one (look at the windows).
They have a real prototype. It's not in the article, but you can find it on YouTube.
Instead of steel or aluminum, the Slate Truck’s body panels are molded of plastic.
Uhhh…
I was interested until I read that.
Umm... That means cheap body repairs and no worries about rust.
...so the same as every other car for the last several decades?
Not crazy about the plastic body or the range but definitely interested. Lord knows there's not any other options in that price range. Not in the US anyway.
The truck will have speakers (speaker ports? Rail?) Along the front dash and glove box area.
The SUV variant is weird because it is a two door and the windows do not roll down. Think 2 door sedan.
20k after federal incentives is a deceptive way to say 28k.
The business concept sounds solid IF there is a market.
I want it.
Ah there's the catch, ill take a used one once it drops below 15.
Similar sized large Chinese electric carts (super golf) with a quarter the speed and half the range start at 3k which is 10% of this price before incentives.
I can't believe it takes 10x to get to street rated and sellable in the US
A good portion of the cost is in labor. Also your comparing a vehicle that cant drive highway speeds and smaller battery? Are you purposely being disingenuous?
This is basically my dream truck. Small, basic and flexible platform that has user modification and repair built into the design. It's also can be converted between truck and SUV. I'm cautiously optimistic and if it makes it to market under 30k with the presented vision, I will be buying one.