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?
There’s no radio, no Bluetooth, and no speakers of any kind beyond for those required to play basic warning chimes.
Many will consider this a cost-cutting step too far, but the interior was designed for ease of upgrading, with easy mounting space for anything from a simple soundbar to a full sound system.
There’s an integrated phone mount right on the dashboard, but there’s nothing stopping you from bringing something even larger. I expect the low-cost Android tablet and 3D-printing communities to have a field day coming up with in-car media streaming solutions.
As an FYI, (In the United States) all modern cars will have to have some kind of screen (whether built in the mirror, on the dash, or as part of the gauge system) as all cars are required to have backup cameras as of 2018.
Starting in 2029 all cars will be required to have automatic braking technology as well.
We're never going to be able to purchase new cars that are completely dumbed down ever again, but with how many lives it will save I'd say it's worth it.
I'm glad that there are some companies that are willing to offer cars with the bare minimum of features at least. I personally would prefer having automatic windows over crank, but if someone wants to save money more power(har har) to them!
EDIT: weather vs whether Braking vs breaking
There is also the Telo Truck. It's advertised as being as capable as a Toyota Tacoma, but the footprint of a Mini Cooper.
It's asthetic is more akin to the small trucks in Japan, though.
Edit: it does seem like it has more tech-forward features, but it is otherwise a relatively simple truck in a very manageable size.
Sign me THE FUCK up, have been looking at 90s danger rangers to sate my small truck fix but so many of them have a car-looking front end.
This is a truck I’d actually feel comfortable driving. Unlike those gender affirming, semi truck adjacent, embarrassing pavement princess trucks that you see everywhere now.
Definitely interested…
Please make a 4x4 model I will definitely buy one.
Lost me at “American”.
no touchscreen
Sounds like a dream. Or public transport. It doesn't have touchscreen either.
It only seats two yet has a bed big enough to hold a sheet of plywood. It only does 150 miles on a charge, only comes in gray, and the only way to listen to music while driving is if you bring along your phone and a Bluetooth speaker.
Instead of steel or aluminum, the Slate Truck’s body panels are molded of plastic. Or, as Slate calls them, “injection molded polypropylene composite material.” The theory is that this makes them more durable and scratch-resistant, if only because the lack of paint means they’re one color all the way through.
By eliminating paint, and thus eliminating the paint shop, Slate’s manufacturing process is massively simplified. So, too, the lack of metal body parts. “We have no paint shop, we have no stamping,”
Getting closer to what I want, which is a reasonably sized and priced EV truck built for actual utility. I'm ok with it leaving out all the extras that I don't need, and hopefully that means it isn't also going to be tracking people and harvesting their data.
My biggest objection to the truck itself is that it's still trying to look like an ICE truck. There's no engine in front, you could easily slide the cab forward a bit to make room for a larger bed. I would much rather have a tiny frunk and an 8 foot bed, even if it means making the whole thing slightly longer. It's shorter than a corrolla, so it's not like they couldn't add a little length to the design if necessary.
Bezos being involved is also a massive turn off, but than I'm not sure who is going to go into mass manufacturing EVs without some rich asshole funding it.
What's with the American obsession with pickups? Hard to find a worst design when it comes to practicality. You carry extra people way more often then huge loads. If you do need to carry big loads just get a van, at lest your cargo is protected from the weather and people. If you don't carry extra people or cargo get a smaller car. Almost no one uses pickups in Europe and everyone is still getting their job done. Where I live most old farmers just use this:
Since incentives are being killed, it will probably be about $30k. Still looks like a good design
What I would love to see for a pickup like this is a rentable battery slab you could drop into the bed and temporarily boost the mileage for longer trips.
...has caught the eye of major investors, reportedly including Jeff Bezos.
Goddamnit!
Frugal design. I love it.
From caranddriver with no sign-in requirement.
Apart from its digital gauge cluster that also serves as the rearview camera display, power locks, cruise control, and a forward-collision-warning system with automated emergency braking, the Truck offers little in the way of luxuries.
Sounds nice. I do like highway lane following, but not essential.
Now make it a panel van and I'll be interested
This is like the electric version of the bare-bones Toyota ICE pickup
Glad someone has the balls to produce a truck people actually want. Give me power windows, locks, radio, cruise and a cheap radio and I am fine. I guess I throw in 4x4 because I live in Colorado.
I would love to also see an ice or a hybrid version of this truck too. This is exactly want so many people are wanting right now. Very excited to see this EV when it hits the road
Shut up and take my money!!!
I don't even want a truck or an electric car (at this point), but I would love to own this.
This is big time give it to me now.
Make it 10k-12k and it would be a yes if parts and repair ability were guaranteed for 10 years.
I want one. The ONLY thing that would stop me is the rear-wheel drive. We get a lot of snow and rear-wheel and snow are not compatible.
Completely fabricated for the sake of fundraising.
5ft bed and auto high beams, no thanks
This sounds like they are going to deliver a truck that everyone is going to want/need to upgrade at least something, and are depending on this post-production upsell to keep things going. Reminds me of the Apple tax of only bare minimum RAM and you can pay a premium to upgrade it to something usable. And for Slate this fits well with the "customer can service/upgrade everything outside of battery stuff" as this lowers their overhead, and then are making a deal with a chain to do the servicing as the only alternative (and depending on which chain that is, and if the one near you is run well, could make this wildly different experience).
But does it break when water ?
Good luck, independent car manufacturers usually get bankrupted out of business directly or indirectly by a market dominated by traditional car manufacturing lobbies designed to be replete with minefields that usually go up in difficulty just before it's supposed to reach mass production. There have been plenty of innovative EV designs that have died off because of this, and it's telling how much power those lobbies have when its the one thing countries will unite against to keep Chinese competition off of their borders.
Yes, more of this please!
No idea why it has no stereo though. That feels like a pretty basic feature. Doesnt even need to be built in. Just iso standard head unit bay would do.
Yes, please!
We need a wider range of vehicle prices on the market. I bet a lot of people would go for barebones models for cheap if they had the option.
Already tired of seeing this cool car and now I’m already seeing more “fuck car” articles and post; as well as countries wanting to limit cars on the road. Something is at foot
This looks awesome.
And also, at the moment, no trucks.
But its made out of unsellable cybertruck bits?
Oh fuck. Where buy
No touchscreen, but you bet your ass it has a computer and a cell phone tracking you.
Want!
This is cool, except you'll never be able to guarantee it'll make it to market to specification. They should try a small form factor too, with the same 2 seat option, even giving you the option to make a kei truck-esque experience.
Overall, looks solid.
