Still too high for v1. Gonna be another 10k to change it at all.

I’d happily pay 35k for twice the range, but that’s not on offer… also, the towing capacity is a dealbreaker.

I personally would not define it as a Truck.
I would describe it as a Hardtop Cabriolet Utility, as opposed to a Coupe Utility.

That said, I’m a Aussie, so a truck is something with a rigid ladder chassis and a detached tray, box or platform.

Even if you stripped the quarter panel skins off a Slate, it would still have the substructure of a Ute.

It’s an EV.
In order to be cost effective, it has a limited range.

That said, it is very modular so if someone developed something like the International (VW) Scout Harvester for it (essentially turning it into a PHEV), it would have much more range.

Quite interesting, but I wonder how much car insurance will be for it. I've heard it can be rather expensive to insure EVs. I suppose not even the insurance companies know the answer yet.

Gotta manually roll down the passenger side windows like a goofball. Might as well buy a used truck from the 80s for the price of a tank of gas.

it’s the same dimensions as an early Toyota pickup. They deliberately simplified it but it has lane keep, collision avoidance, blah blah. Audio is BYO. They were straight up about that. Most of what you’d expect.

After watching them prototype and assemble , i was more impressed. it’s overbuilt to hell and back. But it seems to have some flaws.

Regardless i’m wary of the whole: we just built a factory and the stuff to make it so give us more deposits to make this real.

Power windows are an option.

I mean... Twice the range is 410 miles. The cheapest EV with that range is like $70k? Yeah I'd pay $35k for twice the range too.

Ars article earlier said they didn't make the cut (at least yet) when trying to design a car to buy on their site.

Presumably it'll be an option later they said.

I would really like a vehicle like this one that isn't American-made and isn't backed by Jeff Bezos. Both are complete showstoppers for me.

There are not many 80s trucks left that are road worthy what is likely has had more restoration than the cost of a new truck.

I know people who do that, in the mountains small trucks are all that fit some places and so if you want a truck you buy something worn out and put more than it was new - inflation adjusted - into a restore.

All cars and trucks are made by or financed by rich assholes so good luck with that

There are various levels of heinous. Bezos is a hard no for me. Same reason I'll never buy Tesla.

What if I fill the bed up to the cargo capacity of the vehicle in nothing but batteries? :D

Used car market exists.

Who gives a shit lmao

It's true, the remainder are mostly in enthusiast hands now or very run down. They were not built to last. 90's too.

My strategy was to buy from someone at a car show (I'm not an enthusiast, I actually use it) and I got lucky after walking a bunch of them in 2016 with an all original 1994 Chevy K1500 5.7L 118,000 km odometer in mint condition even had the original windshield with no cracks and assembly line cling wrap in the door wells. Strange boomer fellow, he even opened the doors with a cloth. $8000 Canadian I paid, they're worthless even in such amazing condition to this day.

Big downside: Very few mechanics are still working who are willing to troubleshoot anything to do with anything attached to the ODB1 embedded computers. Nobody around me held onto the scanning tools. Many outright refused to work on mine recently when I had a rough cold start issue. It was the MAP sensor but the two mechanics who did try failed to find the problem. Ended up having to figure it out myself. Now I own a hacky OBD1 to USB cable from eBay and learned ProTuner scanner software lol.

Next downside: Entropy and dry rot. The interior plastics for example.... I can't easily replace the awful rear speakers because I've been told the plastic clips are extremely brittle from age and absolutely will shatter no matter how carefully I try to take them off. I'd have to commit to breaking them and then doing some 3D printed surgery to fix the panels back up.

It won't be the price they keep advertising

Too expensive. DoA. You can get a fat more capable car loaded up.

The idea is fantastic but this thing with nothing in it is more expensive than an AWD Subaru with Heated seats, BSM aeb, Android auto, etc.

Rebates would have helped it.

You think you're not supporting them by buying used?

I'm not quite sure who this is even marketed towards.

When people buy a pickup truck with two seats, it's usually because they want a longer bed, but somehow these guys managed to remove the seats and keep the short bed. And it doesn't have a 4WD system. I don't get why anyone planning to get a pickup truck would choose this instead. If anything - this seems like the gateway truck (haha) into real pickup trucks for people who weren't in the market for one to begin with.

"Very modular" sounds like a bad thing to me, if the essential part's and pieces that make it "go" don't meet the minimum expectations of a gas powered vehicle in the same price range (plus 20%) then it's DOA. If the platform is weak then adding stuff is only going to make it worse.

Sort of like buying a 2010 Ford Ranger 4cyl 2wd then putting side steps, spot lights, aftermarket heated seats, aftermarket stereo, lift spacers, and fat tires. But at the end of the day, you're still driving a piece of crap.

If the base parts aren't great then why bother.

I thought the niche would be sort of a cheap way to cosplay as a working guy, but I think the price point is probably too high for this to be a novelty second vehicle. But who knows? People drive and love Jeep Wranglers, which are kind of awful to drive in towns, and people still like the lifestyle part.

For moving stuff around, without having an obscenely large vehicle?

We'll have to wait and see.

Edit: To the person who down voted me, I just want to point out that Slate just verified that their base model MSRP is, in fact, the same as their initial claim. You really think they won't be able to maintain the same price for powered windows as they initially claimed?

Lease returned Lucids are sub $50k for 500+

Can’t give my money to literal terrorists. I can’t believe how many people are ok buying anything from the US after all that has happened.

True, but I'm talking about new cars.

you wouldn't be able to fill a car up with a washing machine or a couch

Is this supposed to address something I said?

What "far more capable car loaded up" can you get for $25k?

Man posts like this always bring out the most out-of-touch hot takes.

I'd have to agree with you there. This is one aspect that online commentors love to make a big deal about when describing their "ideal low-tech vehicle" but I doubt any of those comments actually translate into real sales. It's like people demanding a TV that doesn't use a remote control. Nobody really wants that.

they're worthless even in such amazing condition to this day.

It must be a really undesirable model like a long bed and/or extra cab because these OBS trucks are otherwise worth a lot in good/pristine condition to enthusiasts especially in places like Canada where vehicles quickly rust out. The most desirable is the single cab short bed truck.

Then you have the same problem with all EVs.

Increasing battery capacity also increases weight which decreases efficiency.

At a certain point, adding batteries actually decreases range because you are using more energy to move a larger load.

That said, you would exceed the Payload of Slate before you got to that point.

I was thinking of a small generator like the International Harvester in the Frunk, like the Scout.

Despite the inefficiency of ICE, Petrol is still the most readily available, energy dense portable fuel source.
New future battery technology may change that…

I think you are deeply out of touch with the contemporary car market.

It addresses your whole comment, which is about who this vehicle is for.

This is a vehicle for people who actually need and want a truck to do the kind of useful everyday hauling people who live in the suburbs actually need. It's for people who actually need a truck for practical reasons, not for people who want a giant penis extender.

This is a truck for people who need a truck. It's not suitable for people who just want to larp as a rancher.

👌👍

I’m not recommending a GM LSX connected to a generator, and I’m not recommending a Honda Eu22i either. Something purpose built to backup the battery that can provide 7kW/h to the battery, just to top it up as necessary.

The Slate is designed to be an EV from the ground up.
(We don’t know how well designed, until they are actually available). They are also designed to be customised to suit the use case. Adding accessories will compromise on other aspects of the vehicle; changing it into a wagon with rear seats means you won’t be able to carry large items, but you will be able to carry a couple extra passengers.

Yes.
The US does not have a recent track record for quality vehicles either.

The American divisions GM and Ford are the epitome of bad management, sponsored by fraud. And don’t get me started on Chrysler!

But yes, Slate is sponsored by Amazon and is an anagram of Tesla. It quite clearly only resists because Bezos and Elmo are having a pissing contest.

https://techcrunch.com/2025/04/08/inside-the-ev-startup-secretly-backed-by-jeff-bezos/

Came across a forum thread about insurance: https://www.slateforums.com/forum/threads/insurance-premium-cost-for-slate.14577/

No answers yet, just speculation (as expected), but apparently I'm not the only one wondering about insurance so I'm surprised by the downvotes. Was that because people don't like to think about negatives like insurance costs, because they don't like the Slate and I called it interesting, think I'm nitpicking compared to the cost of the vehicle, or something else?

Now that I think about it, another ongoing cost factor is vehicle registration, which can be higher in some states than a gas vehicle because they're trying to make up for lost revenues from gas taxes.

I hope to go electric someday, but I don't plan on buying a Slate right now. My ICE crossover SUV is still going strong, even as a compact still has more cargo space than the Slate (covered too, which costs extra on the Slate), and I don't drive very much. But if the worst were to happen (wreck or such), it's nice to have a backup plan. Used to have a 90's Toyota pickup and loved that size, so I'm pretty sure I'd enjoy the Slate too.

1994 extended cab, but still a 2 door. Standard bed, Silverado trim. It's the last year of the 1950's iron block before the Vortec and interior update. Maybe it's just this specific year, I was looking them up to possibly sell mine but I didn't see anything beyond $10k at the time. Mostly $7000 range. Edit: maybe it's different in Alberta than USA idk.

This thing with a 6 ft bed, body on frame, and 4wd would be awesome

It’s a barebones truck though. My expectation is that if they’re selling it to be modded, there’s no reason they can’t make the range better. They’re clearly going the planned obsolescence route to get people to upgrade their trucks down the line for more range. I’m just pissed they couldn’t make range be the number one priority… it’s smaller, but 2/3 as efficient as a model y, which has the same battery capacity and 3x the towing capacity

This is a truck for people who need a truck.

That's exactly who this is not for, which is the whole point of my comment.

I don't think you fully appreciate just how small a 5-foot bed is. You can fit more stuff in the back of a station wagon if you collapse the rear seats. Anyone who can get by with a bed that small is far better off with a van. The only reason to get a two-seat pickup truck over a van is that you need the higher ground clearance and off-road capabilities, which this rear-wheel-drive-only vehicle doesn't offer.

I'm a contractor who literally works from the back of their truck. My truck is 5cm wider and 70cm longer than this one and it has a 180cm (6-ft) bed, which is barely large enough for the work I do.

I stand behind my original comment: I have no idea who the target user base for this is.

According to Subaru.com, the cheapest new subaru is the Crosstrek, which starts at $26,995. Somewhat more than that fully loaded, and you'll have to put gas in it.

Regardless i’m wary of the whole: we just built a factory and the stuff to make it so give us more deposits to make this real.

Because they're using VC money based on completely made-up metrics based on a completely imaginary money line that's expected to keep going up forever. Which itself is based on overblown valuation of yet even more imaginary growth.

It's all gonna come crashing down soon.

The US does not have a recent track record for quality vehicles either.

The US never had a good track record for quality vehicles.