With our spy shots of Ford’s Universal EV pickup hitting the market sometime next year, with an expected price of $30,000 and an expected range of 300 miles, all eyes are on Slate, which plans to announce pricing on June 24th.
Slate is having loads of media at an event leading up to that June 24th embargo, not just to capture content with the new truck, but specifically to learn the price; Slate has “hear the price” in its invitation’s subject line. This leads me to think the price is going to be good. At least, that’s wishful thinking.
All we’ve really heard for the longest time is that the price will be in the “mid 20s,” and prior to that we heard it would start around $20,000 with incentives that are no longer here due to changes in the U.S. presidential administration. Since then, Ford announced its EV truck, which in base form is undoubtedly going to be way better equipped than the Slate, which comes standard with crank windows, manual locks, manual seats, and no radio.
I love the idea of a back-to-basics truck, not just because it’s less likely to break and easier to fix oneself, but because in theory, a back-to-basics truck should be dirt cheap. At least, if you’re a legacy automaker with skills and factories and economies of scale.
And so that leads me to a question I don’t have the answer to: How cheap does a 150-mile, crank-window equipped electric two-door pickup truck have to be to be successful? It’s something a number of Slate enthusiasts are asking themselves around the internet.
I’m going to define “success” as a volume of 100,000 units annually. Is that definition based on anything other than my own personal delineator for “high volume”? Not it’s not, and the true definition of success is sustainability for the country. But let’s just roll with that number.
I think the two-door thing is going to be tricky, and I do like the look of the Ford truck, but car purchases are often irrational, and if the Slate is the cooler vehicle of the two, and if it can undercut the Ford significantly, maybe it stands a chance. Maybe they can both succeed; I’m not entirely sure the two are vying for exactly the same customer.
For me the number I’d like to see — though I don’t know if it’ll yield 100,000 sales, is $25,000. This is mostly just a gut thing, not driven just by the Slate’s lack of basic amenities, but primarily driven by the fact that it has only two doors. That, at least these days, tends to be a volume-killer. But cool and cheap is a hard combo to resist.
Then again, at $25 grand you can buy a pretty well outfitted Chevy Trax…
What do you think?
I think you’re right, $25k or somehow less is where they need to be. For me, the “better equipped” Ford will be “equipped” with “features” that I don’t want. The single cab, bare bones nature of the Slate is what really appeals to me. No screens, no massaging seats, no self driving or safety nannies, just a back to basics vehicle that one can customize to suit their needs. More of that please.
If their goal is 100,000 sales in a year, I would say $18,500. My guess on reality is a price of $24,500 and sales of 50,000 – 60,000. There is demand for something simple that can do chores in town, but it is going to be hyper price conscious.
My question is how much does it cost them to build one?
I want to say it’ll have to be a whole lot cheaper, but honestly if these are the only two cheap electric pickups in the market, there’s probably room for both.
(Assuming Slate can figure out how to sell vehicles to people, and that their service plan actually materializes.)
I think the base model short range needs to be around 23k or so the long range base around 25k and optioned long range needs to top out at a max of 35k but that is pushing it as used Lightnings are getting to that price and that is way more options and just an overall better truck.
It feels like both Scout and Slate aren’t going to happen at this point.
I want to be wrong about that…and hopefully I will be.
Well the Slate is planned by the end of this year so assuming we might see some but how many? As this article is asking price is really going to depend. As for the Scout seeing how VW is doing yeah outlook does not look great.
I think the number is $20k based on Ford’s $30k price for the Ranchero or whatever they call it.
Why because it is 2/3 of the truck the Ford will be.
The Slate can serve as a commuter pod and light duty pickup, while the Ford can also serve as the second family car and drop the kids off at soccer/dance whatever. 2/3 the Utility.
The Slate is only going to have a 150mi range, while I expect the Ford to be well into the 200’s. 2/3 the range.
The Slate has a basic cabin with climate control and not much else. The most basic Ford will almost certainly come with a reasonable infotainment system and power windows as well as other things that are either optional or not available on the Slate. 2/3 (or less) of what today’s consumers expect in a new vehicle.
The Slate will come in battleship grey that I’m betting isn’t going to be shiny. So again “new car” is only 2/3 of “shiny new car” and not only will the Ford be shiny and stay that way I’m betting it will be available in more than one color for the same price and a premium color or two which will be cheaper than having your Slate wrapped and of course more durable too.
From what I’ve read elsewhere the plant is being set up with a 150k per year capacity and they cut off the $50 reservations at 180k. Based on the number of reservations I don’t see them selling more than 25-30k in their first full year of production based on likely conversion rates and the number of people who are going to play the wait and see game, both to see how the initial production performs in the real world and to see how much better of a value the Ford will be.
Hitting the market sooner rather than later and with a quality product will make a much bigger difference than a few grand in price.
Polarizing design aside, the Cybertruck seemed like an exciting new, different vehicle when announced. Then they got beat to market by the legacy automakers AND the market for a larger electric truck is far more limited than they thought it would be. If the market for a small electric truck is smaller than the hype and Ford gets the lions share before the Slate hits major production, that’ll probably be that. Because another oft stated fact on this site is that making cars is hard.
$15,000 Base out the door no options. $20,000 for base battery and few basics. $25,000 for range extender and few basics. Up everything by $3,000 for the SUV version.
$21k and buyer gets to pick a few options.
I’ve been saying from the get-go that it’s gonna be a hard sell for a single cab truck. That market has largely evaporated.
I’m gonna go out on a limb: 2 door sales of the Slate will just not hit 100,000 units a year at any five digit price. I realize the brief says you can convert this to a 4 door, so for my forecasting purposes, I will say that you have to remove the 4 door units. I just think the market has moved past 2 door 2 seaters being viable volume products.
EV lower cost to manufacture, fewer parts.
At $19,995 Slate is successful.
I don’t know – fewer parts certainly, but expensive heavy batteries, along with expensive high efficiency tires and to a smaller extent heavier suspension. How many carmakers besides Tesla are making money on EVs rather than losing money on them right now? Have any others at least broken even yet?
With this range and the stripped-down-everything nature of it, I wouldn’t even consider it if it starts over $20k. Without the rebate, I cannot imagine this thing being successful.
Under $24k and that’s after you add the power window kit kluge ( by JC Whitney?) and the double din radio and speakers, plus it needs to come standard with the larger battery. Even then you’re still lacking power mirrors and blind side monitoring and alerts.
I got my $50 back after I realized that SLATEs mission to make it simple instead made it dumb. I don’t care for a ton of tech, but dammit power windows are cheaper than rollups now! Power mirrors, power door locks, basic safety tech isn’t complicated and I consider that the base line, even in the simplest vehicles.
Im fine with the plain grey plastic. I wouldn’t waste my money on wrapping it every few years and don’t give a crap about all the little trinkets and doodads that you can stick on it to personalize the truck.
I hope they find success, but it’s going to be a value play to attract basic ev buyers since the ford EV, bolt, leaf and upcoming Kia/hyundais are much nicer equipped entry level EVs.
That’s the (several-)million-dollar question I suppose. I think it’s hard to compare the Ford, because right now all we know is the basic form (small 4-door pickup) and rough price point (“around $30k” IIRC, which leaves them room to go over). With Slate we know what we’re getting but not how much it’ll cost, and the Ford isn’t quite that far along yet. (Will it have “more”? Almost assuredly, yes. Will it be anything I want or care about? Who knows.) Personally, what I really want is something with a square back, and when it comes to Slate that means “I need to see what the accessories cost too”. But considering that Ford hasn’t shown anything but the truck (and that only barely) yet, right now for me Slate is competing less with Ford and more with keeping my current daily driver.
Shrug emoji dot jpeg. We’ll find out in a week or so.
I wouldn’t be surprised if half or more of these end up being unloaded as a fleet vehicle for a corporate run around car. Price wise, I think these need to sell closer to 20k to be competitive, any more and the price bump to something else better equipped will be worth taking.
If the company tanks, they can become the in-town commercial equivalent of the Fisker Ocean.
it will need to have 250 miles of range at the $25-28k mark to be competitive IMO, because of how bare bones it is as a package. That’s price competitive with the Chevy Bolt, and I think the Slate will be a niche product still at that price.
I think it’s doomed to be a low-sales oddity in its current (proposed) form, unless it’s really cheap. Even then, the 150 mile range (EPA) is more likely to be 110-125, and the silly “look how cheap I am” things like manual windows and locks will not help sales nearly as much as they help interest on the internet. Get it in under $25K, with some truly cheap options (windows, etc), and they’ll sell a modest number. Over $30K, it’s over before it gets started.
I believe a 2 door crank window vehicle is doomed to failure no matter its price.
Far too many people online have talked themselves into believing there’s robust demand for a vehicle engineered not just to *be* cheap but to *appear* cheap. The former is survivable in the US, the latter is not.
Look at the Tata Nano—that idea didn’t even work in India.
$25,000 sounds right for the base model. But the real question is how expensive the options are–the custom wraps, the SUV roofs, the colored wheel covers, etc.–since those are a big part of the Slate’s appeal. If you’re looking at an additional $10,000 to get a four-seater Slate in the color you like, the Ford Universal EV truck is going to look like a better deal.
I love the idea of the Slate – simple and repairable. But if I can get a far better equipped EV truck with twice the range for $5k more, I’ll buy the Ford all day long. I think Slate is going to struggle at this price point.
As someone with $50 down this is something I ask myself every day.
I like the right to repair stance of making repair data openly available and the lack of privacy invasion since it doesn’t have an infotainment system to track you (recently rented a Corolla that had a disclaimer sticker saying they track you which is slightly unsettling).
It looks cool, but there is no way to take the wife and the dog anywhere at the same time without springing for an SUV kit which I think is what will really push the price too high to be a “fuck it, we ball” purchase.
But like most enthusiasts I probably won’t put my money where my mouth is. I have a paid off car that has been 100% reliable and has little resale value and at the end of the day I don’t like to spend any money I don’t need to.
If the Ford is coming at $30K, and really does come in at that number, then I think anything over $27K will make the Slate extremely difficult to sell. I think their strongest selling point, simplicity, is as strong a selling point as I wish it were. I’m the exact customer Slate is being designed for. I consider convenience to be a luxury, so manual stuff is just fine with me, even preferable.
But I’m not convinced the average American is willing to accept that compromise. I believe American lifestyles have been made so easy in general that stepping back to what would have been considered comfortable 40 years ago is not something most are willing to accept.
I am for $20K out the door and not $20K aspirational but in reality $25K. If one can get a decent crossover with power everything for $25K then the slate needs to be way cheaper to overcome the perceived EV hassles and lack of plushness.
Sadly cars are like college in that people think higher price is always better.