In the most surprising automotive debut in decades, Slate — a company funded in part by Jeff Bezos — just showed a brand new pickup truck that comes standard with unpainted plastic body panels, crank windows, no heated seats, no radio, no infotainment screen, and steel wheels. It is a cheap, bare-bones “blank slate” that comes as either a pickup truck, a fastback SUV, or a squareback SUV. Here’s everything you need to know about this completely outside-the-box concept that may end up being America’s only sub-$20,000 EV.
The caveat on “sub-$20,000” is that it depends on the EV tax credit, which may or may not go away soon. But even without the tax credit, the new Slate truck is expected to cost somewhere in the “mid-twenties,” which is dirt cheap. What Slate had to do to get the cost down that low is shocking, especially for 2025; the company — whose engineering is based out of Michigan and whose design studio is in Long Beach, CA — stripped the car down to its very essentials in a way we haven’t seen since… maybe the Chevy Aveo?
I visited the office in Long Beach and saw what looked a lot like a stripped-down black Ford Bronco Sport. It has plastic body panels that are designed to be wrapped, and comes in a single trim (the base model is the top-of-the-line model), which offers crank windows, no heated seats, no radio, no infotainment screen, and steel wheels. It is the most basic modern car I’ve seen since I rode in a Dacia in Romania a few years ago.
The new 400-ish-person American company — which plans to build its trucks/SUVs stateside — says in its press release that the goal since the company started in 2022 has been “simplifying the manufacturing process and removing unnecessary content to reduce cost and increase reliability.”
“The definition of what’s affordable is broken,” says Slate CEO Chris Barman in that press release. “Slate exists to put the power back in the hands of customers who have been ignored by the auto industry. Slate is a radical truck platform so customizable that it can transform from a 2-seat pickup to a 5-seat SUV.”
That’s right, the truck is the SUV. You may recall back in the late 1980s Nissan’s Pulsar, which came with a variety of different roof options. Check it out:
The new Slate follows this same model, but takes things a bit further. Not only can the Slate transform from a truck into one of two SUVs (fastback or squareback), but it can also increase its capacity from two passengers to five.
The fiberglass roofs, seats and roll cage come as as part of the “SUV Kit,” which Slate calls a “flat-pack” accessory, meaning it’s all shipped to your door in a flat-ish box. “The flat-pack accessory SUV Kit turns the truck into a 5-seat SUV, with a roll cage, airbags, rear seat. Do it yourself or have it done for you,” reads the press release, leading me to wonder if customers are meant to install their own rear airbags (surely not, right?).
The roof options represent just some of the over 100 accessories one can buy for the Slate — all of which are DIY.
You read that right: You buy a bare-bones truck, and if you want to add things like a radio and speakers and a rear-mounted spare, you just order the kit and install it all yourself. If you want to add heated seats, Slate will ship you a seat-cover accessory with a pad-heater built in. Power windows? You can install those, too. You can also buy alloy wheels and custom bumpers.
As for infotainment, the truck doesn’t come with any. There’s a place to plug your phone in and use it as your display if you like. “Bring your own tech,” is how Slate bills it, writing: “Rather than learn a new interface, use the one you love. Slate introduces the universal phone mount and USB power. Add a dedicated tablet if you want to.”
Hardware-wise, there’s a 52.7 kWh battery pack that combines with the vehicle’s light 3,600-pound curb weight and small overall dimensions to yield a range target of about 150 miles. As for charging, there’s DC “Level 3” charging with speeds up to 120 kW (using the Tesla “NACS” plug), promising 20% to 80% state-of-charge in under half an hour. At-home charging is limited to 3.6kW with a regular “Level 1” plug (11 hours to charge 20-100%) or 11kW with Level 2 (under five hours from 20-100%). There is also an optional 84.3 kWh battery pack that Slate says will offer a targeted 240 miles of range, though, unlike other accessories, this is something an upfitter would have to install if a customer wanted a range upgrade.
The battery, 150 kW (201 horsepower) rear-mounted electric motor, and gearbox (Slate says it has package-protected for a front motor in order to potentially offer all-wheel drive) are off-the-shelf items to keep cost down. It’s not exactly clear who makes these components, but 52.7 kWh is exactly the same as the Chinese Weltmeister EX5 400’s CATL-based battery pack (that’s just a guess). Suspension is a MacPherson strut setup in the front and a DeDion tube in the rear. Tires are from Kenda, a budget tire brand. The rear taillight is a single LED. And I could go on and on about other cost-saves (I plan to do a deep-dive into it soon).
As for dimensions and capacities, the 3,602-pound vehicle is rated to tow 1,000 pounds and to carry a payload of up to 1,433 pounds. It’ll do 0-60 mph in around 8 seconds, get up to a maximum speed of 90 mph, and carry up to 37 cubic feet of cargo in its bed (34 behind the front seats of the SUV). There’s also a frunk at the nose that holds 7 cubic feet.
Overall dimensions are: 175 inches long, 109 inches in wheelbase, and 71 inches wide, and 68 inches tall. This is two feet shorter than a Ford Maverick, and a couple of inches narrower; it’s a little narrower but otherwise roughly the same size as a Ford Bronco Sport, with which it shares quite a few design elements in my opinion.
As for safety, Slate says its vehicle was “designed to achieve the highest safety ratings,” and that the vehicle has Active Emergency Braking, Forward Collision Warning, and up to 8 airbags.
Reservations of this wacky new approach to cheap EVs are now open at $50 per, with shipment expected direct-to-consumer at the end of 2026.
My dad would have LOVED these. I may trade my two projects in for one of these.
Why is the efficiency on this thing so bad? 150 miles out of a 52 kWh pack? That’s 2.8 miles per kWh (similar to Chevy Silverado EV). Abismal, especially given that this is such a small vehicle.
Well, it is shaped a bit like a brick (which makes it kind of cute, what with it’s diminutive size). But you have a point Boris. 2.8 miles/kWh isn’t great, but they’re surely using off-the-shelf batteries, motors, controllers, etc… so there’s probably a limit to the tweaking/tuning they can do for efficiency. Many older EVs, like David’s BMW i3, only get between 3-4 kWh/mile in the real world/mixed use, and that thing is shaped like a bug and made of carbon fiber (of course I’m into i3s also, and have helped a few friends/neighbors buy theirs).
Plus, some specs are surely going to change by the time they start deliveries.
PS: this pre-review of David’s is going to get a LOT of comments given the subject matter. Maybe not an Autopian record, but up there. 🙂
Fair point. But it’s going to be difficult to keep costs down when you need this much juice to go so few miles.
2.8 mi/kWh is 40% better than the Silverado’s 2.0 mi/kWh. Not that the Silverado is very efficient.
Agreed, 2 mi/kWh is setting the bar very low.
WTF dude, if you’re letting people do full customization, put a double DIN slot in there.
Maybe one of those big flat panels in the dash can be swapped out for one with DIN mounts 🙂
It seems a little odd for a pickup that its payload rating is higher than its tow rating. Does the payload rating include driver and passenger(s)? I haven’t done my due diligence to compare those ratings with other smaller trucks, past and present. So, I don’t know. I’m just used to reading about the towing capacity wars of the current offerings from Ford, GM and RAM.
Thanks for showing the Pulsar NX. I loved the “sport wagon” version’s styling. It was kind of a newer (not necessarily better) Volvo P1800 shooting brake.
If the batteries come from China, the final actual price could be as volatile as the stock market has been of late.
Very short wheel base will hinder towing stability.
Ok. I didn’t study physics, so I’m not sure how all that works. I thought the stability of towing something was mostly up to the trailer. And how you loaded it. Like weight and balance in an airplane.
I was driving on a freeway in Sacramento, oh dear, 35 years ago, and there was a full-sized pickup truck towing a trailer with a CHP motorcycle on it (CHiPs Kawasaki 1000 edition) in front of me and it suddenly started swinging back and forth. I don’t tailgate to begin with, but the trailer looked like it was going to shed the Kawi despite it being strapped on. And it did. I had already backed off from my usual following distance and hit the all flash blinkers as soon as I saw it happening. Nobody hit it, so mission accomplished.
And to be clear, the pickup towing it was not moving around.
Short wheelbase does limit towing, in multiple ways. Stability is one, but also controlled braking. The shorter the vehicle the more a trailer load tends to shift weight forward, which can significantly upset the vehicle. While this is still true with a load inside the vehicle, it’s less pronounced.
Additionally, Tow rating doesn’t include passengers and onboard payload, so it’s quite possible the rating is effectively 1,000lb trailer plus 433lb of people/stuff. Unsure if the 1,433 number is based off of GVWR or not.
I’m so excited to see one of these things in person. I hope they sell a ton- but I’d really like some flavor of ICE under the hood.
This may very well be my son’s first car.
I dislike Jeff Bezos intensely and was prepared to hate this on that basis, but – I do not. We need more cheap cars, we need more moddable cars, we need more cars that play like a tool and not a “subscription lifestyle transportation experience appliance.” I’m not sure I’m the demographic for this, but it’s a whole lot closer to where I want the industry to go than what most manufacturers are doing these days.
So agreed! 😀 Well said!
Only online enthusiasts want moddable cars. Regular customers don’t. The market has proved this time and time again.
Don’t consider it moddable, consider it configurable.
The way cars are sold in the US, almost everyone buys from dealer inventory and gets stuck with the configuration available.
The problem is consumers in the US like it that way. They want instant gratification and to walk out with a car that day.
There really hasn’t been any alternative. Dealers haven’t changed there ways since the 80s. Maybe consumers have changed.
With most brands you can go in and order what you want. Some people are willing to wait 90+ days to do so, but most are not. Of course the dealer wants to sell what they have on the lot, so they also try to make those cars seem more attractive than the custom order.
There are still very limited configurations. You generally can’t get leather seats without a sunroof, or a sunroof without upgraded infotainment, or premium wheels without exterior appearance package, etc.
Not everything needs to be built for everyone. There’s plenty of folks building grey crossovers for regular customers.
No but the bland creamy middle is where the volume is. Moddable, configurable, call it what you will most customers are not interested.
Sure, but both Mazda and Jeep have made very profitable businesses outside of that bland creamy middle, and even Subaru and Volvo were keeping a good sideline in weird. The middle may be where all the volume is, but it’s also where all the competition is.
Hot take: Slate was trying to make a new people’s car but what they really did was just bring the Spirit Airlines model to the car industry.
It’s cheap, sure, but basically everything is a microtransaction. I wonder if adding a radio, speakers, and power windows would make it just as expensive as a Maverick? Sort of like how adding bags and such to a Spirit flight makes it about as expensive as flying American or similar.
Possibly, but they have a market in me at least, who prefers to 3d print or weld up random van tchotchkes. If there’s a remotely sound technical data package that comes with the truck for measurements or interfacing, then so much the better.
I also gotta imagine if they do bring it to market and it starts selling, a whole BUNCH of third-party companies are going to make add-on components for it too, including some that just duplicate what Slate itself offers, but (presumably) at an even lower cost (i.e.: power window upgrade, etc…). And yes, it’d be great if they at least gave a nod to the DIY/maker/gearhead communities (since they’re sure to be among the interested/potential customers) by at least making details/specs/connector pinouts/3D print data/etc… freely available.
Slate can lean in to the DIY/customize it yourself thing AND simply sell to folks who want an affordable two-seat EV at the same time. 🙂
I wonder how the warranty would work with a Slate. Would they deny claims if any add-ons are installed? Only if the add-ons aren’t Slate-brand? Current manufacturers deny warranty claims if a person has modded their vehicle, but the Slate is pretty much designed to be modified.
I’m sure there will be plenty of fine print legalese to answer those questions, if you have the patience for it. 🙂 I wouldn’t expect Slate to be too draconian about the warranty terms though, since it behooves/benefits them if third-party companies get involved and start making add-ons for the Slate. So, installing someone else’s power window switch kit might not void your Slate warranty, but swapping out or modifying the ECU/controller (to allow a higher top speed for example) probably would. Just a guess.
That basically sums up what buying an EV is like in general, no?
Kinda. I’m mostly talking about the entry model having basically no features at all, like flying Spirit.
That being said, it’s going to be so cool to see all of the 3D printed stuff that’ll inevitably come out.
I agree!
I do also think that the ability to microtransaction everything is the best part. Rather, then like wanting the best Bose stereo in an Escalade requiring you to order the winter tire package in Florida, or something like that.
There is no real tangible, lasting value in upgrading to “The Big Seat” on a Spirit flight, however, there is tangible value in floor mats.
Is buying a new EV that different from buying a new ICE-powered car these days? I don’t know and am seriously asking, because it’s been ages since I actually bought a new car. However, it’s been my impression for years now that there’s not a whole lot of ala carte going on: you pick a trim level, and then you can sometimes choose from a few option packages (always called something like ‘technology’ or ‘advance’ etc… and always costing a couple/few grand each minimum) and you can pick the color, but that’s about it (aside from dealer-installed stuff like fancier wheels and fake undercoats, and a bunch of other crap you don’t want or need). I can’t recall the last time I saw a new car that came with power windows as a separate, stand-alone option.
I like that idea btw: buying only the stuff you want, and not in packages that always include something you don’t. And I like the idea of being able to install those extra options yourself if you want/can and at a later date after the original purchase.
I mean personally I’d take a replaceable speaker over a hardwired one, I never use the radio, and I love hand crank windows.
Really the only 4 things I’d option mine with given their current configurator is the rubber floor, rubber floor mats, the Lift kit, and the Full Size Spare.
I think as long as it’s not parts-locked – as long as I can plug my own speakers in or rig my own power windows and the car’s computer isn’t gonna flip out and lock me out – I’m super OK with it. With parts lock, you’re right, it’s a loot box, without parts lock it’s a platform.
If you install your own radio and speakers the only connection to the car will be power and ground. No need for it to talk to anything.
Certainly no Need for it to do so, but it’s 2025, and there’s an opportunity for collecting data or serving ads or both, so I don’t trust it until I see it.
You can install a radio and speakers in literally any car without it having to communicate with the car. It is just power, ground, speaker wire. If you buy there radio then it might collect data.
Let’s just hope the revenue model doesn’t include subscriptions for airbags.
You aren’t wrong. But I think this makes perfect sense for a small truck. I’ve wanted a stripped down, bare bones, NEW utility vehicle for years. My phone is all the screen I need. If it hauls some junk, can be fitted with a class 3 for a moto hitch carrier, and can handle a reasonable amount of miles per charge I’m interested.
If this were a car I’d be more inclined to agree with you but even there, I prefer less. My 2022 WL Trailhawk is very well equipped and I use basically none of it.
I don’t know if it’s really a microtransaction. Sure, you could change out roof styles repeatedly, but it’s unlikely. They could conceivably come out with new wraps every month, but they’re going to sell a lot fewer of them than fortnite skins,
It’s an accessory purchase, which people seem fine with on much more expensive vehicles. Look at any Wrangler or 4 Runner. In this case you don’t have to pay for the parts you’d be removing to upgrade them – even if you’re paying more for the accessories than if they had been factory installed.
I don’t know if they will be working with Amazon, but that would add a giant level of convenience to accessorizing these things.
I know people say the Pulsar was configurable, but did you try to find one of those long roofs in stock at a dealer? They essentially didn’t exist.
Folks, the (w)Reckoning is upon us. We have been all called out on our shit. This is the “Why don’t they just build a small, cheap basic truck like my 1997 Ford Ranger any more” we have all dreamed of. Like, I was so giddy to see a newly announced car with steelies and roll-up windows and no screen that my group chats all started making fun of me. This is now the first ever (EVER) new car I have actually wanted.
While I agree with David – that throwing someone else’s random cockroach 4-banger into it – would make it more “peoples’ car”, it is the zeigeist to develop new EVs. I clamor for a PHEV variant though. Perhaps that can be a community/open source development.
Color me tickled. I will immediately investigate how to turn one into a cab-over van.
Thank you for a great comment!
Look, filling the battery pack here in NJ is going to be $6 of off-peak power. Sub $20k to buy, $6 to fill, and a trifle of maintenance makes this thing fantastic cost-wise.
I can imagine a generation of teenagers modding these to no end, like the Civics when I was a kid.
Towing is pretty ridiculously low. Even with the lightest U-Haul utility trailer you can only put 370lbs of stuff into it.
Also it only has a 5 foot bed 🙁
Really would an extra foot of bed length be impossible?
Still reserved one, because single cab pickups are hard enough to come by, let alone BEV ones. Maybe I’ll put a slide in camper in it.
Yes, it won’t even tow a Miata on a small car trailer (at least not in base/RWD/regular battery form) but 1,000 lbs is plenty for a little Harbor Freight trailer and a pile of topsoil bags/plywood/etc… I don’t see actual contractors wanting Slates, but rather weekend DIYers, etc… Besides, even contractors have building materials delivered, so that they don’t get their $80,000. full-size luxotrucks dirty. And folks who tow (cars/boats/trailers) routinely probably won’t be opting for Slates either. That still leaves a decent pool of potential customers: those folks who’ve never towed anything ever and are unlikely to ever do so (myself included). 🙂
For cargo trailers, it’s all-aluminum ones for the win in cases like this. They’re not as popular due to material cost and needing different engineering and welding infrastructure to build them. (A lot of “aluminum” trailers are a mostly-aluminum box on top of a regular steel frame, which doesn’t do much for weight savings.) But the full aluminum-frame ones are getting popular up in the Northeast since they’re more corrosion-resistant.
I have a ten-foot single-axle all-aluminum trailer that I haul with my diesel Dodge pickup. It’s basically like nothing when it’s empty, and I can load it up to capacity as well as any steel-frame trailer. What’s nice is that it can also be towed by smaller vehicles in the family for light loads, which makes it versatile. Sometimes you need cubic capacity more than loading weight; so these kinds of trailers make sense for EVs and vehicles smaller than a full-size pickup.
U-Haul trailers that everybody’s familiar with are built on galvanized steel frames, and at least all the ones I’ve rented have been fairly thick-gauge at that. They’re a pain to have to uncouple and move compared to my aluminum featherweight. But they’re made to be abused in rental service.
Those bags of stuff add up quicker than you think. I blew out my shocks bringing bags of pea stone home for a garden project last year. I could see the car sagging, but it was like my 5th trip and I wasn’t going to return any.
I actually rented a full-size cargo van to bring home foot square concrete pavers, and even w/that, I divided what I bought up into three separate loads, so as not to damage the van. Stuff does add up quick, especially dense stuff of course. 🙂 I brought home 1,200 lbs of Unix workstations in a Golf TDI once, and that went OK… once under way, the diesel engine barely cared, even going uphill. More recently, I brought home about 1,300 lbs of concrete chunks (to build a retaining wall) in the back of my older, 5-cylinder Volvo XC90… that was also no problem but of course I drove home slow and left plenty of room for braking. Generally, I try to keep loads under 1,000 lbs since I don’t own a real truck truck. My back is so messed up now that TBH, most loads these days never top a few hundred pounds of whatever (I bring home a half dozen full 5-gallon water bottles every six weeks or so, but that’s only about 250 lbs total). 🙂
This kicks ass! They got my 50 bucks. The timing is great as well – I’m scheduled to pay off my roof in 2026 and I’ve already got the level 2 charger set up for my 2012 Volt. If the Volt can make manage another year, this would be an excellent replacement.
This thing is designed to appeal to commenters here, which means it has about a 0.0001% chance of being an actual success.
I resemble this remark.
Me too. 🙂
Hmmm… this is the first new car I’ve ever bothered putting a deposit down on.
The third time for me. I’ve got a deposit down on the Telo EV minitruck too, but honestly, since I never do any off-roading or towing, I’d sort of rather have the Slate and save $15K+.
If they make it I’m buying at least one.
My Mother has rusty AF 4th Gen Mazda B series this would be a great replacement for, so maybe I’ll get one for her too.
Honestly the mid $20s without the Federal Tax Credit (which this thing should be available with) is pretty dang good. It’s cheap enough (on paper) that it’s really hard to justify not getting one unless you do a lot of towing…
Hopefully it’s availabie in brown.
If you want it in brown, it seems like you have to get it wrapped or painted yourself. So: you CAN have it in brown, at a price.
I think/assume they’ll all come with grey plastic body panels (presumably with some degree of UV proofing built-in), which makes sense given the popularity of grey cars for the better part of the past decade.
You can do custom wrap colors in the configurator. I had to put the slider down to almost the bottom but I eventually got a brown.
I really doubt that anyone would try to make a business case for selling cars just to us, but it’d be flattering if that were the case.
I want this to succeed, because I want more vehicles made in America, even cheap ones, to compete with the Chinese, but I fear the concept as shown is DOA.
A proper Autopian version would have a faux-Citroen 2CV style nose and cab 😛
It’s cheap. That appeals to many
In theory sure it does, but time and time again, when it comes time to vote with their dollars, actual car buyers ignore the entry level options and prefer larger, better equipped, and more capable vehicles.
Maybe this time will be different, but I would not bet on it.
There’s usually a very small percentage step from what you could live with to something nicer (which usually also means larger).
It’s a pretty significant price jump from this to a nicer comparable vehicle.
I reserved one. I may have a vinyl shop do wood paneling on the sides.
I hate to be negative Nancy but this thing doesn’t have a snowflakes chance in Hell of being successful. I’m all for it, but they’re gonna lose a Hefty bag full of cash on every one they sell and not even Jeff “I Like Big Boobs” Bezos is going to dump in enough money, fast enough and for long enough, to allow it to reach meaningful production volume.
Hope you’re wrong, but I dunno. I’d like to see it happen, but won’t hold my breath (I did put down a deposit though). I don’t think a lot of folks who WANT a $20K bare-bones trucklet w/roll-up windows make enough money to be able to qualify for the federal/state EV tax credits though, so whatever the MSRP is (before credits) is what it will cost most of its customers IMO. I hope they figure out a way to sell it direct (even online?) to customers to avoid dealer markups and the awful taste it’ll leave in people’s mouths if folks wind up paying $10K over MSRP to get one, as happened with the Maverick. I dunno about the laws that seem to prevent most manufacturers from doing that (direct sales), but I guess we’ll have to wait and see.
Maybe they can manage eek out a small profit on the base model, what with steelies, off-brand tires, various off-the-shelf components (many of them surely Chinese), zero exterior prep/paint, and (most importantly) designing it for simple assembly (I did see what looks like some exposed fasteners on body panels). Or at least break even, and then maybe there’s some gravy in all the accessories/tops/add-ons. It’s a theory anyway. They’re charging $25. for t-shirts in their merch store, so they’re making a few bucks from that stuff already. 😉
BTW, Bezos is an asshat of course (not as awful and repugnant as Musk, but that’s a really low bar) but lots of people like big boobs, so I can’t blame him for that. 😉 With that said, I do think/agree that divorcing his wife to get with that trashy Lauren Sanchez was foolish, and indicative of his character as the whole cowboy hat and penis-shaped spaceship thing he’s got goin’ on. But of course, it’s none of my business and he’s free to do as he likes. 😀
You are 100% correct, you definitely are a negative Nancy! 🙂
I know plenty of people who had to scramble to barely afford a low-ish miles car in decent condition with some leftover warranty, that cost way more than $20k, who would’ve been all over this if it was available.
Seeing how having a car is still basically mandatory in this country with its long commutes and lack of public transport, I actually think this will have some surprising success if it launches at their advertised price.
I agree. This vehicle excites me… I’m excited to see how big of a money-losing flop it will be… and if it will be a bigger flop than Nikola or Fisker.
Hard to imagine it flopping harder than Fisker… he’s run TWO car companies into the ground.
Fisker has some big shoes to fill in the crazy mismanaged money burning machine business.
Took a bit of googling to find the reservation form/page for some reason (here’s the link: https://www.slate.auto/en ) but I’m happy to let them have my $50. for a place in line. I don’t dislike anything I read in David’s report, though of course more details will come out soon enough.
I’ve also had a deposit down on a Telo MT1 small EV pickup for a few years now too.
One of these (the Telo or Slate) will probably be the second new car I ever own since I always buy used (the first new one being a ’98 Mercedes Benz CLK 320 that was such a lemon… a pretty lemon, but still…).
I actually saw one of the production intent telo trucks displayed on the street in SF!
Sightings are all over youtube (and presumably social media too) which is of course Slate’s intent. I look forward to seeing one, even if it’s just a pusher/mock-up, at some point too. 🙂
PS: I could actually imagine myself ordering/paying for one of these online and having it delivered/picking it up somewhere local without even having test driven it myself, provided that I’ve watched/read enough decent reviews about it ahead of time. If David and Co. or someone else that I’ve read/trust/respect drive it, and tell me about it, and it’s not too bad in any particular area, and just does what it says for a given price, then I’d be perfectly willing to give them my credit card number for the full amount of the truck.
But there will surely be events/places to test drive it, even if they don’t open a whole bunch of brick-and-mortar dealerships right away.
Replying to myself since the edit window is closed only to add that I had to put down a deposit on that lemon CLK too… I waited two years for it, and was third in line for one at Calabasas Mercedes. It was silver with a grey interior, and I put a set of lovely AMG Monoblock wheels (the ones with the big centers and fat spokes, in silver like the car… not chromed or polished) with Bridgestone rubber on right away.
It was a pretty unpleasant experience overall… those six-cylinder Benzes in the late 90s (including the E-Class and first-gen of their M-Class SUV) all had drivetrain/electronic issues… the waiting room in the service area was always FILLED with recent customers like myself. And no amount of complimentary coffee takes the sting off of having to come back to the dealer to fix something yet again, just after you spent $50K+ on a new luxury car.
If there’s no infotainment screen, where does the video from the Federally required backup camera feed to? Is it that tiny gauge cluster screen?
I’d assume that it is, since they’ve got no way to MAKE you plug a phone/tablet in to do it. Since it’s mandated and all. Fine w/me if it’s a small monochrome image, since I look over my shoulder before reversing anyway. ;=)
There are rear view mirrors that have a screen/toggle between the mirror and screen.
Here is one I found with only a quick search. Seems to include the camera, etc. in $150 price:
https://www.auto-vox.com/products/auto-vox-t9-oem-look-rear-view-mirror-backup-camera?variant=45040924000478¤cy=USD&utm_medium=product_sync&utm_source=google&utm_content=sag_organic&utm_campaign=sag_organic&gad_source=1&gbraid=0AAAAABOJSP3Rw4DjCTfY_sSZaYH3SSNt0&gclid=CjwKCAjwwqfABhBcEiwAZJjC3j29KKfLwfUVTXbJhkHRBNFkAt1ioijHYhJ4VkRTxCDseS3i3LTp4BoCBYQQAvD_BwE
Oh, that’s a good theory! That way, the in-dash little screen can just be small/monochrome/text only for speed, remaining range, etc… and them using something like that would make sense given their off-the-shelf to keep it cheap mantra. 🙂
Couldn’t edit my above post. Here’s what I wanted to add:
EDIT: Above linked one doesn’t toggle between mirror/camera.
Quick search found this link; and guessing that other, less expensive dual mirror/camera display exist:
https://www.nissan-global.com/EN/INNOVATION/TECHNOLOGY/ARCHIVE/SMART_REARVIEW_MIRROR/#:~:text=The%20Intelligent%20Rearview%20Mirror%20can,experience%20and%20peace%20of%20mind.
A lot of the base work trucks put the LCD in the rear view mirror. They cost about $10 from China. Chinese put them in alot of weird things too.
From Car and Driver:
“…its digital gauge cluster that also serves as the rearview camera display…”
Guess that’s the answer.
Thanks RNR!
I think it would have to be that tiny gauge cluster screen.
Maybe they decided not to put in a reverse “gear” function to avoid needing a camera.
LOL!
If such a thing were only possible! I don’t personally have thighs capable of pushing the car backwards with the door open while I sit in the driver’s seat, but some folks do. 😉
I’m really interested in a deep dive into the specs, and dozens of photos showing the differences that were referenced in the reveal tonight. Let’s read about and see all the details of this simple truck. And SUV.
LINK THE DAMN WEBSITE!
https://www.slate.auto/en
I found it via a different article on a different site, but thank you for all the others who will read this article, not find the link, and no longer have to Google it, not find the link again, and have to scour various articles to eventually find the link.
No worries.
Interesting compared to your Leaf… Just would need to add sandbags in the back during winter.
Not if they make the AWD one…
This is the car that all of the internet comment sections have been clamoring for.
They’ll sell 12.
If it comes to market as currently described, for a price in the $20Ks without/before the EV tax credit (which many buyers can’t qualify for tax-wise, and which will probably not exist by the time Slates are being delivered anyway thanks to our current government) I’m pretty sure they’re gonna sell just a bit more than a dozen of them. 😉
I’m fine/dandy with no paint, no infotainment screen, no radio, steelies, roll-up windows, etc…. and like the idea of buying back seats/cap, power windows, etc… separately and having them shipped to me to install/have installed.
It’s gotta have usable air conditioning though from the factory. This is Southern California after all and sitting in traffic in a dark grey truck is gonna feel a lot like doing it in my black hardtop Miata: HOT.
You’re looking for the unicorn of a buyer who:
– Wants a new vehicle
– Doesn’t want features
– Doesn’t need/want substantial range.
– Wouldn’t just buy used to avoid the compromises
All 12 of you will be very happy with your Slates.
Who said ‘doesn’t want features?’ Nothing I typed said or implied that, and I didn’t read anything about that in David’s article either. You just have to pay for optional features and/or install them yourself (or have them installed). I’m sure a LOT of buyers will choose to pay for power windows… but I don’t think that means that folks won’t even consider it just because the base model has manual windows.
Also: I don’t know how far you drive every day, but there are plenty of weeks where I don’t even do 150 miles. I forget what the average daily commute is (quickly googling… no, NOT googling but rather Duck Duck Going, and using their optional AI assist to generate a result):
“The average daily commute in America is about 25.6 minutes, which translates to approximately 42 miles when considering all forms of transportation. However, this can vary significantly depending on the region and local commuting patterns.”
We’ll just have to wait and see if this thing actually comes to market, and how good or bad it is, and what it actually costs. I’m willing to put down $50 bucks (not enough to even cover two bags of groceries at Trader Joe’s, but that’s the world we live in) for a place in line. You’re not under any obligation to do so yourself of course. 🙂
I think being a unicorn means you don’t appreciate how few unicorns there actually are.
Trust me, I know that I’m more than a bit weird, and have known it for most of my almost 60 years.
Unicorns certainly are rare, but sometimes they can be angry too: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt28443655/ 😉
Love it. My hot take is: Built for the Burbs.
You all asked for an EV Yugo, and here it is. Sure, you can call Xzibit and make it more posh, but it’s time to pony up for all the years of whining about it, lol.
You won!
I hope so. I really hope so. 🙂
I’m not necessarily a huge fan of Bezos, I mean, yeah, of course, I use his company, its the modern version of the Sears catalog and I loved that thing, but I really, really hope this is a massive success right out of the gate and he sells enough of them to have all the established automakers from – Detroit to Germany to Japan – shitting bricks over it, because they’ve all been absolute assholes to consumers for the past decade or so and deserve to be taken down a notch.
“Oh, hey, remember that car you really liked that used to be $30,000? We just completely redesigned it and made a bunch of features you didn’t want, ask for, or need standard, and made the price $60,000 now, but its OK, because we made it better by our definition of better, you’re welcome, just take out an 8 year loan instead of 3 or 4.”
It’s really not his company, he is a major investor but it’s all run by serious industry people.
Good grief, enough with the moral grandstanding, lol. Basically every company that provides products in the US is substantially invested in by Buffet or Blackrock/Stone.
You’d be homeless and naked if you took moral stands about everything. ugh. 🙂
Maybe Ranwhenparked will just wait and not buy any consumer goods & appliances until they’re made in a free-range commune, that’ll show them billionaires! 😀
That’d be tricky when the laptop or cellphone takes a shit, lol.
Speaking of which, people here actually read this site on their phones? What a bunch of masochists!
I don’t know how anyone can read much of anything on a phone (other than those giant ones that are basically tablets) but then again I’m almost 60 and have needed reading glasses since the day I turned 40. 🙂
What moral stand? I honestly don’t give a shit about any of that, just saying there’s things about the guy I’m not a fan of, but I generally like his company/products and will continue consuming them until I don’t
So, why even bring it up as some sort of pseudo-apology for liking what you like? It’s not a sin to approve of a business decision. lol.
This truck is invested in by one of the richest people in the world, that you most likely have never met…oooh…bad to think they might do something else good.
It is so silly that people here (and elsewhere) make judgments about another person they don’t know, and feel the need to proclaim it loud and clear, based on what amounts to a People Magazine level of knowledge about the person.
Would you put in a disclaimer in all of your posts if you found out Beau’s (Hi Beau!) dog got run over by a car because he never recharged its collar, and some people called him a dog killer? lol.
It’s childish, is all I am saying.
You are reading entirely too much into this, seriously
I’m really not.
When one disclaimer’s everything, the disclaimer looses any meaning, is all.
More of a piece of advice from an old man than anything. Have a nice Friday 🙂
Yes please. It’s upsetting that anything like this has been completely absent from the U.S. car market for a very long time, but I’m happy to see it now. I hope this comes to market as described and becomes a smashing success.
Finally, and I love it! Man I can’t wait to configure a one of a kind ride. So sweet.
I can’t wait to buy one at something close as possible to $20K and not do a thing to it for the first few months… just have it and drive it and use it like a small truck.
Eventually I can see adding a cap (but I don’t feel a burning desire for back seats ;-)) for that nice squared-off boxy look, and of course replace the cheap tires with something chonkier looking when they’re used up, but I wouldn’t want to spend $10K on customizing it on day one.
Part of the joy of it (if there’s any to be had) will be the fact that it’s basic, and cheap. Making it your own could be fun, but at some point it won’t be basic or cheap anymore. Each to his (or her) own.
I think it’s pretty rad if it comes to market as described/at that price. I don’t care for Bezos, but his $ behind it won’t keep me from buying one.
That customer install rear airbag thing is… uh… let’s say *interesting* from a consumer safety perspective – but that aside I love this thing.
For reference, 175″ length is about the length of a Crosstrek
I don’t really see the point of the handwringing. Dash and steering airbags are already pretty straightforward so I could see the potential to engineer the second row rollover airbags to be just as simple to install. There’s more potential to create a serious safety hazard changing your own brakes and many owners manage that okay.
This feels like it’s going to create a market that didn’t exist until now.
It’s possible, and I hope so. I know there are lots of negative nancys that feel only weirdos at car sites like us will actually buy such a thing, but I think the buy-it-basic-and-build-it-up-as-you-want thing, along with a low price of entry might appeal to a lot of people. A 150 mile range (w/o the extra battery) is enough for 98% of the stuff I do, along with the modest payload. I don’t do long interstate jaunts, nor do I tow tractors around (or whatever you see them do in truck commercials). It’s a basic two-seater car with a bed in base form. That’s fine by me. 🙂