Is there a something-one-one number for an emergency podcast? I know 911 is real emergencies, 411 is information (I think that’s still there?), 611 is some kind of phone service line, and, damn, I never realized this, but 211 is a community service line, 311 is municipal government, 511 is traffic information, 711 is TDD services if you have hearing issues, and 811 is a public utility location line. Wow! I had no idea. Public-good stuff like this that is just quietly doing its thing, day after day, like most municipal water systems and national parks and that kind of thing make me feel more patriotic than any parade of tanks ever could.
Wait, what the hell was I talking about? Oh yeah, an emergency podcast! Which can’t have an X11 number because, look, they’re all taken! But we did one anyway, because the leak of the upcoming Slate EV pickup truck’s pricing, hidden in the metadata of their website, is just too good not to do an emergency podcast about. [Ed note: Couldn’t we do 1-1-1? – MH]
The price, $24,950, is certainly good, and does undercut Ford’s (expected) $30,000-ish price for their upcoming EV truck, the one we spotted testing the other day. But is it cheap enough? David and I discuss that in this hastily-slapped-together episode of our non-award-winning Carbage Time podcast.
You can see it here, right here:
David and I discuss the Slate pricing leak, and the Slate itself in the podcast, wondering if it actually is cheap enough? That’s the video podcast, if you prefer audio:
Oh, and to listen to more podcasts episode you can go to Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or you can use the RSS feed and point your favorite Podcast player at it.
I feel like coming in at $19,999 would have made it all but a guaranteed hit; at nearly $25,000, it’s still among the cheapest EVs you can get in America, period, but I’m not sure it’s as guaranteed a slam dunk. After all, the upcoming Ford EV truck is only $5,000 more and has more creature comforts and, significantly, a double-cab. Single cab trucks haven’t sold well in America for decades. But maybe this will be different enough?
Oh, and then we had to discuss this:
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So, Slate felt like they had to remind the world how to get in the back seat of a two-door car or truck. Okay, fine, can’t hurt to show that it’s not so hard. But then they somehow managed to step on their own genitalia in how they showed it!
First off, they picked some parkour athlete as the person to demonstrate how to get in the back. Basically a freaking gymnast. That’s always been the joke about getting into the back seat of a small two-door, that you have to be a gymnast to do it! They couldn’t have picked a worse person to show this. This should have been someone in their mid-80s who was in a walker moments before getting into the back seat, not a lithe athlete who can probably wriggle through a mail slot without spilling his drink! Come on, Slate!
And then there’s the other big issue: moving that seat to get access to the rear requires two steps! First, a lever to slide the seat forward, then one to tilt the back forward. This is the same tech as in my 1973 VW Beetle. Two-door cars have had one lever that slides the seat forward and tilts the back for decades. Look, here’s what the Fiat 500 does:
Look at that; you pull one little strap at the top of the seatback and the whole thing slides forward and tilts. It’s actually not a big deal to get in the back! Slate couldn’t have sourced seats that did this? Once again, come on, Slate!
All that said, I’m still excited by the upcoming Slate. I think there is a market for people who genuinely want a vehicle with less electronics, no stupid subscription services or “features” that steal all your data and invade your privacy and all that. And wind-up windows, too. I think there’s people who would just appreciate that, period, because they just make sense, and always have.
So I don’t think a $30,000 Ford EV truck is necessarily going to compete with a $25,000 Slate EV truck entirely. I think both will have their niches. There’s still so much we don’t know, but my hope is that the eventual winner will be the buyers, who will have more affordable EV vehicle options to choose from, and ones that, hopefully, will actually be kind of cool.
Even if the back seat is just for gymnasts.
Top photo: Slate
The 1 step forward and tilt seat is probably another option you pay for. Remember they want to make the most basic truck.
Gotta look into the miles per kilowatt-hour comparing the slate to the new Ford (which I think will be quite different between the two trucklets) and also compare the 0 60 time which I believe Ford is claiming to be quite quite good, but in the slate, not so much.
Another yet to be considered EEV driving feature is one-pedal regen braking. It’s one of those things that make driving an EV quite engaging. Depending on how Slate and Ford implement it (or fail to), you may wind up thinking the Ford EV truck is actually way cooler to drive.
From what I read, Ford is all-in with the best and latest tech for the electric motor and battery designs. Skunk-works worthy stuff. I think SLATE’s engineering might be best described as “economy”.
Cutting edge tech from *Ford* sounds like a recipe for being best friends with the service advisor at your local dealership. But at least you will likely HAVE a local dealership to attempt to fix the thing.
As for one-pedal driving, the appeal is more than a little bit lost on me, so I hope the hell that is an option that can be shut off if it exists at all. I want to control the regen with the other pedal, thanks.
X11 would be perfect, conjuring the legendary Chevy Citation X-11.
No matter what happens with this little trucklet, you kids are killing it these days with these stories and details
Emergency podcast? Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha…Thanks for the laugh!
Emergency #? Reminds me of IT Crowd:
Singers: 0118 999 881 999 119 7253
Old woman: Hello? I’ve had a bit of a tumble.
(The scene cuts back to the IT Department.)
Moss: Well, that’s easy to remember. (sings the tune) 0118 999 881 999 119 7253
Roy: I wonder why they didn’t just keep it as it was! How hard is it to remember 911?
Moss: You mean 999?
Roy: I mean 999, yeah!
Moss: That’s the American one, you berk!
The RSS feed link is a link to the player embedded above it. Does anyone know the actual RSS link to the podcast?
On the actual article, I have no idea. I don’t like the idea of all of the connected services that are in vehicles these days. I would like a better EV roadtrip vehicle than my Bolt, but won’t consider another Chevy due to their ‘just pay for another phone service forever to keep using the services in our cars’ switch they’ve done recently. The punctum of the Slate, for me, is an EV that’s designed the opposite of what everyone else is doing. Would I prefer it was a wagon versus a pickup? Yes, yes I would. A van would also be preferable (to me). But I do appreciate that you may pay (seemingly) extra to not be a money making part of the product cycle by just driving places where they can sell your location and show you ads for the privilege.
That said, I don’t buy new cars and have actively avoided pickups despite their ubiquity in this nation in which I live. I am excited to see them in the wild, though.
Since there aren’t any more x11 numbers, you could make it a NEIN-1-1 call.