Slate Auto reveals a no-frills electric truck for under $20,000, made in the US

[Puiu]

So you can't name a single one that hasn't been overturned. And EVERYRONE knows that the NYC trial was rigged. Even CNN admitted it.

No, nobody knows that the NYC trial was "rigged". He is a known criminal, that's a fact. The same how he lost the trials of him being a racist in the past. It's a fact that trump is a racist.

I guess you also think that him being liable for sexually abusing women is just trump being a "man".

 

[mbk34]

You can pick witch one is awarded the ugliest.

For some strange reason I'd quite like any of those cars as a city run about! I don't think I could live with the low max speed and the poor range but I do like the looks. The price also seems a bit too high for what they are.

With the truck in the article, I'm amazed they can actually source manual window mechanisms and would think a standard electric drive would be cheaper. I suspect the 150 mile range model might be a little limited unless all your trips are local but the 240 mile model would be OK for most. Does anyone know where they source components like the motor from? I read that they haven't actually built one yet or even have a factory to build them in but they are taking deposits.

 

[GodisanAtheist]

$27K pre tax credit isn't bad given no economy of scale is in place at the moment.

If these ever move out of the niche and the company doesn't immediately sell out, the price should actually drop further as they bring more manufacturing online.

Its biggest issue right now is that there are just way too many fixed costs on a vehicle and this thing just isn't cheap enough to justify some of the cutting.

 

[TheBigT42]

The Slate is real-wheel drive and projected to have around a 1400 lb payload and 1000 lb towing capacity.

Well that sucks

 

[New Day]

Really, no one saying, 'Oh, here's your UCCP standard issue car!' ? Though I've known of this vehicle and all since before reaading this article, for some reason seeing it here immediately brought to mind the anti-Communism ire of some here and thought it near-imminent I'd see some such kibbitzting....but no.....hmmm....

 

[joe2025]

I like manual windows

This is EV a joke since power windows are lower in cost to make today than crank up windows. They would have to make their own parts for that. They have no clue what it takes to make an EV today in the US for that price. Lucid EVs are very expensive and they still take a loss of over $100,000 on every one.

 

[joe2025]

How do people get into the back seat of the SUV version without a door ?

 

[whawn]

Anybody remember the International Harvester 'Scout'? IH was the second -- after Willys -- to offer an off-road utility vehicle and, unlike the Willys, was configurable with removable roofs and covers, from open roof, to pickup, to what we now call an 'SUV', with the cargo bed fully covered and removable rear sets. The Scout was a bare-bones simple thing, FWD, and it looked EXACTLY like the above photographs. Gosh, I wonder where Bezos got the idea?

 

[joe2025]

Anybody remember the International Harvester 'Scout'? IH was the second -- after Willys -- to offer an off-road utility vehicle and, unlike the Willys, was configurable with removable roofs and covers, from open roof, to pickup, to what we now call an 'SUV', with the cargo bed fully covered and removable rear sets. The Scout was a bare-bones simple thing, FWD, and it looked EXACTLY like the above photographs. Gosh, I wonder where Bezos got the idea?

EXACTLY ? Really ?

 

[MiqWalsh]

I do not find it ugly. But the more I think about manual windows, the more I doubt this project. I mean of all things, windows. Really? If there are 2 things I would desperately need in my cars, that would be AC/Heater and power windows.
As for everything else, I totally understand why they are going so basic with this truck, production is insanely expensive in the US.
I sometimes feel sorry for people who still build things here. It is a gigantic burden, from eco maniacs, to unions, and taxes looking for any chance to bite a bit more off an industry before it leaves the States.

Power windows? Really?????

It's just another thing to go wrong. What d'you think we all did before power windows ever became a "thing", hmm..?

There was this handle on the door card. You rotated it in one direction to lower the door window, and rotated it in the opposite direction to raise it. Easy-peasy; nice'n'simple.....and it doesn't need electricity to make it work.

(*...kids these days don't know they're born.....*)

Mike.

 

[scavengerspc]

I suspect the 150 mile range model might be a little limited unless all your trips are local

But think about it though. How many people do you know travel more than 150 miles a day?
Added to that, they can "refuel" at home.

 

[mbk34]

But think about it though. How many people do you know travel more than 150 miles a day?
Added to that, they can "refuel" at home.

I personally never drive that far these days but, it's a hard sell, selling EV's that only do the mileage that people realistically drive in the real world.

I know someone with an early Nissan Leaf - he tells me the range is under a 100 miles (160km) but he's had the car for years and he's very happy with it. There are also people that idolise their early Hyundai Ioniq Classics. They only have a 28Kwh battery but the things are so efficient they can do 175 miles and recharge is 20 minutes.

I guess it's no different from people buying fast cars that cost a fortune to run and then sit in traffic all day. People buy the dream and ignore the reality.

 

[scavengerspc]

I know someone with an early Nissan Leaf - he tells me the range is under a 100 miles (160km) but he's had the car for years and he's very happy with it.

I started out a sort of EV experiment 5 years ago with a 2018 Focus EV.
92–109 miles range on average. I used it occasionally for almost a year and a half and switched to a Leaf. I wanted to try one, and I learned that starting in 2019 they looked like real cars, not the eyes bulging look of the originals.
So I upgraded to a 2020 Leaf. This car was meant to be an EV from the beginning, unlike the Focus, which was just the gasoline model converted. Besides the jump in range from around 104 miles then to 220 it has far more room for storage in the back and in the trunk.
A side note, I gave my Focus EV to my niece. She is a Sophomore at Pitt, which is 16 miles from my sister's house, and she works on campus, so it is perfect for her. Still averaging 95 miles between charges for the last year+.
In nearly 6 years now, the only thing I had to do maintenance wise on the drivetrain was new fluid for the battery temperature system.