If they actually follow through on making the Slate as privacy friendly as they claim in this article, and it doesn’t have any major flaws, I’m gonna go ahead and say this is perhaps one of the best options for someone in need of a mini-truck/SUV hybrid.
This is heavily backed by Jeff Bezos btw, so, don’t get too excited
(ノಠ益ಠ)ノ彡┻━┻
I ordered one day 1. There are a lot of drawbacks though. I don’t care for trucks. This would be my first one. I appreciate the exclusion of a modem but…not even so much as wiring for an aftermarket audio system is dumb.
My largest concern remains the future of the company. As the article states, most consumers don’t care about privacy. They expect connected everything. And I don’t think a small truck is viable in the US market.
Further, the price is still too high. You can get a Chevy Bolt for the same price, with many more comfort and convenience features. This will be an unfortunate result of the company’s small size and low volume.
Nevertheless I will vote with my wallet and hope I’m wrong.
Who wants a big truck? I don’t think you know what people who actually need work trucks want
I mean, I guess I do? I want a 2 door truck that’s wide enough for a bench that will sit 3 people and a bed that’s at least 6.5 foot long. So, 90’s style F-150 or 1500. What they’re offering is too small for me to be interested. But I’m actively hoping they make a bigger version in the future.
Alternately, I’m kind of hoping their stuff is modular enough that I could electrify an older gasoline truck. Doubt they’re actively looking to sell kits to the hobbyist market, but that would be awesome.
That’s ridiculous. You want a van.
Everyone wants big trucks. That’s why they buy them by the boatload. They’re the top selling vehicles in America by a wide margin, and have been for a long time. And it’s why no one even makes small ones anymore.
It’s not purely a demand side thing. It’s also a regulatory change. The CAFE standards were updated in 2010 to require a sliding scale of fuel economy standards where larger vehicles were permitted to have less efficient fuel economy ratings. Small trucks sat in an unviable zone of too small to be allowed to be fuel inefficient, and too big to actually be fuel efficient, so they were phased out right around 2010.
Now, fully recognizing that small trucks are in demand, and that EVs don’t have worry about fuel economy standards, several manufacturers have made plans to occupy that niche with EVs.
And how many people are buying EVs in general? It’s a very small amount % wise. And with the tax credits disappearing it seems the EV market is just about being abandoned entirely. Ford made an electric version of the best-selling vehicle in America, and it was fantastic, and almost no one bought it, and they discontinued it a couple years later. Same story for Tesla’s and GM’s trucks. Americans don’t want EVs in general, much less pickup truck EVs, and much less than that, tiny 2-door electric trucks.
Again, I very much hope I’m wrong, but that’s the impression I get from my observations of the market.
Those people have no need for a truck. They are in the market for a penis replacement.
I’m talking about people who need trucks for work. They want smaller 4x4 trucks.
I didn’t mention any specific group of people. I said “everyone”.
What type of truck they need for work is entirely dependent on what type of work they’re doing. Going bigger instead of smaller is often a safe bet.
not even so much as wiring for an aftermarket audio system is dumb.
Not having power windows too. I get the point of simplicity, but you gotta have at least some basic conveniences.
And I don’t think a small truck is viable in the US market.
Isn’t the Maverick super popular?
I mean, you can get power windows with it, I just wonder what that add-on will cost.
I recently drove a Uhaul with manual windows and definitely don’t need that in my life again, lol.
The Maverick has 4 doors
Even if you don’t like Jeff Bezos, the fact of this existing opens the door for smaller competitors to enter the scene.
Canada is getting 3% more ev competition due the recent 49k chinese imports deal even if they’re banned from entering the USA, Americans will have an easier time checking out the models on their travels and then they will ask their-out of-touch politicians why they don’t also have similar options.
The future is EV!
Renault is entering the CDN EV market in 2027.
Any chance this design is open source, so I can build my own?
Or is this just proprietary corporate trash?
Removed by mod
“Making it privacy-friendly”… I really really don’t like the language here. There is absolutely 0 need to make anything privacy-invading, out of all products cars probably the least. So it isn’t really hard to do this at all, just that companies like that free consumer data.
Bezos. No thanks.
Like apple claims to protect its users privacy I guess. It ends up being a matter of trust with now a days mobile phones with wheels and motor
If they really don’t include a modem as they claim, then it would be truly fundamentally different, and apple’s privacy claims would not be an apt comparison.
If a user does not install the Slate app, there would be literally no way for the vehicle to collect any information whatsoever, it would be like driving an EV from the 90’s, if they had better batteries back then. That would make it stand out as the only privacy respecting modern production vehicle I’m aware of, besides toys for the rich like a Morgan.
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Does every EV startup in US have to make a pickup? Such a stupid country.
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EU just made driver facing cameras mandatory for all new cars so I guess Europe is not much smart either.
Just to be clear, this “truck” is absolutely tiny. It’s several inches shorter than a Toyota Corolla. I think it’s pretty great for a city dweller that occasionally has a need for a bit more carrying capacity.
Edit: with the one big caveat that a lot of city dwellers don’t have access to charging at home.
Because all you idiots buy are pickups?
Do you have a source for the second claim?
I have to admit I missed that to. They have hidden it behind innocent looking names and ADDW and DDAW. Starting next month it’s mandatory in all cars that are sold in EU.
https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=intcom%3AC(2023)4523
https://smarteye.se/blog/what-to-know-about-ddaw-and-addw-systems/
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no stereo is not bare bones, it’s malicious compliance. ugly pos anyway, same as they do most evs, on purpose to hurt sales so they can point at sales and say nobody wants evs and in this case also say people do want it to phone home and have android auto and saas subscriptions.
Wut. Just use your smartphone for stereo. Maybe byo external speaker
