With no embedded modem, the Slate Truck is the antithesis of today's connected cars.
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Slate says its electric pickup will never track you
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I'm a bit of a dork, but to me, this is the coolest EV on the horizon and pretty much the only car I can see myself buying.
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Yeah, I want one.
Feels a bit like the Fairphone of cars?
Let's hope they find a niche they can survive in.
Feels a bit like the Fairphone of cars?
Let's hope they find a niche they can survive in.
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I was already looking at the Slate to replace my work truck (perfect for my needs), this just moved it higher up on the list. I won't be able an early adopter, but if their business plan works I will most likely be a customer of theirs.
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I'm all in on this thing...if it really delivers and delivers at the promised price point. I'd love a similar setup for a sedan as well--but this is a heck of a start.
Again, we'll see what happens when/if it's actually in production.
I'm all in on the hand-cranked windows. It's pretty common where I live to leave a window open or cracked--especially in the summertime--as auto theft isn't much of an issue. (We have our problems, car theft just isn't really one of them.)
It's much nicer to see a storm roll in when I'm outside working and tell one of my kids, "Hey--run and roll up the windows on the car" without feeling like I have to hand a 7-year-old the keys to do it.
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If I had any desire to own a truck, I'd be looking at it. I don't want something so stripped-down, but I love the idea of speccing out exactly what I want included. I loved buying my Scion xA twenty years ago for that exact reason.
So here's to their success; it would be awesome if they proved this a workable concept and expanded into other car families - ones I'd be interested in buying.
So here's to their success; it would be awesome if they proved this a workable concept and expanded into other car families - ones I'd be interested in buying.
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Now I really want one. Been on the list for over a year. An affordable EV that also respects your privacy? Take my money!
Also, hand-crank windows FTW.
Also, hand-crank windows FTW.
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Yes, yes, statistics show Americans love big trucks. But it's a big market. If I had to guess the people buying giant trucks that don't need them aren't interested in practicality and are also probably wanting all the bells and whistles. I'm afraid this is chasing a "uber-practical" segment of the market with fewer parts and simpler design, but that market may, like me, be less interested in two-seater pickups. I have two kids, I want something like this, but it's a non-starter for me.
Edit: well fuck me, I missed the four seat conversion part. Sorry.
Edit: well fuck me, I missed the four seat conversion part. Sorry.
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Glad to hear there is a power window option. I didn't think unpowered windows existed anymore.
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MilanKraft
Ars Tribunus Angusticlavius
Yep... and the proof will be in the pudding once people start driving them and reporting their experiences, but at this point I'd say they're on the right track.
We're about 8 years or so into the trend when literally every car maker has been stuffing their new models with all these privacy-questionable infotainment consoles with poorly designed UI... so you can't even say, "my next one will be used without a console," because they will all have them, unless you take your chances with very old, very high mileage.
I am not generally a truck guy, but in a few years if I find myself in a situation where this is the only vehicle with no infotainment system and only maintenance related tracking, I would consider it. So long as it didn't have poor safety ratings or some other glaring flaw, might be the best game in town for the privacy-aware.
Also I dig the roll-down windows. Kickin' it old school!
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The missus has been suggesting I trade in my sedan for a pickup, and while the economics don't currently make sense, that could change fairly soon. Then again, the economy might also completely collapse, so there's that. But if it doesn't, I'd absolutely have this on my short list. Except...
...like many people who might find this vehicle compelling, I don't exactly live near a lot of car dealers. So my main question is going to be how things work if things stop working. How far will the nearest service center be? What will the service experience be like if I walk outside one day and the car refuses to move?
Edited to reply:
This may shock you to learn, but I did in fact go looking for the information before I posted. There's currently no map of service locations, the RepairPal website (unsurprisingly) doesn't list service centers that support the Slate, and even if it did, the closest shop appears to be over an hour away from me. I'm also not seeing information on whether warranties cover towing to service centers or anything like that.
So, thanks for Googling it for me, I guess.
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It blows my mind that people still think this vehicle doesn't have an electric window option.
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I had been thinking the price will make or break this thing, and mostly still think that, but honestly these kinds of policies will win over buyers. Car companies can keep their "connected services". Most of them suck, most of them try to convince you to spend more money, and most of them are actively annoying.
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I seriously wonder how many of the hand crank people have ever actually lived with a car that had hand crank windows. As someone who grew up with hand crank windows on an assortment of '60s Pontiacs, started driving in 1993, and didn't have power windows until 2005, it is absolutely mind-boggling to me that people prefer hand crank windows.
It would be like a poll finding two thirds of people didn't want their fridge to have an ice maker. Or their house to have air conditioning.
I get that it's true, and I get that my preferences are just my preferences, but crikey. I'm simply at a loss.
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Yes, unlike the EU (where the Slate would be illegal without a redesign) there is no federal mandate for an embedded modem in your car.
If you click the link i included where I mention automated license plate readers you’ll see why the current US government doesn’t really care, they’re still tracking you anyway.
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I never thought I would consider a pickup truck or SUV as my next car. And I've always preferred mounting my phone onto the dashboard instead of connecting it to an infotainment system, it's nice to have the GPS map closer to my field of vision and it's something I don't need to wait on when going somewhere.
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To be fair, "manual windows" was one of the big selling points touted back during the initial announcement, and the option is somewhat buried in their Maker tool.
I'll be honest, playing around with the customizer is getting me interested. Assuming the extended range battery option isn't going to double the price of the eventual car, this could be the first EV I buy.
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Not only did they suck, they also broke over time quite often.
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This leads me to wonder if it’s maybe a reaction to the fractured and frustrating HID in cars now. Press long for full retraction, or press short? How long or short? Double tap? I think everyone has likely had some experience of repeatedly attempting to get their window to do what they want and having it do something else.
And in itself it’s not a big deal, but in a world where every software update brings a new tap-press-pinch-pull HID command that increasingly feels like a secret handshake I can understand the desire to be over all of it.
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OTOH, nowadays with cars that spies on you all the time, it also spies the weather and automatically close the windows when it detects rains while the windows are not closed. You could also close the windows via phone.
Slate with power windows trim option (it is an option AFAIK), if also have rain sensor option, could have the auto window close when rains detected, without privacy concerns. Theoretically.
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I don't see automatic wipers as being optional or standard, so probably not.
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Looking at their website, getting extra seating (and a covering to make it into an SUV (or not if your kids like the wind and rain)) is a personalization option. This article doesn't focus on the Slate's customization as much, but the design is modular to the point where it can be bought as a pickup truck, a small SUV, something close to a hatchback, or something close to a Jeep.
Pictured in the article is the "Blank Slate" option.
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I'd like to see them go one step further, publish a local API and include a way to authorize self signed certificates. That way if the company is acquired or goes bankrupt you can still interact with those local services that the app enables.
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As someone who lived through hand crank windows....and was around when power-windows first came out and were very prone to breaking down, especially when Weather happened...yea there's a bit of a fondness for hand-crank.
OTOH, those days are history and power windows...like automatic transmissions...are far more reliable now than back then. Well, except for CVTs in Nissans.
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FWIW you can spec it as a four seat SUV. Granted it still only has two doors, but I spent many years as a child climbing into the back seat of a 2 door coupe without issue.
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They did. I've pulled a door panel three times in my life - one of them was a speaker upgrade, the other two were fixing failed crank assemblies on manual windows.
I can't quite say that power windows are a strict upgrade (being able to work the windows on a dead battery is a benefit), but it's awfully close.
I mean, just parking my car in the office lot today, where there is no shade, it was nice to control all the windows from my driver's seat to leave them cracked a bit. Not that I couldn't have stretched across to reach the passenger door, or walked around the car to open the rear doors after getting out...but not doing that was better.
Edited to add: nope, four times, now that I think about it. I forgot helping with my dad's '69 when its crank failed.
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Definitely one of those things that every user is different, but personally that seems like an incredibly niche thing to deal with the annoyance of manual windows on a daily basis.
Also that is something that was addressed on my 91 Nissan Maxima. You could raise and lower the windows using the keypad on the outside. As of late it seems like Ford is the only manufacturer putting keypads on most of their vehicle now.
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On the last article about this truck I got down voted to hell for asking for powered windows.
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The other thing is that it can be mix and match. Only need 3 seats and want the extra storage? Delete the fourth seat. The SUV option includes the rollover bars of the more Jeep-ish option, so if you want to just remove the roof without removing the rollover protection, you can. It's modular as hell.
Edit: looking closer at some of the promo photos, the back seat may actually be a 60/40 split bench... So I might be wrong about being able to delete one side. If so ... That kinda sucks. Not a deal breaker for me though
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I'm sure that's true, but I'm also sure it's stupid, because the unconnected aspect is tangled up with all the other choices they have made. The simple design, probably lower maintenance costs (but also new models from new manufacturers are likely to be buggy), EV and range, price, etc.
Certainly if you gave me a choice between two cars identical except one was connected and the other was not, I would pick unconnected in a heartbeat.
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Really love the promise of this, seems ideal (especially with the inevitable looming financial crash)
Really hope it comes to fruition
Never the less I am girding my self for disappointment,
… but that’s just because I’m old and scarred by experience
Really hope it comes to fruition
Never the less I am girding my self for disappointment,
… but that’s just because I’m old and scarred by experience
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