It looks like SLATE has pathetic EV efficiency. (and a rant).

[Garbone]

Eh, as stated charge curve trumps efficiency. Bolts are nice around town if you charge at home, traveling, they are an annoyance to other drivers. Honestly 2 hours endurance at highway speeds and a good charge curve that gets you on the road in 20 minutes are better than 3 hours endurance and an hour clogging up a charger. If the a Slate can charge decent and not nuke the pack call it a win.

 

[AZFox]

Maybe they’re trying to be the anti Tesla… under promise and over deliver, instead of the exact opposite.

Achieved Results - Expected Results = Level of Owner Satisfaction

Slate Auto knows this... or at least they should.

 

[AZFox]

The standard tire should be a 215 low rolling resistance tire and that would probably increase the range 10%.

There doesn't appear to be a good 215 size for 17" or 20" wheels. I asked Slate if a 16" wheel would fit and they replied "yes", however I doubt the agent really knows that for sure.

Tire Size Chart -- The standard tire is 245/65R17 (29.5 x 9.6)

Have you ever noticed the wheels on a Prius? They look like skateboard wheels! I think efficiency is the reason they're so small.

Personally I'd trade away some efficiency to have closer to "normal" sized wheels and tires. That's what Slate Auto appears to have done.

 

[slateya]

There doesn't appear to be a good 215 size for 17" or 20" wheels. I asked Slate if a 16" wheel would fit and they replied "yes", however I doubt the agent really knows that for sure.

Tire Size Chart -- The standard tire is 245/65R17 (29.5 x 9.6)

Have you ever noticed the wheels on a Prius? They look like skateboard wheels! I think efficiency is the reason they're so small.

Personally I'd trade away some efficiency to have closer to "normal" sized wheels and tires. That's what Slate Auto appears to have done.

This right here. I will not buy a skinny tired little car. The compromise toward efficiency is too far for me. I want a normal robust vehicle that happens to be an EV. Slate is the first one not junked up with extra stuff I don’t want and in a price range I am willing to pay.

 

[metroshot]

Eh, as stated charge curve trumps efficiency. Bolts are nice around town if you charge at home, traveling, they are an annoyance to other drivers. Honestly 2 hours endurance at highway speeds and a good charge curve that gets you on the road in 20 minutes are better than 3 hours endurance and an hour clogging up a charger. If the a Slate can charge decent and not nuke the pack call it a win.

Oh yeah, don't remind how terribly slow the Bolt EUV/EV are at public fast chargers!

They do clog up the chargers with their pathetic charge rate.

Definitely belongs at home on L2.

 

[Sparkie]

True, but many want it at same price as the Slate. Delusional?

Delusional? Not really.
Don't forget that this thread is a rant. OP made it clear at the start. So, feel free to post any complaints in here.
Earlier, I complained about the poor packaging design of oranges. Now I'm going to complain about the missing hair on my head. My brother still has all of his hair, but mine is gone. We both had the same parents and grew up eating and drinking the same. So why didn't my hair last as long as his? I was told to present my complaint directly to the Maker of the original man, but there's no return trip once you see the Maker...

 

[sodamo]

Delusional not aimed this thread but the broader forum people wanting their $20+k slate to have all the amenities of a $$40-50+K, Awd, 4 doors, power this and that, etc. but of course as EV pickup.

 

[metroshot]

Delusional not aimed this thread but the broader forum people wanting their $20+k slate to have all the amenities of a $$40-50+K, Awd, 4 doors, power this and that, etc. but of course as EV pickup.

100% agree !

People that want this and that should look at the $60K Lightning, $85K Chevy EV truck, or $100K Rivian R1T.

$25K Slate is not for those that want everything for nothing....

 

[sodamo]

I can remember as a kid the barber thinning my hair. 78 years later, no need.

 

[Effonefiddy Lightning]

Disagree. They are both small EVs. Put a SUV topper on the slate and they’re even closer. The slate even weighs less than the bolt. They’re comparable low cost entry level,small vehicles.

I don’t expect the slate to have great miles/kWh but seeing it’s got lower weight and 10 years of design knowledge since the bolt came out, it should be much better than what it calculates out. Even bricks can be designed for maximum efficiency. I don’t see slate putting much, if any effort into making it an efficient small ev. Cheap yes, diy yes, efficient? No so much.

Aerodynamics is king, weight plays a smaller part unless its a lot more weight. Also, the motor/s efficiency matters too, and then there is rolling resistance.

 

[ryun]

This might have been mentioned already but there isn't much value comparing your own efficiency numbers to the EPA numbers. My Lightning gets an EPA estimate of 240 miles. With a 98 KWh battery pack I'm looking at 2.44 Mi/KWh. I regularly exceed that driving around town in optimal weather -- even going 60 MPH. My wife's EV6 has the same behavior. The EPA estimates aren't great for EVs but they do lean conservative.

My guess is Slate is trying to under promise and over deliver here so that if they come above EPA estimates they can tout their "better than expected efficiency gains due to the hard work of our engineers." Ford did something similar when the Lightning came out. Ford also got a slight bump of 230 miles to 240 miles adding heated seats as standard to all trim levels starting in 2023. All things Slate is capable of.

It's also entirely possible that the reason this thing is going to be inexpensive is because they didn't do whole lot of work to maximize efficiency. For example, one might actually see some efficiency gains from a tonneau cover compared to modern trucks if the aerodynamics are bad enough.

For folks who haven't owned an EV before know this: aerodynamics kills efficiency at highway speeds. Cold weather kills efficiency -- both to keep the battery at ~60F and to keep you warm in the cabin. If you want to maximize range you need to

• Slow down and go the speed limit or a bit under if you're really hypermiling
• Use heated seats instead of heating the air -- which means probably buying some for the Slate
• Precondition your vehicle before departing on a long trip.

These are things anyone can easily do to adapt to different settings. Also weight reduction does almost nothing for range so don't waste your time with it.

 

[metroshot]

....

For folks who haven't owned an EV before know this: aerodynamics kills efficiency at highway speeds. Cold weather kills efficiency -- both to keep the battery at ~60F and to keep you warm in the cabin. If you want to maximize range you need to

• Slow down and go the speed limit or a bit under if you're really hypermiling
• Use heated seats instead of heating the air -- which means probably buying some for the Slate
• Precondition your vehicle before departing on a long trip.

These are things anyone can easily do to adapt to different settings. Also weight reduction does almost nothing for range so don't waste your time with it.

^^^ 100% correct.

Luckily I live in a warm weather climate surrounded by heavy traffic and have no need to turn on cabin heating, precondition nor speed.

I get the best range driving slowly all the time and occasionally the A/C will be on.

EV battery chemistries are not quite there yet for all climates, driving styles, and public charging...

Tesla and other brands that use NCM batteries for over a decade tells you that we are still waiting for the "magic" battery pack that does not suffer from the above conditions...

 

[Dorbiman]

Luckily I live in a warm weather climate surrounded by heavy traffic and have no need to turn on cabin heating, precondition nor speed.

Never seen someone say they were lucky to live in an area with lots of traffic!

But yeah, extending range in an EV isn't too different than an ICEV imo. Everyone knows that running AC can impact an ICEV's mileage, and that driving well above the speed limit can reduce mileage as well. The only real difference is that EVs are happier at lower speeds, whereas most ICEVs are happiest around 60ish

 

[dcgray2]

one might actually see some efficiency gains from a tonneau cover compared to modern trucks if the aerodynamics are bad enough.

Glad to see someone mention it. Or take the tailgate off and run a net instead.

 

[theonetruestripes]

Nothing wrong with the BOLT's efficiency, but the Slate...

The Slate's smaller battery is rated 52.7 kWh with an expected range of 150 miles. 150 miles / 52.7 ... That's the same as ~2.8 miles/kWh. That absolutely SUCKs. The larger battery pack is about the same @ 2.9 miles/kWh

The Slate is a smallish pickup truck, and like any pickup truck shaped vehicle it is about as aerodynamic as a...I was going to say brick, but pickup trucks are even less aerodynamic then that.

The bolt is a small subcompact, so small that it looks extremely off to the american car buying public, and it has everything smoothed to make it more aerodynamic. Which is why it hits 4 miles per kWh, as long as you keep the speed under 65 (go over that and some of the airflow forms vortexes behind it and wind drag eats the efficiency very very quickly).

I had a Bolt EV and it was very nice for what it was: a tiny econoshitbox piled on with gadgets and a quiet efficient electric motor.

There are multiple EV pickup trucks on the market right now and none get 4 miles per kWh. If you baby them just right they may break over 3 on occasion, but the are going to be about 2 as driven in the real world, less if you tow something.

Slate isn’t going to both pull off a miracle of getting 4 miles per kWh and also costing half or a third of what other EV pickups do. Lets be satisfied at the low starting cost and let it actually be an EV pickup and get it’s 2 miles per kWh.

You would think that the smaller, lighter battery and the plastic body panels with give the SLATE an efficiency boost and would be able to do at least as good, if not a bit better than a nearly 10-year old designed Chevy Bolt.

EV efficiency is less about weight and more about airflow.

ALL EVs should have a miles/kWh rating standard. The mpgE rating is confusing at best. In addition, the time to charge to 80% or 100% is absolute BS.

If you want to compare two EVs a miles per kWh is the right number to have.

If you want to compare a gas vehicle to an EV eMPG is more useful. At this point I would think it would be best to have both published.

Time to charge to 50%, 80% and 100% are not wildly useful numbers except that EVs do tend to have a charge curve that limits charging speed as you get closer to full. Most EVs drop off around 50%, Hyundai has a system that can hold full charge rates up to about 80% and I think Porche demo’ed one that went to 100%, but I don’t know if it is in a production EV.

Generally knowing where the charge rate drops off is useful in that the fastest long distance trip is start full, drive to the charger you can reach closest to 0%, charge until the charge curve slacks off if that can get you to another charger, lather rinse repeat. So most EVs you use the full range (ish) to get to the first charger of the day and the 50% mark for all the rest. A Hyundai will let you go to 80% in all the places other EVs are better off stopping at 50%. Effectively the Hyandai’s charge punches above it’s weight class for long distance trips because it charges fast up to 80% (and also given the right kind of fast chargers it charges really really really fast!).

Maybe the right thing to look at is “total charge time over a 2000 miles in a row trip”? Maybe? I mean that is a good head to head number, it is kind of crap for deciding what to buy. You really want to know that number for your actual trip lengths, and probably actual routes. So that isn’t going to be on a window sticker, it is too specific to each customer. Which makes the 2000 mile number more interesting in general, or run out at a few different standard distances, 200, 500, 1000, 1500, 2000? Something like that? Let the manufacturers stipulate whatever charging equipment they want, but make them specify it on the sticker (“assuming a 500A 800V DC charger” or whatever)

...maybe not really that worth thinking about since I don’t run the world, but...hey...