Is FORD Preparing to Release a SLATE Competitor?

[AZFox]

This is why I question the Slate's viability.

Questioning Slate's viability and extolling the virtues of other vehicles are themes in your posts.

 

[SLATEchad]

Just saw this headline and was gonna share it, but you beat me to it.

Will be exciting to see what they come out with. An affordable electric Ranger or Maverick would definitely give the Slate a run for its money and may earn my business, as excited as I am about the Slate.

I wonder how much of this has been driven by inside industry knowledge on what Slates been developing.

 

[Driven5]

On the other hand, if this rendering is accurate to any extent, I think it beats the Slate in the "looks" department.

Take off the badges and the average consumer wouldn't be able to tell which is the Ford, and which is the Hyundai Santa Cruz. Amorphous, generic, and derivative.

 

[MiketheCarGeek]

NEW: Ford is developing this 'Skunkworks' EV near LA, completely independent of Ford Dearborn. They are benchmarking Chinese EVs, breaking their own internal paradigms to completely re-think the Electric Vehicle.

OLD: Ford will announce they are building it at Louisville Assembly where the Escape and Lincoln Corsair are made. They will re-tool the plant to make this new EV... but how REVOLUTIONARY will the manufacturing process be if it is made in an OLD Assembly Plant?

 

[Susan]

I'm glad that more companies are making EVs. But this vehicle has four doors and a backseat. It's not the same. I want the storage that comes with a two door pickup truck. So, not really a competitor for people like me.

 

[Doctors Do Little]

On the other hand, if this rendering is accurate to any extent, I think it beats the Slate in the "looks" department.

100% However, I kind of like the retro S-10 look of the Slate. That has to be part of the cache

 

[SLATEchad]

On the other hand, if this rendering is accurate to any extent, I think it beats the Slate in the "looks" department.

Oh really? I was going to say the opposite... if this is what it looks like, especially the front angles I've seen, it looks like a copy of the hideous Hyundai Santa Cruz "truck". No thanks. Obviously, beauty is in the eye of the beholder. And I'm skeptical it will be built with the same user repairability, simplicity or customizability of the Slate. I'm excited to see what they come out with though and think any affordable EV is a step in the right direction. Hopefully a byproduct will be that Slate will have that much more pressure to get their out-the-door price as low as possible.

 

[AZFox]

Somewhere in California there's a smart bar with automotive design geniuses sipping nootropic beverages sharing Small Pickup design ideas.

The OG Slate's small-pickup exclusivity won't last. (And it doesn't need to.)

 

[Doctors Do Little]

Oh really? I was going to say the opposite... if this is what it looks like, especially the front angles I've seen, it looks like a copy of the hideous Hyundai Santa Cruz "truck". No thanks. Obviously, beauty is in the eye of the beholder. And I'm skeptical it will be built with the same user repairability, simplicity or customizability of the Slate. I'm excited to see what they come out with though and think any affordable EV is a step in the right direction. Hopefully a byproduct will be that Slate will have that much more pressure to get their out-the-door price as low as possible.

@SLATEchad, I like your avatar rendering. I've got something VERY similar in mind, but different color.

The big question will be reliability, imho. Ford's not there, and with only a few exceptions, never has been.

Slate is new, so has an opportunity to show out...I'll buy 3 of them and distribute them to (my) desperate children if they are reliable.

 

[SLATEchad]

@SLATEchad, I like your avatar rendering. I've got something VERY similar in mind, but different color.

The big question will be reliability, imho. Ford's not there, and with only a few exceptions, never has been.

Slate is new, so has an opportunity to show out...I'll buy 3 of them and distribute them to (my) desperate children if they are reliable.

Yes, the reliability would give me some hesitation with any Ford, but of course that's a big question mark with Slate too. Being EV's, apart from tech issues (how much tech will be in this Ford?), the powertrains are inherently more reliable just based on their simplicity. I'd be much less worried about buying an EV from Ford and even companies like Dodge over their hybrid or gas powertrains, simply because there's less to get wrong.

Also, yes, the configuration on my avatar is one of my favorites. I love that this thing can be open air like a Wrangler. I've always kind of wanted a wrangler, but it's just never made sense pricewise and I don't trust Jeep's reliability.

 

[AZFox]

Front view of the compact truck rendering

 

[cadblu]

I think it's a safe bet that we'll see competitive small EV truck offerings from Tesla, Chevy, KIA, and Hyundai to challenge the Slate in the next couple of years.

I'm sure that traditional automotive OEMs are monitoring Slate's rollout very closely and will be vying for a piece of the action. But timing is everything, and they may be a bit late to the party.

 

[SlateModGarage]

On the other hand, if this rendering is accurate to any extent, I think it beats the Slate in the "looks" department.

Not to my likes. I like the boxed look of Slate. The doors do not look like they come off. So it will be a nope for me.

 

[Driven5]

 

[AZFox]

Ford Falcon ute from the mid-2010's