What is Slate competing with for YOUR money?

[Doctors Do Little]

I wonder how much being an OEM accessory will matter to the average Slate buyer? 🤔

Depends on the component, honestly. Some things likely don’t matter (wraps/dips/sprays) and some (open air suv kit?) probably do?

 

[Doctors Do Little]

Ford Skunkworks EV small pickup.

Had to look that one up.

"Ford is developing a new, affordable electric pickup truck, part of their "Skunkworks" EV program, with a focus on cost and efficiency. This new platform will also underpin a compact crossover, and is designed to compete with Tesla and Chinese EV brands. The first vehicle on this platform is expected to be available in the second half of 2026, with starting prices potentially under $30,000."

So, a mid-sized EV truck in 2027...Would probably fit my use-case great, but Ford has to prove to me that they can figure out the simple stuff before I buy another EV from them. (Still waiting to get my Lightning in to fix stuff that should work every time...)

 

[Doctors Do Little]

I have a '22 Bronco, which has been great the 3 years I've owned it. It's my 8th Ford. I like the brand. They can't be any worse than a startup like Slate.

My BIL has a new Bronco and LOVES it.

I've owned many Fords over the decades (including an awful 1983 Escort!), expeditions, F150's, and my '21 F150 was awesome (until it suddenly wasn't and Ford couldn't figure it out) and now this '23 Ligtning, which drives great, but doesn't do simple things (Frunk doesn't work; Sync4 doesn't sync consistently - wireless or wired)...so, that's the legacy of Ford. Can't figure out electronics to save them. So, color me highly skeptical based on my 100% parochial experience.

 

[Driven5]

A direct competitor (more than Maverick) from Ford could certainly be bad news for Slate, attracting (too?) many potential customers.

What makes Slate compelling (to me) though, is not just that it's a small electric truck. Rather the entire premise is actually a 'novel' (for today) concept, with passion and personality, that happens to be a small electric truck.

I suppose Ford could just carbon-copy Slate, with retro-cool (Bronco Sport based) styling, 'fun' handling RWD potential, and rabid simplification with DIY and mod friendliness. But if it's just a conventionally modern (overly complicated, amorphous styled, soulless, and disposable) appliance that happens to be a small electric truck, merely competing on traditional measures of 'more' (range, tech, etc) for the price, I have zero interest.

Sometimes 'better' isn't.

Disclaimer: I am probably a poor choice of market to target.

 

[KevinRS]

Many of these rumored competitors may just never become anything more than that. Much of what has been announced/leaked since slate announced the truck is likely manufacturers covering their bases. If Slate is a big hit, they don't want to be stuck starting then with even asking if building something comparable is possible/profitable. There have been many potential vehicle developments like that that just kind of disappear and are forgotten. The Telo seems to be starting real small scale, where it's likely to be unobtainable for nearly everyone for years, even with a reservation. A Kei truck made to US safety standards and power levels would likely be years away. Ford or others seem unlikely, they are heavily invested in the upsold larger trucks, and tied to the dealer system, where dealers don't want the low profit cheaper vehicles.

 

[Letas]

Many of these rumored competitors may just never become anything more than that. Much of what has been announced/leaked since slate announced the truck is likely manufacturers covering their bases. If Slate is a big hit, they don't want to be stuck starting then with even asking if building something comparable is possible/profitable. There have been many potential vehicle developments like that that just kind of disappear and are forgotten. The Telo seems to be starting real small scale, where it's likely to be unobtainable for nearly everyone for years, even with a reservation. A Kei truck made to US safety standards and power levels would likely be years away. Ford or others seem unlikely, they are heavily invested in the upsold larger trucks, and tied to the dealer system, where dealers don't want the low profit cheaper vehicles.

The slate is also in the camp of “may never come to be”

 

[KevinRS]

The slate is also in the camp of “may never come to be”

Slate is actually building prototypes at least. The others I haven't seen more than renders and models that wouldn't be street legal in the US.

 

[Neil Nelson]

The slate is also in the camp of “may never come to be”

Except Slate has built around 70 initial Slate trucks and crashed more than half to see how well they do. Slate is also running around the country giving the public a view of the Slate truck. Slate has also invested in a truck building plant in Warsaw, Indiana. Slate is said to have hired 400 or more people to build their trucks. Slate is said to have 100K reservations. Slate has raised a total of $700 million in funding. Seems to me that Slate is moving along nicely.

 

[Doctors Do Little]

Except Slate has built around 70 initial Slate trucks and crashed more than half to see how well they do. Slate is also running around the country giving the public a view of the Slate truck. Slate has also invested in a truck building plant in Warsaw, Indiana. Slate is said to have hired 400 or more people to build their trucks. Slate is said to have 100K reservations. Slate has raised a total of $700 million in funding. Seems to me that Slate is moving along nicely.

Don’t confuse the narrative with facts, Sir!

 

[KevinRS]

Except Slate has built around 70 initial Slate trucks and crashed more than half to see how well they do. Slate is also running around the country giving the public a view of the Slate truck. Slate has also invested in a truck building plant in Warsaw, Indiana. Slate is said to have hired 400 or more people to build their trucks. Slate is said to have 100K reservations. Slate has raised a total of $700 million in funding. Seems to me that Slate is moving along nicely.

Exactly. Everything from everyone else is still just vapor and computer generated renders.

 

[GaRailroader]

Slate is said to have 100K reservations.

3 months has lapsed since Slate has told us they have 100k reservations. I’d bet they have a bunch more now. I’m guessing they don’t want to announce that they have 700k reservations now as that will tip legacy auto off and get them moving on a new plan.

 

[KevinRS]

They have even recently just said over 100k reservations, one other reason they may not have mentioned bigger numbers is they don't want to scare off potential new reservations. If they said 700k, and they've mentioned 150k produced per year, people are going to say why reserve to get a truck 4-5 years out. There will likely be a large number of those reservations that get cancelled, just like with tesla, cybertruck and others, though with the price point it may be less cancellations. However if they find the first batches of invites to finalize orders have high percentages of completions, I think they would be opening up more production plants and ramping up production in a matter of months. With the reduced parts count this will be easier than with other vehicles.

 

[Neil Nelson]

If you take the list of reservations from the Slate Reservations Pre-Order Tracking List & Stats page as a sample, you can estimate how many reservations there are. Given that there were 100K reservations two weeks in, that would expand to around 130K reservations now. There has been a drop off in making reservations after the first two weeks.

 

[Trace26]

Don’t confuse the narrative with facts, Sir!

I think the biggest thing that sets Slate apart from the other startups is leadership. They have some of the best of the best in the company. And not just flashy names but people with proven track records.

 

[RetiredOnPaper]

My sad tale; Love my '18 Model 3 RWD LR, wanted to give it to my wife and get a Cybertruck...years late, way over the promised price point, and de-featered (no tailgate ramp, no exoskeleton) and Elon gone political. Then Slate happened!