From a design point of view, what limits the slate to 1000 pounds towing capacity

[KevinRS]

Looks to be a couple things.

My guess would be a mix of range extension, electrical system capabilities vs towing and cooling, and from what ive seen, lack of a proper frame to hitch with. Seems to be a bumper hitch.

Price point and type of body doesnt determine towing. Ability to stop, steer, shift (or in this case just move) and move are generally what does. Once you get away from those things, vehicle weight is usually the limiting factor.

I will say the towing on this is ridiculously low. I used to have a '13 Focus SE and that was rated at 1000 towing. Im guessing the slate's towing is more of a butt covering measure than anything.

From what I can find, the focus wasn't tow rated in the US. Doesn't mean you can't tow, and in other countries it apparently was tow rated, but for comparison to the anticipated 1000 lb US tow rating of the slate, the focus was a zero.
Looks like no tow rating means if you tow with it, and there is any damage that even looks like it might be tow related, it's not going to be covered by the warrantee.
We just don't have any details on towing with the slate besides that number, no one's even seen one with a hitch receiver visible, or a sign of where one would be or mount.

 

[Daemoch]

I'll throw in that the BMW X6, when opting for the 'Tow Package' includes frame gussets, not just trans/cooler/tow harness stuff. SO if you add a wiring harness and tow funtion later, you still don't have all the needed parts to get to where the factory would have put you.

 

[Daemoch]

Also, no ones mentioned wheel base. Just cause you got the grunt and frame, doesn't mean you can handle the weight. Too small a wheel base and the trailer will drive YOU, not the other way around!

 

[Daemoch]

My take:

The reason the Truck can only pull 1,000 pounds is because it's an economy car, either in a pickup or an SUV form factor, with as little as 820 pounds of load-carrying capacity.

Economy cars don't pull heavy trailers.

Edit: To put it another way, it's not some specific Truck attribute, it's just the nature of this particular beast, because low price (cost-of-ownership) is a top priority in its design.

This makes me wonder if Slate is positioning it with that tow ability to keep it inside some government tax or incentive windows? It might be a 'limit' just for the limit's sake so they get a financial break somewhere. It's not like they would tell us if that was the case.... :/

 

[AZFox]

This makes me wonder if Slate is positioning it with that tow ability to keep it inside some government tax or incentive windows? It might be a 'limit' just for the limit's sake so they get a financial break somewhere. It's not like they would tell us if that was the case.... :/

Could be.

I think it's because the initial Truck prioritizes economy in its design, leaving room for more grrr in a later, more expensive version.

Admittedly that could be some Wishful Thinking happening on my part. I'd happily pay extra for AWD and 500# more load / towing capacities.

 

[KevinRS]

This makes me wonder if Slate is positioning it with that tow ability to keep it inside some government tax or incentive windows? It might be a 'limit' just for the limit's sake so they get a financial break somewhere. It's not like they would tell us if that was the case.... :/

I haven't seen anything like that related to tow capacity. In many states apparently, if it has a bed then it's primarily for transporting cargo, so it's a truck, and you pay extra for commercial registration. You can get around it with a camper shell (or in slate's case, an SUV kit) but you have to install it, and at least certify to the state that you don't plan to remove it. It's not a huge difference in fees anyway.
Part of the fees are based on vehicle weight, but not on capacity.

 

[AZFox]

Part of the fees are based on vehicle weight, but not on capacity.

I think they're based on GVWR, correct?

GVWR - weight = load capacity

 

[KevinRS]

According to the California DMV part of the fee is based on:

• The unladen or declared gross vehicle weight (GVW) and the number of axles your vehicle may have.

They also have a fee calculator, For pickups, you have to choose commercial.

Checking, and for under 10k lbs you choose the unladen weight range, the lowest range is under 6k lbs, slate is supposed to be around 3602, so it wouldn't matter what you add, you shouldn't be going over 6000

Tax on 27500 would be $2681, registration fees would be 519, for 3200 even. $179 of that is tax deductible, If I pretend I'm getting the SUV kit and registering it as an auto, registration drops to 432, the difference is a California weight fee of $87. The only weight entered is "up to 6000"

 

[AZFox]

According to the California DMV part of the fee is based on:

• The unladen or declared gross vehicle weight (GVW) and the number of axles your vehicle may have.

They also have a fee calculator, For pickups, you have to choose commercial.

Wow, learned something new. That's a very California way to do it.

In Arizona (and federally) GVWR (with an R) is used, not GVW.

In AZ even a 3/4-ton pickup isn't automatically commercial.

Passenger cars, ¾ ton or less pickup trucks and ¾ ton or less vans, used for commercial purposes 1,000 or more hours in a vehicle registration year, must be registered commercially.​

 

[Daemoch]

Every state is different. Even counties and cities can have different stipulations.

Here in WI for example trailers don't have to be licensed, insured, marked, or even 'approved' for use. I passed one on the freeway last year that had 10 speed tires on a wooden box; looked like the base of it was a pallet maybe. They were doing about 70 in the left lane. I did NOT want to be behind that!...