Extended battery price? Another clue... "less than SUV kit"

[danielt1263]

But if they are saying that the pack cannot be swapped in the field, which sure is what "Batteries will not be upgradable beyond the factory floor" sounds like, than that is extremely anti right to repair.

I suspect they mean that such an upgrade path will not be marketed and they will not produce any instructions on how to do it. Just like they won't produce instructions on how to mount a 220 kw motor or how to mount a motor to the front wheels. Does that mean that none of these things are possible?

Given that RepairPal service centers need a battery lift in order to be certified for high voltage repair, obviously battery repair will be possible. I expect that battery upgrade will also be technically possible, but Slate will not provide any information on how to do it, or condone such behavior.

I don't see how any of this is "extremely anti right to repair".

 

[EV Trek]

I suspect they mean that such an upgrade path will not be marketed and they will not produce any instructions on how to do it. Just like they won't produce instructions on how to mount a 220 kw motor or how to mount a motor to the front wheels. Does that mean that none of these things are possible?

Given that RepairPal service centers need a battery lift in order to be certified for high voltage repair, obviously battery repair will be possible. I expect that battery upgrade will also be technically possible, but Slate will not provide any information on how to do it, or condone such behavior.

I don't see how any of this is "extremely anti right to repair".

While it may be possible, I think the cost and complexity and safety factors have to be considered, like I said Slate does not want to put themselves into a position that they could be sued if something goes wrong. So they say Nope you won’t be able to do that. Then if you try it’s all on you.
It’s not like changing your cordless leaf blower from a 2 amp hour battery to a 4 amp hour battery. Lol
Best to buy the bigger battery when you order your truck if there is a possibility you will want one later on.

 

[NMNeil]

You should know it takes specialized equipment to swap batteries not to mention either replacing or reprogramming the BMS.

But if there's money to be made someone will step in with a solution.

 

[Tom Sawyer]

But if there's money to be made someone will step in with a solution.

See Greentec EV & Hybrid Batteries - they've been at it for a while now.

 

[pdxmotorhead]

I suspect they mean that such an upgrade path will not be marketed and they will not produce any instructions on how to do it. Just like they won't produce instructions on how to mount a 220 kw motor or how to mount a motor to the front wheels. Does that mean that none of these things are possible?

Given that RepairPal service centers need a battery lift in order to be certified for high voltage repair, obviously battery repair will be possible. I expect that battery upgrade will also be technically possible, but Slate will not provide any information on how to do it, or condone such behavior.

I don't see how any of this is "extremely anti right to repair".

My town has about 20 "Repair Pal" members, not a single one has any obvious EV experience/training, Does not make me confident that the common new car glitches will be easy to handle if they involve power train..

This is the same hole Rivian and Polestar are still stuck in, sub contracted dealers that are supposed to support their cars,, I tried to get a Rivian test drive for 2 months, their office was never open and they didn't have a car to test drive was evidentially just supposed to buy it cause they said everybody likes it and no I didn't need to see one.<sarcasm> Pole star never called me back after about 3 weeks of leaving messages.. Didn't even look back. Sold my Model 3 (2020 model) for a 2024 Model Y with a 3500 dollar price reduction than the Fed and state rebates.. My gas savings made the payments, I paid it off already..

IMHO Slates biggest miss is a drop out cartridge battery that could be swapped in 10 minutes.. Fleet customer would love being able to skip charging delays on their delivery vehicles.. Then the battery range would be a non issue.. For both regular and fleet buyers..

 

[FlyHappy]

IMHO Slates biggest miss is a drop out cartridge battery that could be swapped in 10 minutes.. Fleet customer would love being able to skip charging delays on their delivery vehicles.. Then the battery range would be a non issue.. For both regular and fleet buyers..

surely you know this is a wildly unrealistic ask.
nobody is doing anything like this other then NIO and friends in China, and that is handled exclusively by their own locations, more akin to to a Supercharger network buildout. They most certainly are not providing that capability to end users.

 

[SparkYellow]

I hope the decision will be easy. If the extended range is over $30K, I will have to choose between no Slate or standard range. Either way, I am going to need some ice cream to calm my nerves this Wednesday. 😳

 

[danielt1263]

I hope the decision will be easy. If the extended range is over $30K, I will have to choose between no Slate or standard range. Either way, I am going to need some ice cream to calm my nerves this Wednesday. 😳

No way it will be over $30k unless you are talking OTD price, then it likely depends on what tax, tag, title & shipping are like where you live.

 

[SparkYellow]

No way it will be over $30k unless you are talking OTD price, then it likely depends on what tax, tag, title & shipping are like where you live.

Yes, sorry I wasn't clear, if it's $30K before all that. I am in Cali so OTD for 28K is well over 30K. Just preparing myself for the worst case scenario.

 

[danielt1263]

Yes, sorry I wasn't clear, if it's $30K before all that. I am in Cali so OTD for 28K is well over 30K. Just preparing myself for the worst case scenario.

They've already said the extended battery will be less than the SUV kit, and the latter will be "around" $5k. So if the battery is $4k and the base is $25k, that would be $29k at the most.

I'm hoping though that they do some sort of "just kidding, the base is only $24k" and they make the additional battery $3k. 🤞