$24,950! Blank Slate Price announced

[cadblu]

Power drops to 181hp...

Maybe underpowering the motor to increase range - or using a smaller one.

Do you think anyone will notice that the horsepower has been slightly de-rated?

It’s not like anyone has driven the 201 hp version!

 

[GrizzlysGhost]

A lot of us did. We had only a small a black-and-white TV until I was eight years old. Our first color set was a 19-inch RCA XL-100. It was a "hybrid" tube/solid-state design - the worst of both worlds. My mom paid 349.95, including rabbit-ears, UHF loop, and a "free" pressed aluminum/fake wood TV stand.

For 10 years I was the remote for the TV. You're welcome dad.

 

[Supernintendo Chalmers]

Do you think anyone will notice that the horsepower has been slightly de-rated?

It’s not like anyone has driven the 201 hp version!

Honestly, the power is not far off from where entry-to-mid EV’s might come in. This is not a performance line and 20 hp shouldn’t make a world of difference

 

[EV Trek]

I am thinking about getting the Auxillary Switch panel to make it easier to install aftermarket seat heaters and Fog Lights

 

[cadblu]

For 10 years I was the remote for the TV. You're welcome dad.

Yes, and I recall I needed to hold one of those rabbit ears to boost the reception on weak channels! In effect I was acting as a signal amplifier. I guess that explains how I turned out the way I did!

 

[Doctors Do Little]

Yes, and I recall I needed to hold one of those rabbit ears to boost the reception on weak channels! In effect I was acting as a signal amplifier. I guess that explains how I turned out the way I did!

My dad’s response, “Well how do you know that this didn’t somehow make you smarter?”

How do you even argue that?

 

[kvermeer]

I am thinking about getting the Auxillary Switch panel to make it easier to install aftermarket seat heaters and Fog Lights

I've also got the switch panel on my builds, but it depends on the quality. I want lighted, fused rocker switches, like this one:

https://www.summitracing.com/parts/rgg-1723513

and I'm happy to fabricate my own switch panel to get that if needed.

 

[GrizzlysGhost]

I've also got the switch panel on my builds, but it depends on the quality. I want lighted, fused rocker switches, like this one:

https://www.summitracing.com/parts/rgg-1723513

and I'm happy to fabricate my own switch panel to get that if needed.

I'd prefer old-style toggles

 

[KevinRS]

I share your disbelief.

Constant gaslighting (LED dimmer lighting today) by automakers and their unpaid shills have distorted what an "affordable" pickup is. Yet history is a fantastic teacher.

Let's compare the MSRP of a 2000 Ford Ranger to a 2000 Ford Focus. One's a compact truck, the other a subcompact car. Both are budget vehicles considered inexpensive in their day...

Oh, look. An entry-level Ranger is about 500 bucks less than an entry-level Focus. It makes sense when you think about it. Fewer doors, lower emissions standards, ease of manufacture make the Ranger less expensive to build and buy. So what happened?

Exactly what @jmason said happened - corporate greed. And that's no BS.

Companies are out to make money, so I understand why they did this. What I don't understand are people who aren't auto executives excusing and enabling this behavor. Is hating on the poor so much in fashion that it's acceptable for the middle class to suffer, as well?

Scaling the Ranger and Focus to today's prices would have an entry-level pickup somewhere around 24,000. Nothing like that exists in the US market today. When Slate starts production in a few months, something will.

I bought one of those 2000 Ford Focus. This was way before they were having their regular "employee pricing" promos all the time. My employer had a deal where we could get pricing 1 step from Ford employee pricing, but I found out at the dealer that that didn't save anything on a focus, margins were that tight. Though if I'd been getting a truck or SUV, I'd be saving thousands off of the customer price. So that tells you something, even then, their margins were much higher on trucks.

 

[KevinRS]

I guess since the $7,500 EV credit is no longer available. I will at least take advantage of the tax deduction up to $10k per year on interest and stretch it out to a low payment.

That credit is next to useless for most people. Do you think you will be paying 10k in interest?
Lets say you add accessories to the purchase, and get the price up enough that over the first year the average balance on the loan was 30k, and you got a real high interest loan, 10% you'd pay 3k in interest that year. If you are in the 22% tax bracket, you get up to 660 of that 3k back on the tax refund. If you get a better interest rate, both the interest paid and the refund drop. It's nothing at all if the standard deduction beats it anyway.

The people who are likely taking advantage of it are people who have lots of money, but it doesn't count as "income" it's all in stock options and unrealized gains. So they have less than 100k in income but can buy a 100k+ car and deduct the interest.

They knew when setting it up that that deduction was going to be of minor impact to the budget, and that 10k in interest limit is just nuts.

 

[Luxrage]

Lol slate got back to me about the pricing leak this us what they said very very tight liped

Hi! We'll have the pricing info on the 24th! Stay tuned!

 

[sodamo]

You sound like a Candidate for an SUV kit less the bench seat unless you want to buckle them in.

Either SUV kit without the seat and rollbar or the Cargo topper.

 

[mr.wolfie]

So I read this EXTREMELY long thread (instead of working) and one thing I haven't seen argued regarding the price comparisons of the Slate to the Maverik is the long range maintenance cost. Sure the Slate is missing all those bells and whistles you get with the Maverik for a bit more expense, but how much will it cost to have the Maverik repaired over the next 10 years, when it's designed to only be repaired by "authorized" technicians and requires very custom parts that you can also only get from Ford.
I worked on the BMW assembly line for a year and the wiring they're using for most of the electrical looks to be 22 gauge wire, all bundled together running from the firewall to the back lights, under all the seats and carpeting. Sure, it handles the power requirements, but as it ages it work hardens anywhere that's flexing and becomes brittle. One wire breaks and the entire interior needs to be pulled, and the whole wiring harness replaced and rerun.
I imagine the Fords are the same way, so compare that price to what it will take to repair a Slate yourself. And 3D print pretty much any options you might want, supply your own hardware w/o data harvesting...
Ok, I was on the fence about getting one, but I think I just talked myself into it.
And yes, I registered JUST to post that.

 

[tubes]

I worked on the BMW assembly line for a year and the wiring they're using for most of the electrical looks to be 22 gauge wire, all bundled together running from the firewall to the back lights, under all the seats and carpeting. Sure, it handles the power requirements, but as it ages it work hardens anywhere that's flexing and becomes brittle. One wire breaks and the entire interior needs to be pulled, and the whole wiring harness replaced and rerun.

This is not an exaggeration. A lot of mechanics bitching on the reddit subs because they get something like a 5 hour flat rate for a job that takes at least 8 hours.

Example:

 

[Doctors Do Little]

So I read this EXTREMELY long thread (instead of working) and one thing I haven't seen argued regarding the price comparisons of the Slate to the Maverik is the long range maintenance cost. Sure the Slate is missing all those bells and whistles you get with the Maverik for a bit more expense, but how much will it cost to have the Maverik repaired over the next 10 years, when it's designed to only be repaired by "authorized" technicians and requires very custom parts that you can also only get from Ford.
I worked on the BMW assembly line for a year and the wiring they're using for most of the electrical looks to be 22 gauge wire, all bundled together running from the firewall to the back lights, under all the seats and carpeting. Sure, it handles the power requirements, but as it ages it work hardens anywhere that's flexing and becomes brittle. One wire breaks and the entire interior needs to be pulled, and the whole wiring harness replaced and rerun.
I imagine the Fords are the same way, so compare that price to what it will take to repair a Slate yourself. And 3D print pretty much any options you might want, supply your own hardware w/o data harvesting...
Ok, I was on the fence about getting one, but I think I just talked myself into it.
And yes, I registered JUST to post that.

Thank you for joining to post! Welcome to the Zoo.

Where does one start the journey of 3-D printing useful objects (like Slate accessories)? As sophisticated as I am about so many things, this still seems like magic to my analog mind.