Recent content by Letas

Ding ding ding. Slate is still in the same place as it was when Chris was hired- zero cars sold. The roadmap was clear from the inception to now, it is not a surprise that Slate all the sudden needs to build a factory and sell trucks. CEOs are not hired with an expiration date in mind. Either...

CEOs don't get forced out of their roles as a reward for high performance. The only example of a CEO getting forced out being the "wrong" decision that comes to mind is Steve Jobs in the 80s. Startups are often founded by builders who are good at building, who then realize they are good at...

Yep. The polite thing to do is spin it as a positive for the demoted, but it is a demotion regardless. Slate's end goal was always to make it to 6 figure production annually, this isn't a major business change from the plan. You wouldn't hire your first CEO to be an interim CEO. Regardless...

Yep, totally agree. In the release for the Slate they said they are trying to compete with not just new cars, but used cars. The used EV market is very consumer-friendly now. It is easy to find low mile 1-2 year old cars for < 30k. Deals can be had as well at under 25k. Sure, this doesn't...

Sure, but I would imagine most consumers feel that some sort of audio and/or display is pretty much a need these days (not all, I know! Some appreciate the lack). Offering a plug+play solution for customers to have it running day 1? Great. Finding "workarounds"? Not so good.

Yikes, hopefully this is wrong. Just a flat out miss if true.

There are a few hardcore Slate lovers here who will go to all ends to defend the Slate from any ill saying. Most of the forum is pretty rational. A few would excuse the company for shipping the truck with 3 tires to "save cost". Ignore them.

Not just the upper peninsula, but the upper-upper (Keewenaw) peninsula! Houghton and Hancock can get nice and sketchy in a snow storm, with steep roads leading down to the river.

On the topic of senior discounts, what if Slate does the opposite? Seniors just got a new ~$6000 tax deduction, why not raise the price of the Slate by as much for those 65+ to help subsidize price for those who do not qualify?

Okay, whatever helps you sleep at night. We can keep moving the goalposts til the cows come home. I guess we all ought to think that Slate is an altruistic company who is bucking the trend of maximizing profits in the name of nostalgia. Their PE backing surely won’t change that.

3 considerations I'd mention, having experience with these. 1) they suck (okay bad point, I'm just not a fan) 2) leaving batteries sitting in direct sunlight is at minimum bad for the batteries, at worst, dangerous- make sure to get a good pack if you do look into this 3) The windshield will...

Ahh yes, thats where I saw it. My take on the whole 1/5 reliability but 5/5 satisfaction is... they must take care of issues pretty well. Or, their users are all cult-like and would never say a bad thing about them, but I don't see Rivian having that following, unlike other EV Mfgs...

Valid concern. Their customer satisfaction is off the charts (I believe it was #1 actually). Wonder if that’s because people who buy it make sure they are near service centers, or they have good remote support. I’m sure they’ll beat Slates support network!

Everything you said is fundamentally true. However, in practice, it is not applicable. The Chicken Tax applies to imports- it is a tariff. The S10 (my previous example) was produced in America. If anything, this protectionist legislation benefits the sale of the S10 (and other domestic...

I'm as big of an opponent of the chicken tax as any. It's far overdue that it be rolled back, but that's neither here nor there. That being said, it's silly to blame it for the reason we don't have small trucks in America. Chicken tax was enacted in the 60s. We had small trucks (comparable...