Recent content by ScooterAsheville

Oops. Yes you are right. Editing...

Well, we definitely know at least 180,000 people a year want a smallish truck, because that's how many Maverick and Santa Cruz together have been selling. Slate and maybe Telo will tell us what the market is for even smaller (174" and 152").

If it's not Donut Lab, it will be somebody (delivering the magic battery). And as soon as it can scale, prices for used BEVs without a magic battery should plummet (you would think). Why would you want a fire bomb in your garage when you can choose something inflammable. With a battery that...

I'm waiting for MissGoElectric to release her "insider info" video at the end of the month. She claims to have been getting insider info from the IP holders behind the scenes, but is unwilling to publish it until Verge ships, apparently for legal reasons. Grant that as little or as much...

Latest test result released this morning. Pretty firmly shows it is not a supercapacitor. It was a charge retention test. Of course, everyone is waiting to see gravimetric charge density and lifespan testing. Those are the big claims. They're keep it fun. Real or fake? It's a brilliant...

I'm still waiting for Slate to announce the results of the Series C funding round, which was started way back last summer. They've very quiet about that, aside from announcing it in June of 2025. Which is odd, because they were crowing to every media outlet in site that they had $700 million...

An interesting tidbit was an update in reservations to 160,000. Aside from that, I draw a blank on what the management chair shuffling implies. Except of course, that the investors thought some chair shuffling was required.

Yes. Some of the car loan terms now are mind blowing. We're headed to ten year car loans. It's madness. Another wrench in the gears, if it happens, will be transportation as a service. TBH, as I get really way up there in Boomer years, I can see myself not owning a car inside the decade. As...

If Slate is like other OEMs, they'll offer a delivery tracker web page. You'll order, see your scheduled production date, see the truck come off the line, see the scheduled pickup and delivery dates. Since Slate is releasing pricing in June, I'm guessing they'll open the order books same time...

The point I try to make so often, when it comes to Slate isn't whether or not there is a market for small affordable trucks (or cars or SUVs for that matter), but whether a startup offering only a stripper, bare-bones, low margin punishment box will survive long enough to offer anything else...

Very well written, thank you for that. I have a few minor, and hopefully polite, disagreements, but generally I think you're on track. I was honestly dumbfounded when Ford dumped the old Ranger 15 years back, but I kind of understood why everyone was abandoning truly small trucks - all the...

So many unknowns. And all of us making up stories about how the future is going to unfold. After 70 years, I know one thing about the future. It's not going to unfold the way you or I predict. It's stubborn that way.

If they choose materials well, the body panels should be an absolute non-issue. I suppose you might argue possible vibration and thermal induced cracks at the bolt points, but I sincerely doubt it. That can all be modelled on the computer, and modern materials science can work wonders. Munro...

>> @ScooterAsheville , I'm curious what led you to a Maverick pickup over the Hyundai Santa Cruz or Ford's other small pickup, the Ranger? I honestly hated buying my Maverick, but it has grown on me over three years. I drove out of the dealership oozing buyer's remorse. I didn't want a big...

I feel really bad every time I let my "negative nellie" side come out on this forum. But since you asked... The history of first vehicle quality from every single OEM that has ever existed is not a good story. The odds that Slate will exist in 2028 are not good. The odds they will exist in...