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Incredible! Jay Leno BARFS in the Slate Truck! Can it compete with the other EV BARF MOBILES?? Or is it too little too late?!? well you know i'd rather barf in 4 slates than one rivian you know what i mean the interiors are so fancy i mean this is a truck come on if you can't barf in your own...

For me the Slate would be a 2nd vehicle, but not a toy. I manage a few properties and a non-profit makerspace/community workshop, as well as my own various projects, so a small truck is a real need - I can't get a Leaf or a Bolt for this application. However, it won't be a daily driver or...

Pretty nice video. It is amusingly casual, which was probably part of the point, but it feels authentic. The ramp itself is neat, but there are definitely a few more good shots of people around the truck, loading things in, opening and closing the tailgate, etc. that are worth paying attention to.

I work in the energy storage industry and one of our sayings is "There are liars, damned liars, and battery suppliers". You can't trust any announcement or spec sheet until you have a test unit in hand.

Yeah, its just enshittification. "Do you want the big plastic piece or the small plastic piece? The small one costs the same as the old big one, and the big one costs $500, including our 500% markup."

Unfortunately the 2025/26 model was a downgrade in several areas - smaller frunk and then no frunk (I use mine all the time?), encrypted CAN (locks out 3rd party tools and ODB readers), etc. The heatpump is a nice addition, but seems to have minimal actual impact on range. So far my '21 has...

Exactly - people say they want a manual transmission, and that is exactly what an EV is - a manual with a single gear.

It's both - there are definitely utilities opposed to net metering simply because it treads on their ground and they don't like it. But more and more, renewables have been doing great, and now we are reaching physical constraints. Here is ERCOT's fuel mix yesterday, it was running around 73%...

The problem is purely physics - CAISO already produces so much solar that during the daytime most of the year there is nowhere to put it all. They routinely go negative and export power to the neighboring grids when they can, but even that isn't always enough. Adding additional rooftop solar...

It will almost certainly have a 14-50 plug, and charge at 40A on a 50A breaker. That is the de facto standard config for a L2 EVSE. More powerful units are hardwired, such as 48A EVSE on a 60A breaker, or an 80A on a 100A breaker.

Apologies, my bolded statement was more for ezjob's concern about having to restrict charging - he won't need to do that. You are right that the reserves/overbuilds are standard, I just mean that a reserve of more than 10% would be very unlikely. There is a minimum reserve as well - about 2%...

Play around with https://abetterrouteplanner.com/ - they have basic specs for the Slate loaded already so you can select it as a vehicle, and choose standard or extended range. Just plot the trips you'd like to do, set some options like what SOC you'll depart home with, and what minimum SOC...

The MachE, on release, set the SOC range to about 5% to 96%, and that was considered conservative at the time. There is indication that a future update moved that out to 97%, but I haven't confirmed that with my own measurements. No one will set their range to 20%-80%, that simply isn't needed...

Oof, I really hope that isn't true. That eliminates a huge range of useful accessories. Even if the load rating isn't terribly high, at least give us something better than a Geo Metro tow package...

The video is a good one, and glad to see they are doing the full testing. It would have been nice to see a bit more load, but at least they had sand bags in the bed. As for older trucks, my 1997 Tacoma (same curb weight as the Slate, about 18" longer due to the extended cab) has a 5000 lb tow...

The low tow rating is pretty vexing. For one thing, it really limits the number of options for around-town towing, such as a landscaping trailer, rental tool pickups, motorcycle trailer, etc. Even by going to 1500 lbs you'd open up a lot more options, and at 2000 lbs there are tons of choices. I...

Yeah, its called "youtube face" and it basically prevents me from watching anything on youtube anymore. They are so starved for ad impressions that they have to make every small thing seem like a massive revelation. MASSIVE BREAKTHROUGH - ABSOLUTELY CRUSHED - SOANDSO CLAPPED BACK??? People are...

Space saver spares are a good option - something with the same or very close outside diameter and bolt pattern, but only 4" wide. Better than a true donut, and easier to store than a full size spare. My MachE didn't come with a spare (very common these days), but after the fiasco when I had my...

Chinese companies making products for export are going to be making very high quality stuff. Anyone who thinks that NA/US manufacturing will win out on the quality side is dangerously out of date. I'm trying hard to avoid getting political, but I'd suggest that if you want to encourage US...

Exactly, it takes a long time to get a new cell line up and running, and then to get it up to scale. And even then you have to compete with everyone else who wants to buy up all the manufacturing slots. I'm generally in favor of making things in the US, but this is an example of where we've...