$24,950! Blank Slate Price announced

[sodamo]

That's a noble pursuit, but it's a good idea to at least become familiar with the local charging infrastructure, which these days costs less than the petroleum equivalent.

Sorry to derail the argument.

not unlike knowing where the gas stations are. Will be comparing notes with my RAV4 PHEV friends for locations.

 

[sodamo]

I may have missed it, but I have not yet seen Slate issue a video regarding the process of installing the SUV kit. All I think any of has seen is the SUV transformation at the reveal when one of the Trucks was taken behind opaqued curtains and converted to the SUV in about a 3/4 hour by a crew of 4 to 6 Slate staff.

I think there is a difference between a bolt-on top as a body panel to convert a vehicle from one type to another vs. a bolt-on top designed to be easily removable. With a proper hoist like I have for removing the top of my Bronco, it is a 20-minute, 1-man job. I think if people are buying the SUV kit thinking they can easily and quickly convert back to the pickup version, the kit is going to prove different.

I suspect a bit more complicated than my Leers, that C bolt type clamp to bedrails. Not difficult but 2 people or a lift. My thought is the Slate top is 2 sides, rear, and top. My interest is the Cargo top, no seat or rollbar. Not likely to fully remove but just the top at times.

 

[E90400K]

$40k for a 2wd XL is inexpensive?

Yes it is inexpensive. In 1999 I bought a Work Series F-150 (the trim below XL) for $19,600. White, V6, manual transmission. It was a 4x4 though. $19,600 in 1999 is $39,425 in 2026 dollars.

 

[Doctors Do Little]

For me, the $24,950 price is great. The price isn't what may hold me back from executing on my reservation.

It's the fact that I have a baby on the way. I'm not sure it would be smart to replace one of our 3 vehicles with a 2-seater (and I don't think it would be easy to get a carseat into the rear of a 4-5 seater with 2 doors), but I haven't decided yet.

You might have to do some #adulting on this one. It sucks to maneuver a car carrier into the back of a vehicle from front door. Put off the Slate until you have more free cash and it won't matter (PSA: you are having a kid. Apparently, our society has made that a VERY expensive proposition.)

Congratulations, btw!

Your Mileage May Vary

 

[Tommy2Teeth]

Maybe frunk for groceries? That was my plan…except that I’m the nerd that always carries a box of tools, tow straps, backpack of emergency medical gear…ok, my frunk runneth over.

Same here. Emergency charger and roadside kit, tire inflator goes up front.

but the dog in the Frunk … interesting! I’m working on that mod right now!

 

[tubes]

You might have to do some #adulting on this one. It sucks to maneuver a car carrier into the back of a vehicle from front door. Put off the Slate until you have more free cash and it won't matter (PSA: you are having a kid. Apparently, our society has made that a VERY expensive proposition.)

Congratulations, btw!

Your Mileage May Vary

I think the increasing regulations and general awareness of keeping kids safe is part of what killed the two door. When I grew up, 2 doors were plentiful. As kids, they were fun! "Jump on back there." Adults liked the fact the kids were "trapped." But, uh, nevermind proper restraint. Up front, mom or dad had the "safety arm" to protect us.

 

[cadblu]

You might have to do some #adulting on this one. It sucks to maneuver a car carrier into the back of a vehicle from front door. Put off the Slate until you have more free cash and it won't matter (PSA: you are having a kid. Apparently, our society has made that a VERY expensive proposition.)

Congratulations, btw!

Your Mileage May Vary

Couldn't you just strap the car carrier in the rear seat one time, and leave it back there?
Does it have to be removed each time?
Just don't forget to remove your child.

 

[Doctors Do Little]

Same here. Emergency charger and roadside kit, tire inflator goes up front.

but the dog in the Frunk … interesting! I’m working on that mod right now!

I love where your head is here. This could be the mod that seals it for my domestic boss!

 

[Doctors Do Little]

Couldn't you just strap the car carrier in the rear seat one time, and leave it back there?
Does it have to be removed each time?
Just don't forget to remove your child.

Most of the modern ones are kid carriers that you "click" into place. The base stays in the back, but you have to get that bulky carrier through the front seat passage, reversed, and then clicked in....or at least that's how it was for my 6 kids? (full disclosure...I had minivans for the car carrier days...I wasn't messing with front seat passage - ever!).

 

[kvermeer]

It's the fact that I have a baby on the way. I'm not sure it would be smart to replace one of our 3 vehicles with a 2-seater (and I don't think it would be easy to get a carseat into the rear of a 4-5 seater with 2 doors), but I haven't decided yet.

Congrats! I did that for a few years, found it wasn't as difficult as some people make it out to be. We usually drove my wife's car when going somewhere together, but it was no real hassle for me to put the carrier in the back.

I heartily recommend the Graco ClickConnect for the infant stage, you strap the base into the seat (and leave it there for months), load the kid into the carrier while still indoors, and then just curl the kid through the opening and onto the seat. A little bit of a difficult lift for my wife, especially as he grew, but not hard - and she usually wasn't clicking him into my car. Installing the base or carseats to the LATCH points is a thing you do infrequently, but thoroughly, and definitely involves climbing into the back seat.

Once they're out of the carrier and need a dedicated rear-facing carseat, you just sit next to them in the back to do their buckles. Easy peasy, assuming you haven't completely abandoned your weight/fitness/flexibility and can get yourself into the backseat. By the time they're front facing, they can click their own buckles, and you just have to tug the strap to get them tight. Maybe the calculus is different if you're going to be installing and removing the carseats frequently, but we used one per vehicle and it made it really easy.

Now my boy is 9, and at 4'9", he's done with the booster and can ride in the front of a Slate!

 

[EV Trek]

In 1987 I bought a Chevy S-10 EL pickup, absolutely the barest bones truck you could buy at the time. 92HP 2.5L 4 cylinder, 4 speed transmission, 6’ bed, 2 door, no radio, hand crank windows 14” tires on steelies with dog dish hubcaps, no Air Conditioning, and no rear bumper for $5,999.00 today according to my inflation calculator it would cost:

The 2027 Slate is much more highly equipped EV with all the safety features required by the government with more horsepower with a 12 inch shorter bed, with no infotainment system, but an app that connects to the truck that gives you lots of information. So I don’t feel like it is an unreasonably priced truck compared to what I got 40 years ago.
Edit:
I just talked to my Brother he bought a 1999 S-10 that was similar to my S-10 but had a 4.3L 160hp V6, AC and an AM-FM Cassette player that had a MSRP of $14,500 today that same truck according to my inflation calculator would cost

that still does not include all the Government mandated equipment the Slate has.

 

[ScooterAsheville]

Two-door Maverick ?

Doh. Typo. Ranger. I'll fix that.

My childhood memory is long gone. But I think my mom had an orange Maverick car back in the day. Back then, in the rust belt, if you got three years out of a car before your feet went through the floor - that was a win. I used to have a VW Karmann Ghia, and I put a new sheet of tin across the footwell every fall. It'd be risted away by spring. And that thing had frigging convection heat. Meaning it was a rolling ice chest in winter.

 

[Supernintendo Chalmers]

For me, the $24,950 price is great. The price isn't what may hold me back from executing on my reservation.

It's the fact that I have a baby on the way. I'm not sure it would be smart to replace one of our 3 vehicles with a 2-seater (and I don't think it would be easy to get a carseat into the rear of a 4-5 seater with 2 doors), but I haven't decided yet.

Congratulations! My (exhausted) brother loves his kids (also has a 2-seater Ranger, interestingly). My partner and I decided not to have kids in part because society beats you over the head with expectations and unfunded mandates when it comes to kids. My family, my choice. So screw it. Businesses get better treatment.

A 2-seater works perfectly for us now.

 

[E90400K]

I traded a 2010 Ranger stripper (2 doors, 4 cyl, manual, XLT) for my Maverick. Actually, my price for a 2022 Ranger was a vastly superior deal. I got a vehicle that blasted my POS Ranger (It was a rattly, poorly performing death trap with axle hop) out of the water. The Maverick is a far more sophisticated and capable vehicle.

More imporantly, when I put the numbers into the CPI calculator - wonder of wonders. Adjusted for inflation, my 2022 Maverick cost exactly the same as my 2010 Ranger.

I think most people talk out of their asses about pricing. Because they deliberately ignore the effects of inflation. Which can be frigging dramatic. BLS has an online inflation calculator, and people should use it more often. Inflation is a stealth tax. And most people are oblivious to it.

Mind you, I'm talking about Maverick prices in 2022. In 2026, Ford has adjusted upward way past inflation - simply because Maverick demand is off the hook and the market will bear it. They're still selling every truck that comes off the line at Hermosillo.

Here's hoping Slate has the same problem. Too much demand.

BTW, those of us who actually owned a 2 door, bottom trim Maverick with manual door locks, roll up windows and the base engine - we were the Slate crowd long before the Slate crowd arrived and started strutting around about how they're revolutionizing the small truck world. Been there, done that.

And your post eludes too but doesn't say it outright. Modern cars/trucks are far more safe in accidents, get much fuel mileage, require less maintenance (ICEV too), last longer, have mandated driver aids, and have much more content.

My example is the Gen 6 Bronco. When released in 2021 the Base was $29,950. In 1995 we bought a Jeep Wrangler YJ. The lowest trim. The MSRP was $13,200 IIRC. That is $23,500 in 2026. The Base Bronco has far more content and incredibly safer than a YJ Wrangler (which had no airbags) and gets better fuel mileage and is better off road to boot.

 

[1yeliab_sufur1]

80 miles for me and Costco has a charger. Will make a couple test trips to guage actual vs ABRP accuracy

Im planning on seeing how my work week will go we do landscaping but I want to just drive it XD