A Month Out from Price Announcement. What is the wisdom of the crowd?

[Mac-Tyson]

Interested in seeing if we are correct directionally for the 6/22 announcement. Crap. 2nd choice was supposed to be >=$25,000. Sorry. Measure twice, cut once.

I'm thinking and hoping less than or equal to $25,000 unless this post is asking about after destination fee.

 

[Luxrage]

Sub 25K, better to hope and then cope than to never have hope at all...

 

[E90400K]

The wisdom of the crowd was once that the Earth was flat.

Wait, what?! It's not?!

Oh shit!

 

[E90400K]

No need to worry. The tax incentives will be back.

 

[GaRailroader]

No need to worry. The tax incentives will be back.

I'm not holding my breath.

 

[CorvusCorvax]

I am assuming the announcement price that comes on 6/22 will be excluding freight, taxes, title, registration and tag. Goal was to gauge whether the wisdom of the crowd thought the announcement would be below 25k or above.

Which makes sense. This price they quote will have to be similar to the method other manufacturers' pricing schemes use, for an apple/apples comparison.

But we already know that they don't have to support a dealer network, so that's a no-value-added cost they are getting rid of right there.

If they are smart, they will piggyback the Amazon distribution network such that you can go pick up your Slate at the nearest Amazon warehouse (many of those fulfillment warehouses are on rail lines.) Pay your destination fee, and you drive away in your shiny(ish), new Slate.

 

[Tom Sawyer]

(many of those fulfillment warehouses are on rail lines.)

I didn't know that! Now I'm curious - where did you learn this from?

 

[cadblu]

So far, the majority has spoken: ~59% of the folks who voted believe the base price (less freight, fees, etc.) will be <$25K. We need some more votes from the remaining 2000 forum members here.

Slate's claim to fame is to be the "disruptor" in the automotive marketplace. There will be a lot of disappointed fans on 6/22 if they don't live up to those expectations, especially on price.

 

[GaRailroader]

Railroads do handle a lot of Amazon freight. Probably makes sense to locate an Amazon sorting center/warehouse as nearby a railroad's intermodal terminal as possible to minimize the drayage from the intermodal terminal to the Amazon facility. As far as I know railroads are not dropping railcars at the Amazon facilities like they would boxcars or other car types that we do deliver direct to industries.

If Amazon does take delivery of Slates at its facilities it would likely be unloaded from a train at a railroad auto loading ramp and then trucked to nearby Amazon facilities. I think that is what Tesla does on their rail shipments. Many of the legacy automakers have mixing centers where they ship cars to from various plants in and then load railcars out with a mix of models from different plants going to different geographic locations.

 

[cadblu]

If they offer a military discount I’ll be looking at accessories, starting with extended battery.

If Slate was a bit more daring, they would partner with a third-party entity that would allow getting an "instant offer" on trade-ins like Carvana. Like if you trade-in your gasoline ICE vehicle at the time of sale, you could qualify for free supercharging miles. Tesla is now offering 2000 free SC miles on trades. Amazing.

 

[SparkYellow]

Please, Slate, let the base be under $25K so the extended battery unit can be under $28K. 🙏🙏

 

[Kopsis]

Does anyone believe that Slate will disclose key information other than pricing in the 6/22 announcement?

I don't think people are going to get the level of detail they're hoping for. My guess is Slate will announce when the ordering system will open, that reservation holders will get access to it based on reservation order, and that when you order (and presumably pay a more substantial deposit), not your reservation "number", will determine your place in the fulfillment queue. I also think they'll announce pricing on a reduced list of options that will be available to pre-order with the truck. I suspect not everything in the Slatemaker app will be available to purchase at launch.

 

[Letas]

I didn't know that! Now I'm curious - where did you learn this from?

Out of thin air- it's not true.

The FC network is certainly built in close proximity to rail lines, but no FCs that I know of have a direct spur. Their network for rail generally goes railyard -> IXD -> FC.

Which, in practice, would be no different than railyard -> semi to a empty parking lot for delivery.

 

[Tom Sawyer]

Railroads do handle a lot of Amazon freight. Probably makes sense to locate an Amazon sorting center/warehouse as nearby a railroad's intermodal terminal as possible to minimize the drayage from the intermodal terminal to the Amazon facility. As far as I know railroads are not dropping railcars at the Amazon facilities like they would boxcars or other car types that we do deliver direct to industries.

If Amazon does take delivery of Slates at its facilities it would likely be unloaded from a train at a railroad auto loading ramp and then trucked to nearby Amazon facilities. I think that is what Tesla does on their rail shipments. Many of the legacy automakers have mixing centers where they ship cars to from various plants in and then load railcars out with a mix of models from different plants going to different geographic locations.

Out of thin air- it's not true.

The FC network is certainly built in close proximity to rail lines, but no FCs that I know of have a direct spur. Their network for rail generally goes railyard -> IXD -> FC.

Which, in practice, would be no different than railyard -> semi to a empty parking lot for delivery.

Who to believe - you or the forum member with the word Railroad in their forum name??? Besides I picked up a new word - drayage. Now I just need to look up what that means…

 

[KevinRS]

I see no reason to figure on Amazon being involved in truck fulfillment. Accessories sure, but they don't have the infrastructure and in many cases their locations wouldn't have offices.
There is already a rail and truck network that distributes vehicles. They will likely just buy space on that network and contract with a company that already deals with vehicles for signing the vehicle over to the buyer.

No need to worry. The tax incentives will be back.

They won't be back this year, If there was a veto proof landslide in the midterms, and they rushed to get them back, MAYBE they could be in place next year, but both seem unlikely. More likely after the next presidential election, but even then there will be a delay.
The current party in power is trying to pass a yearly fee on EV drivers, at about double what gas drivers average in federal gas taxes. Basically an EV punishment tax.