Anyone else planning road trip in 150m hops, from factory delivery?

[Daemoch]

Doubtful.
Shop owners arent interested in being storage sites or assuming (even percieved) liability for brand new vehicles.

That doesnt make any sense. They take on the same liability when they take in your brand new vehicle to do the add-on services the second you show up with it, that day, the day after, or the week after, it doesnt matter.

And they would be even MORE interested if they were paid by Slate to do it, or got to bill us for each day its sitting there.

I'm a small business owner, work with insurance companies and lawyers literally every day, and was/am an ASE cert'd mechanic......There isnt a problem with this. And if there was, I havent met a problem yet that cant be resolved with a contract and a pile of green paper to grease it through.

 

[FlyHappy]

That doesnt make any sense. They take on the same liability when they take in your brand new vehicle to do the add-on services the second you show up with it, that day, the day after, or the week after, it doesnt matter.

And they would be even MORE interested if they were paid by Slate to do it, or got to bill us for each day its sitting there.

I'm a small business owner, work with insurance companies and lawyers literally every day, and was/am an ASE cert'd mechanic......There isnt a problem with this. And if there was, I havent met a problem yet that cant be resolved with a contract and a pile of green paper to grease it through.

We dont even know for certain exactly how repair pal installed accessories on a new Slate will work.

Based on lack of info, it seems like neither factory or shops know, either.

Thats putting aside reality that likely only a modest % of new deliveries will have RP installed options. RP shops arent going to be interested in being general delivery centers. And the pile of green cash? Sorry to say, Slate Inc, ain't that kind of organization at this point.

 

[slp]

My guess would be they will deliver to the certified repair shops. That way you could have addons done right there. Perhaps before pickup. Factory pickup would be too disruptive while they are still in ramp up phase.

Considering the closest RepairPal shop to me is 2 blocks away, it would cost them the same to just ship it directly to me. I would expect them to go to a place like CarMax or similar that is already set up for vehicle sales.

 

[AZFox]

My guess would be they will deliver to the certified repair shops.

Guessing isn't necessary.

The Delivery Partner and Service Partner are separate entities.

"Slate has partnered with a national logistics and distribution partner making picking up your Slate friction free in most areas."

 

[Daemoch]

We dont even know for certain exactly how repair pal installed accessories on a new Slate will work.

Which is also saying we dont know how they WONT work. That doesn't support or deny either supposition.

Based on lack of info, it seems like neither factory or shops know, either.

And we/they have lots of time to figure it out. That's time for agreements to be made, contracts to be drawn up, and the logistics to get hammered out. Just because we the consumers havent been told yet doesnt mean anything isnt known. It just means they havent told us yet. Part of marketing is the drip drip drip of information.....so drip drip drip.

Thats putting aside reality that likely only a modest % of new deliveries will have RP installed options. RP shops arent going to be interested in being general delivery centers. And the pile of green cash? Sorry to say, Slate Inc, ain't that kind of organization at this point.

Wheres your source or rationale for that/those assumption(s)?

This forum is full of folks that dont want to wrench on it themselves. A lot of them still cant get their heads around the fact everything is add-ons that can be done now/later/never/or-removed, not options/packages set and locked in forever at the day of purchase. Heck, just go nosing through some of the 'Stereo' or 'Trailer Hitch' threads and youll see what I mean.
How many folks are going to think they can do a job and then flub it and need to get bailed out of their mess? Cause that never happens.... The factory may do some final assembly, especially in the beginning, but the goal is to push it out to the edge; Slate wants the lic/royalty money, not the labor. And again, in a month or a year or whatever when you need something done, where are you going to take it to get something done you dont want to/cant do? Back to the same place you picked it up from probably, since thats what weve all been trained to do for decades now.

Slate has the financials it needs to get that accomplished, especially since thats cash down the road, not today. Thats such a small part of the pie its ridiculous to even be worried about it as an actual concern. Slate as been shorted over its supposed financial 'shortcomings' by basically everyone every step of the way.....and so far has proven literally all of them wrong. Don't stand in that line.

 

[FlyHappy]

Which is also saying we dont know how they WONT work. That doesn't support or deny either supposition.


And we/they have lots of time to figure it out. That's time for agreements to be made, contracts to be drawn up, and the logistics to get hammered out. Just because we the consumers havent been told yet doesnt mean anything isnt known. It just means they havent told us yet. Part of marketing is the drip drip drip of information.....so drip drip drip.


Wheres your source or rationale for that/those assumption(s)?

This forum is full of folks that dont want to wrench on it themselves. A lot of them still cant get their heads around the fact everything is add-ons that can be done now/later/never/or-removed, not options/packages set and locked in forever at the day of purchase. Heck, just go nosing through some of the 'Stereo' or 'Trailer Hitch' threads and youll see what I mean.
How many folks are going to think they can do a job and then flub it and need to get bailed out of their mess? Cause that never happens.... The factory may do some final assembly, especially in the beginning, but the goal is to push it out to the edge; Slate wants the lic/royalty money, not the labor. And again, in a month or a year or whatever when you need something done, where are you going to take it to get something done you dont want to/cant do? Back to the same place you picked it up from probably, since thats what weve all been trained to do for decades now.

Slate has the financials it needs to get that accomplished, especially since thats cash down the road, not today. Thats such a small part of the pie its ridiculous to even be worried about it as an actual concern. Slate as been shorted over its supposed financial 'shortcomings' by basically everyone every step of the way.....and so far has proven literally all of them wrong. Don't stand in that line.

Difference of opinions.
I see no world in which shop owners want to be in the delivery business. Signing up to do warranty repairs or equipment installs is one thing; being the physical face to turn the keys over, for the first time, to a buyer spending 30-40k is something quite different.

I'll readily admit I was wrong, if it turns out to be the case. I was wrong about the destination fee, I was wrong about SK as battery supplier. I just cant see the Precison Tune shops near me (RP members) being a realistic point of delivery.

 

[AZFox]

It's safe to assume repair and accessory installation won't be done by the Delivery Partner and delivery won't be done by the Service partner.

 

[Frozen North]

Slate has this up. If picking up from actual factory really is a no go. Then the Carvana/Amazon/FedEx whatever they decide to use for deliveries can bring it to me at a local spot. Quick ride to the factory, picture at the sign out front and plan is back on track.

It says you can pick it up, it doesn't say where. You might only have the option of "pick it up" at the local logistics hub.

When I find a car I want, it's usually a road trip in a truck that my wife will complain about being rough riding and uncomfortable to put another vehicle on a trailer and tow home in a pattern only one of those old Family Circle comic strips could dream up.
Otherwise I've paid between $1200 to 2k to have it delivered by carriers when I had to.

There is so much time between now and when we finally get this thing the plans and options might change 5 times after they tell us exactly how it will work.

 

[sodamo]

So what do we think?
Order a Slate with a number of accessories to be added by RP.
A: Slate delivers to destination point, owner makes arrangements for home delivery or picks up, owner delivers to RP for accessory install.
OR
B: Slate delivers to destination point, Slate delivers to RP for accessory install. Owner picks up from RP.
OR

 

[AZFox]

So what do we think?
Order a Slate with a number of accessories to be added by RP.
A: Slate delivers to destination point, owner makes arrangements for home delivery or picks up, owner delivers to RP for accessory install.
OR
B: Slate delivers to destination point, Slate delivers to RP for accessory install. Owner picks up from RP.
OR

A.

I predict that RepairPal won't handle vehicle delivery and the Delivery Partner won't handle repair / accessory installation because each isn't set up to perform the other's task.

That said, everything's negotiable and RepairPal may accept the responsibility of delivering a new vehicle for a fee.

 

[Doctors Do Little]

A.

I predict that RepairPal won't handle vehicle delivery and the Delivery Partner won't handle repair / accessory installation because each isn't set up to perform the other's task.

That said, everything's negotiable and RepairPal may accept the responsibility of delivering a new vehicle for a fee.

I guess if we e-sign all of the official docs at the virtual delivery (with ACH of funds and/or loan proceeds) and some subsequent doc to apportion the blank slate to the RP for upgrades, that it would daisy chain the slate from distribution center to RP?

I’m 100% speculating

 

[murder]

I have started using Google maps to see the logistics of picking up my Slate at the factory. I have never had an EV before. It would be a great EV 101 course to get from there to Northern Maine. I love logistics and planning so this challenge is putting down roots in my brain. As a former long distance bicycle tourist and tour leader , using the established bike routes and facilities would make this fun. The 150 mile comfort range in the Slate is about double the average day on a bike tour so the logistics would work out nicely....Am I alone in this endeavor?

Why would you bother wait, first new vehicle?Putting unneeded miles when you’re going to still pay the delivery fee is odd. I could understand a totally different road trip.

 

[Cubicle23]

Why would you bother ..... I could understand a totally different road trip.

This is why you weren't invited..

 

[P. Regent]

I'm thinking that the "delivery partner" will be Carvana, and that you can pick your Slate up at one of their existing locations:

as well as additional sites Carvana will arrange in places like Seattle, Portland, Albuquerque, etc. that don't have an existing Carvana establishment but may have enough volume to justify setting one up, and that Carvana will also deliver to your house for a fee (possible gratis if there's no facility within a reasonable distance of your home.) Carvana already buys, sells, and delivers cars, does financing, trade ins, etc. They're already set up to do this job. And they operate a brick and mortar car dealership - potentially avoiding that legal issue. Why reinvent the wheel?

One of the things I admire about Slate's management is they don't bite off more than they can chew. If there's an off the shelf solution which works financially they do that instead of "inventing it here." Working with Carvana (or another potential "partner") has no capital cost for Slate, so no dilution of financial or management assets to fulfill this critical - but non-core function. It's a "win-win" for Slate and the partner, which increases its profile and also makes a return on its services out of the $1450 delivery fee.

Meanwhile, Slate can concentrate on building trucks.

 

[EV Trek]

I don’t give a flying F who delivers it as long as I get it in just rolled off the assembly line shape. 🤣