Article: Slate Auto CEO Chris Barman tells us how exactly it’s making a $25,000 EV

[E90400K]

For me, I am not cross shopping ICEV/hybrid at any price. I've owned my last ICE vehicle and not going back. I'll take power windows if I must, but EV drive-train is non-negotiable. Fingers crossed that wraps installed for $800 ends up being realistic. I paid $3k for multi-coat red paint on my(wife's) Tesla. On my wife's next Tesla, we will pay $2k extra for quicksilver. Tesla's prices for a different color make the Slate wraps look really competitive.

I hate that trend in the industry where they charge extra for some paint colors. I buy all my vehicles in black, so it doesn't affect me, but just a pure money grab in my view, but I get your point.

 

[E90400K]

My first new car(my wife's actually) was a 1992 Saturn SL2. Kept it until 2004 with 180k miles. Body looked great when we sold it.

There is a person in my county who has a SL2 and it looks great. I see it parked in his driveway (which is on the road to the waste transfer station). I've been dying to ring his door and ask him about it, but that might come across as a bit weird... LOL.

 

[Doctors Do Little]

There is a person in my county who has a SL2 and it looks great. I see it parked in his driveway (which is on the road to the waste transfer station). I've been dying to ring his door and ask him about it, but that might come across as a bit weird... LOL.

Totally depends where in GA!

 

[Doctors Do Little]

South Central KY.

I grew up in West, lived in East for a couple of years, and have friends throughout. I know most of the commonwealth!

 

[AZFox]

So you are definitely not interested in purchasing one then huh? We’ll put you down as a definite No - Negative Nelly.

I think you're misinterpreting the intent of @E90400K' post.

 

[Doctors Do Little]

I think you're misinterpreting the intent of @E90400K' post.

Probably. I make a lot of mistakes in character judgment.

 

[The Weatherman]

My parents were both from KY. Dad here in the Glasgow area and my mother was from Jackson.

I was an Air force brat and was born in FL. We came here 31 years ago to help with care for my mother.

 

[AZFox]

Whether it is cost neutral/more expensive/less expensive I hope they ship with manual windows.

I've also been thinking about some of the cost aspects of their approach too. In terms of the manual windows, I basically decided it's purely marketing.

This. My initial gut feeling about their choice to include hand-crank windows was that it wasn't for cost reasons, rather it was for marketing purposes.

Edit: "Marketing" isn't quite what I mean. It's a cool little quirk that deliberately fits in with the ethos. I think it was a good decision (didn't at first).

 

[AZFox]

Probably. I make a lot of mistakes in character judgment.

It's super easy to do on a forum.

 

[Doctors Do Little]

My parents were both from KY. Dad here in the Glasgow area and my mother was from Jackson.

I was an Air force brat and was born in FL. We came here 31 years ago to help with care for my mother.

Nice! I promise that I know folks that know your folks….everybody knows everybody!

 

[Doctors Do Little]

It's super easy to do on a forum.

My jury is still out on you, AZFox…just sayin’.

 

[Doctors Do Little]

This. My initial gut feeling about their choice to include hand-crank windows was that it wasn't for cost reasons, rather it was for marketing purposes.

I keep having the same thoughts. It’s kind of a gitchy thing when electric windows were cheaply mastered in the 1970’s…

AWD? I get that. Electric windows? Not as much.

Still gunning for 12/2026!

 

[AZFox]

But I don't think plastic panels are any less costly to produce than stamped steel alternatives.

Similar to Crank Windows, I think there are other considerations for doing that besides production costs.

I like the idea of composite panels. No Door Dings!

I'm not negative by any stretch

I can only speak for myself. Your contributions don't seem at all negative to me. Thanks for posting.

 

[Luxrage]

I think GM's spaceframe/plastic panel architecture was genius and studied it intensely because the development of the Fiero starting in the late 1970s into the early 1980's was when I was in college studying industrial engineering. But like all things GM, when it develops innovative new automotive state of the art, for some reason GM abandons it and goes back to the status quo. The Fiero and its Transport/Silhouette and Saturn follow-ons and the Chevrolet Volt are two instances where I think GM was decades in advance of the rest of the industry; it is just baffling to me why they gave up on both. GM started an entirely new company based on the spaceframe architecture (Saturn) to progress the concept, along with trying to shed the UAW monkey on its back.

I'm just happy to see someone else banging the Fiero drum, that's the vehicle I've been most comparing the Slate to. I just hope they can figure out a cost effective way to make those composite panels on the cheap. Even Honda went away from them on the last 3 years of Element, instead opting for full steel fenders.

The crank window thing also baffles me, I don't hate it on my Geo or my old LTD that had them, but I was expecting that would be to eliminate any wiring harness going to the door. It still has the power locks (It'll be interesting for the Slate owners who opt to take the doors off). Jeeps have that big ol' harness sticking out:

 

[PACMAN]

Great article, thanks for posting. Like others in this thread have said, there’s no way I’m wrapping mine myself. If the kit’s $500, I’d be comfortable shelling out another $500 for a reputable installer who’ll stand behind their work.
-Also, that was a solid interview, the journalist kept coming back to the uncomfortable questions that many folks are thinking about. My favorite part was the last line about the nice wedding gifts 🙂.