Build Quality

[SailorDan]

Early Porsches had huge QC problems. On the assembly line, body panels were beaten with rubber mallets until they fit together, more or less, then screwed or tack-welded in place. In retrospect it seems more quaint and curious than problematic and serious. I doubt the lucky owner of a survivor bathtub Porsche minds the uneven body panels and gaps.

 

[E90400K]

Early Porsches had huge QC problems. On the assembly line, body panels were beaten with rubber mallets until they fit together, more or less, then screwed or tack-welded in place. In retrospect it seems more quaint and curious than problematic and serious. I doubt the lucky owner of a survivor bathtub Porsche minds the uneven body panels and gaps.

And don't even bring up the 1st-gen 924.

 

[kvermeer]

I want to own something American made from a company that'll be around indefinitely, so I'm really hoping Slate bucks the odds and makes it.

I want to own a repairable, affordable, simple, safe, durable compact EV pickup, so I'll be buying mine to help Slate buck the odds.

In the worst case, where 3 years later the company folds and I'm "saddled" with a full collection of user-friendly maintenance instructions, commodity parts from established manufacturers like a JJE electric motor and a Gotion LFP battery, no telemetry to go offline, durable construction with wrappable non-rusting composite panels and an e-coated steel frame, that also makes NHTSA 5-star safety ratings.... I'd still plan to drive that for the next 30 years!

Sure, I might put it in storage and hang onto it as a collector's item if some other manufacturer that was still in business offered a different repairable, affordable, simple, telemetry-free compact EV pickup made with off-the-shelf parts and durable construction. Or I might daily a repairable, affordable, simple, telemetry-free compact EV hatchback made with off-the-shelf parts and durable construction and save the truck for truck stuff if that became available.

But no one else makes anything even close to checking all those boxes. I think the second-best option to a Slate is buying an 80s Hilux and doing a frame-off restoration and EV conversion: basically a DIY Slate that doesn't hit any of the same safety targets.

 

[cadblu]

In the worst case, where 3 years later the company folds .... I'd still plan to drive that for the next 30 years!

And I think the Slate will earn its space in the Smithsonian museum should that happen.

 

[sodamo]

In the worst case, where 3 years later the company folds and I'm "saddled" with a full collection of user-friendly maintenance instructions, commodity parts from established manufacturers like a JJE electric motor and a Gotion LFP battery, no telemetry to go offline, durable construction with wrappable non-rusting composite panels and an e-coated steel frame, that also makes NHTSA 5-star safety ratings.... I'd still plan to drive that for the next 30 years!

Golly, I’ll be 83, hope I’m still driving.

 

[Tom Sawyer]

In the worst case, where 3 years later the company folds and I'm "saddled" with a full collection of user-friendly maintenance instructions, commodity parts from established manufacturers like a JJE electric motor and a Gotion LFP battery, no telemetry to go offline, durable construction with wrappable non-rusting composite panels and an e-coated steel frame, that also makes NHTSA 5-star safety ratings.... I'd still plan to drive that for the next 30 years!

Where you're going, you won't need roads:

 

[SailorDan]

Golly, I’ll be 83, hope I’m still driving.

Well, I'll only be 82!

Oops. Mis-added. That's 102. Oh well.

 

[E90400K]

Ahhh, a fellow USENET traveller! Hail, brother! When the internet was still complete anarchy...

And the internet is not anarchy now?

 

[E90400K]

And I think the Slate will earn its space in the Smithsonian museum should that happen.

Wow!

 

[Postie]

Welp. I bought a Jet Industries Ford Courier conversion in the 1990´s for $600. It was (well) used and re-powered it with second-hand T-6 golfcart batteries. Had to build my own 110V AC to 120 VDC charger. Had a blast. Sold it on for $600 after the Seattle hills killed my commuter dream. The Slate will be nothing but a step up.

 

[E90400K]

I really hope the cab is sealed better on the final units. You can see daylight coming through in the corners of the back of the cab on all the influencer videos from the price reveal event!

Based on your post (and at first thinking the same thing), I was looking at that yesterday on some new drive vids I found. I think the daylight you see is really just the plastic of the rear window frame inside the cab that is not covered by the pre-production headliner.

 

[sidneyhornblower]

I want to own a repairable, affordable, simple, safe, durable compact EV pickup...[snip]...no one else makes anything even close to checking all those boxes.

You make some excellent points in favor of not waiting, especially as I'm not getting any younger. If I want a repairable, simple, safe, pickup without built-in telemetry to fail, you're right; Slate is the only game in town.

It's making less sense in my mind to compare this truck to anything else, because nothing else exists with those particular features (or lack of cruft to put it another way). Thanks for the thought provoking post.

 

[Orley]

No one has said it yet so I will. "It's only money!"

 

[Luxrage]

I've owned dirt-cheap economy cars that are still rock solid to this day, despite how cheap and thin the materials were, and I've also owned cars that "should" be the flagship of their company that have things like mis-printed decals, a steering column that doesn't line up with the arch built into the dash, and all sorts of little things you don't see on the econo-car that was half its price new. I think we've come a long way in the design and engineering of these vehicles, and I hope even if the Slate sucks a bit at launch, it will still be a perfectly capable driver while Slate figures out all of the little things. Like a previous poster said, the truck isn't built on cutting corners, just on being designed to a low price point from the start.

I hope we all get some good break-in time with them, I like to follow the owners forums for other cutting-edge cars as some fun reading material and I've heard horror stories of people's cars failing within a mile of driving off the dealer lot.

A fun tidbit of what Ford was boasting about for quality in '84:

Edit: For an example of bad engineering, if the window regulator goes out in rear of my Country Squire. Ford's recommended replacement steps involve drilling a hole in the tailgate outside of where the interior trim would cover it to get at one of the bolts.

 

[tubes]

I hope we all get some good break-in time with them, I like to follow the owners forums for other cutting-edge cars as some fun reading material and I've heard horror stories of people's cars failing within a mile of driving off the dealer lot.

Post yesterday about Edmunds buying a 2027 Bolt, and it failed at mile 15.
https://www.slateforums.com/forum/t...per-than-a-slate-suv.15391/page-3#post-248838

Edit: For an example of bad engineering, if the window regulator goes out in rear of my Country Squire. Ford's recommended replacement steps involve drilling a hole in the tailgate outside of where the interior trim would cover it to get at one of the bolts.

Dad had a '79 Pontiac Grand Prix. First "fancy" car he had with power windows. Regulator went out at year 3. We had to take off the door panel trim, then drill holes through the interior structure to reach the bolts. Same thing.