Factory in Warsaw visit - photos and my interview with guard (June 4, 2025)

[South Whitley Bulldog]

Factory In Warsaw Photos and Interview with security at gate.

I was in Warsaw today so drove over by factory and spoke to gate guard he couldn’t say much but he said Slate employees have been here and construction people as well.

There was a few cars parked at front and a crew to the side was putting up a new exterior fence he saw the truck that was over there and also said he is thinking about getting one himself.

I also asked him about flying my drone over and he said they will call the police on me sorry guys not much of a spy guy I guess will keep going over to see more progress in future weeks. They don't have a Slate sign put up yet.

 

[1yeliab_sufur1]

Pull up in a suit and fake id XD say your new to the job lol jkjkjk

 

[Adam W]

I've got the perfect disguise idea. Just say you're here to film the next commercial.



Seriously though, you're going above and beyond. Please don't get arrested.

 

[cadblu]

Great pix, thanks for sharing! It looks like there is plenty of acreage on that campus to build a test track and an even a large field to park completed trucks. When production is in full swing, SA will need to move about 12,000 trucks per month so all this space will be needed.

 

[sodamo]

Sounds like you might make a friend 🤙
thanks

 

[The Weatherman]

My way of thinking is : “Often times easier to ask for forgiveness than to ask for permission. “

Thanks for the update.

 

[Johnny-Longtorso]

I also asked him about flying my drone over and he said they will call the police on me

Is it illegal to fly a drone in an industrial park in IN? lol - whaddya gonna do - steal trade secrets?

 

[evtruth]

The guy I talked to in downtown Warsaw the other day said they had a meeting at the factory that day and that's why they ended up coming down to Warsaw to show off the truck. He said they're going to do more community outreach events as we get closer to launch and are worrying with the city / county to set up communications with the community for things like road closures when they bring in big equipment, etc. Excited to see this take shape!!!

 

[evtruth]

Great pix, thanks for sharing! It looks like there is plenty of acreage on that campus to build a test track and an even a large field to park completed trucks. When production is in full swing, SA will need to move about 12,000 trucks per month so all this space will be needed.

Yeah, there is a MASSIVE amount of acreage here for expansion. This is the satellite view of the property. The property is outlined in the blue/green color.

Another cool thing, as you can see, is the local bike trails run through the north end of the property. Depending where they rent/buy, Slate employees could potentially ride or walk to work. You can ride from one side of Warsaw to the other on these trails, even into Winona Lake where they have amazing mountain biking trails (Warsaw takes their bike trails VERY seriously). My Slate will likely be my dedicated mountain bike hauler so I don't have to keep taking my bike hauler off my other EVs.

 

[evtruth]

My way of thinking is : “Often times easier to ask for forgiveness than to ask for permission. “

Thanks for the update.

I've considered taking my drone out there, but they said it's going to be a bit before they start hauling in equipment because there's a lot of partitions / walls that need to come down for what they are doing (requires a lot of wide open space).

There is nothing inherently illegal about flying a drone over it in Indiana as long as you follow FAA rules. If you're not in front of the factory when you launch I doubt anyone would even notice a drone flying up there.

 

[E90400K]

Maybe we should just leave Slate Auto alone and let them build out the facility and start producing trucks.

Good Lord, you actually asked if you could fly a drone over the facility? Really?

 

[evtruth]

Maybe we should just leave Slate Auto alone and let them build out the facility and start producing trucks.

Good Lord, you actually asked if you could fly a drone over the facility? Really?

I see nothing wrong with it. There are people doing it for Tesla / Rivian factories as well. People are curious, and in the case of Slate, VERY excited for this to happen.

People here in Warsaw who were "#neverEV" are now like "Oh man... I might actually buy one of these..." It's pretty awesome seeing the community change their tune and become a lot more receptive to EVs.

 

[E90400K]

I see nothing wrong with it. There are people doing it for Tesla / Rivian factories as well. People are curious, and in the case of Slate, VERY excited for this to happen.

People here in Warsaw who were "#neverEV" are now like "Oh man... I might actually buy one of these..." It's pretty awesome seeing the community change their tune and become a lot more receptive to EVs.

I'd bet somewhere in the Indiana code there is a section on prohibition of surveillance of private property.

 

[cadblu]

From google maps it looks to be about 100 acres which is the equivalent of about 76 football fields. That said, the old site had huge printing presses, and all assets were contained indoors. Not a huge theft risk, lol.

Now there will be highly desirable ev's on the property, with a lot of inventory staged outdoors. You can be certain that Slate Auto will invest in enhanced perimeter fencing, motorized gates, etc. along with surveillance cameras. Security will be a top priority for the new plant manager. Speaking from experience, the security team will not be particularly happy with seeing drone flyovers as these are considered threats for possible intrusions into the factory.

SA has been fairly transparent with their product release, and I doubt that any "spy photos" from drone footage will add anything new. Except that we will be able to roughly gage how production is going based on product staged outdoors. Would not be surprised if Slate installs large tents to keep their vehicles protected from the elements (and drones) at some point.

 

[bartflossom]

I, for one, hope Slate gives you or someone permission. I really enjoyed the drone youtube channel for the Texas Gigafactory when it was going up.