If the Slate PU came only as an ICE, I would buy one.

[brian10x]

Slate is not just any EV either, it was designed from the start to be as simple as possible. It therefore over time should have low maintenance costs. And I always DIY any repair that I can.

No front wheel drive eliminates 1/2 of the drive train parts. Plus there is therefore no front motor or front inverter to cool.. No heat pump. Affects overall efficiency but is certainly a simplification. Eliminates several parts that will not need to be maintained.

The rear drive train consists of the EDM and a couple of CV half axels. I am guessing (hoping) that in the event of catastrophic failure this unit can be replaced with a DIY operation. Maybe buy a replacement unit from a junk yard.

I am guessing the HVAC unit is high voltage and maybe also the PTC heater. I will certainly ask Slate about the difficulty and any personal risk there is to work on these units. If I can I will. I expect that everything else will be 12 volts.

In summary, I am expecting to minimize maintenance cost due to Slate being a simpler vehicle with relatively fewer parts to fail and to do it myself.

AXLE. Forum spelling NAZI back on duty.

 

[SichuanHot]

Slate is not just any EV either, it was designed from the start to be as simple as possible. It therefore over time should have low maintenance costs. And I always DIY any repair that I can.

No front wheel drive eliminates 1/2 of the drive train parts. Plus there is therefore no front motor or front inverter to cool.. No heat pump. Affects overall efficiency but is certainly a simplification. Eliminates several parts that will not need to be maintained.

The rear drive train consists of the EDM and a couple of CV half axels. I am guessing (hoping) that in the event of catastrophic failure this unit can be replaced with a DIY operation. Maybe buy a replacement unit from a junk yard.

I am guessing the HVAC unit is high voltage and maybe also the PTC heater. I will certainly ask Slate about the difficulty and any personal risk there is to work on these units. If I can I will. I expect that everything else will be 12 volts.

In summary, I am expecting to minimize maintenance cost due to Slate being a simpler vehicle with relatively fewer parts to fail and to do it myself.

I'm also hoping Slate delivers on that promise of it being a simpler vehicle to DIY, but the jury is still out on that. Simpler is kinda a misnomer when it comes to this expectation we all have because a lot of thought and engineering still has to go into making the car DIY friendly.

Older BMWs and Mercedes did this in mind (E46, E39 and older). Almost everything in the engine bay of a BMW E46 is designed with eventual maintenance in mind. Everything is easily accessed and can be unbolted in the M54 engine in a logical manner. For example, the electric cooling fan on manual transmission cars simply slides out once the plastic rivets are removed. Slate needs to emulate this kind of "designed for maintenance" if they want to keep marketing it as DIY friendly.

 

[KevinRS]

Yeah, some manufacturers are going the opposite direction, where to service the vehicle they are using a special lift and taking the whole body off the chassis. Even in the 80s on many vehicles to replace a radio or work on the AC controls you had to take most of the dash out.

 

[E90400K]

Yes... But the cost to develop and set up production for just a single modern emissions compliant engine family from scratch, not even including the transmission, is in the hundreds-of-millions of dollars... So like at least 50% of their entire fundraising so far. The only realistic ICE option would be to buy from a brand that has zero interest in competing in the same space, like Ineos does in using a BMW engine in the Grenadier.

Yes, said startup can buy engines from another OEM. Many cases of that in the industry, especially with transmissions, axles, steering systems, etc.

 

[E90400K]

I'm also hoping Slate delivers on that promise of it being a simpler vehicle to DIY, but the jury is still out on that. Simpler is kinda a misnomer when it comes to this expectation we all have because a lot of thought and engineering still has to go into making the car DIY friendly.

Older BMWs and Mercedes did this in mind (E46, E39 and older). Almost everything in the engine bay of a BMW E46 is designed with eventual maintenance in mind. Everything is easily accessed and can be unbolted in the M54 engine in a logical manner. For example, the electric cooling fan on manual transmission cars simply slides out once the plastic rivets are removed. Slate needs to emulate this kind of "designed for maintenance" if they want to keep marketing it as DIY friendly.

The E30 heater core design was pure engineering genius. As was the HVAC fan.