"I'm gonna fix my Slate myself" crowd - educate me - fix what?

[ScooterAsheville]

This isn't trolling. I'm genuinely curious. You guys who are far better "wrenchers" than me, educate me please.

Some of you guys aggressively complain that nobody can fix anything in 2026. I get that. OEMs are increasingly locking us out of certain systems (especially software). Along with that complaint, you're saying that you willl be able to easily repair your Slate.

I contemplated this. I'm no mechanic, but over 50 years of owning automobiles I've done my share of work. My earliest memory is setting the timing on my VW Bus with a wire, a flashlight bulb, a screwdriver, and a very strange counterculture maintenance manual. But I keep coming back to a question I cannot answer - what will you be repairing on your Slate that you cannot repair on, say, a Ford UEV truck?

• Brakes? Well the narrative from the BEV world is that BEV brakers never need fixing. Because regenerative braking makes pads last forever.
• The battery system? I can't see a backyard mechanic maintaining a battery system. In fact, some modern battery packs are cell-to-pack, which means they are 100% not maintainable by anyone. Modular packs are maintainable, but wow - you are "da man" if you're going to disassemble and repair a high voltage automobile battery pack. OTOH, "Rich Rebuilds" does it.
• The high voltage electronics? Maybe? If you can access it and have significant experience in repairing high voltage circuit boards. Which I expect most backyard mechanics don't. Don't make a mistake, because those units can thousands of dollars.
• The battery cooling system? Yea, I could see that. It's usually just a water-glycol mix.
• The HVAC? I bet you could maintain that.
• The software? Here I know a bit, as a retired software engineer. It's a false narrative to say Slate has no software. It's filled with software. Almost every powered function on the vehicle involves software. The HVAC is software. If you get power windows, that's a module with software. ABS brakes are software. BMS is software. Stability control (one would hope Slate has it) is software. Signalling lights are software. And guys, most of that software is a black box owned by a supplier. Even Slate can't repair it. Slate just sees an API on the CAN bus.
• Wheels and tires? Yea, I bet you can maintain those.
• Bulbs and lights? Yea, I bet you can maintain those.
• Cabin air filters? I'm guessing Slate does not have one.
• Transmission? On a BEV it is a reduction gear. And they usually last the lifetime of the BEV.
• Suspension components? Yea, I could see fixing those in the garage.
• The Slate app? I suppose maybe if they open source it?
• mechanical things like roll up windows and manual door locks, hinges, etc? Yea, I can see that.

Sorry for me digressing with all these bullets. That's just me going through systems in my head. So back to my question. What do you guys who like to maintain your own cars expect will break on your Slates over the years, and do you think you'll be able to fix those things? And is that list any different from any other BEV? Say a GM Bolt?

Thanks guys. I'm really curious. I've been struggling to understand these threads. Educate me please!

 

[EV Trek]

This isn't trolling. I'm genuinely curious. You guys who are far better "wrenchers" than me, educate me please.

Some of you guys aggressively complain that nobody can fix anything in 2026. I get that. OEMs are increasingly locking us out of certain systems (especially software). Along with that complaint, you're saying that you willl be able to easily repair your Slate.

I contemplated this. I'm no mechanic, but over 50 years of owning automobiles I've done my share of work. My earliest memory is setting the timing on my VW Bus with a wire, a flashlight bulb, a screwdriver, and a very strange counterculture maintenance manual. But I keep coming back to a question I cannot answer - what will you be repairing on your Slate that you cannot repair on, say, a Ford UEV truck?

• Brakes? Well the narrative from the BEV world is that BEV brakers never need fixing. Because regenerative braking makes pads last forever.
• The battery system? I can't see a backyard mechanic maintaining a battery system. In fact, some modern battery packs are cell-to-pack, which means they are 100% not maintainable by anyone. Modular packs are maintainable, but wow - you are "da man" if you're going to disassemble and repair a high voltage automobile battery pack. OTOH, "Rich Rebuilds" does it.
• The high voltage electronics? Maybe? If you can access it and have significant experience in repairing high voltage circuit boards. Which I expect most backyard mechanics don't. Don't make a mistake, because those units can thousands of dollars.
• The battery cooling system? Yea, I could see that. It's usually just a water-glycol mix.
• The HVAC? I bet you could maintain that.
• The software? Here I know a bit, as a retired software engineer. It's a false narrative to say Slate has no software. It's filled with software. Almost every powered function on the vehicle involves software. The HVAC is software. If you get power windows, that's a module with software. ABS brakes are software. BMS is software. Stability control (one would hope Slate has it) is software. Signalling lights are software. And guys, most of that software is a black box owned by a supplier. Even Slate can't repair it. Slate just sees an API on the CAN bus.
• Wheels and tires? Yea, I bet you can maintain those.
• Bulbs and lights? Yea, I bet you can maintain those.
• Cabin air filters? I'm guessing Slate does not have one.
• Transmission? On a BEV it is a reduction gear. And they usually last the lifetime of the BEV.
• Suspension components? Yea, I could see fixing those in the garage.
• The Slate app? I suppose maybe if they open source it?
• mechanical things like roll up windows and manual door locks, hinges, etc? Yea, I can see that.

Sorry for me digressing with all these bullets. That's just me going through systems in my head. So back to my question. What do you guys who like to maintain your own cars expect will break on your Slates over the years, and do you think you'll be able to fix those things? And is that list any different from any other BEV? Say a GM Bolt?

Thanks guys. I'm really curious. I've been struggling to understand these threads. Educate me please!

Well damaged body panels will be easy to replace, as long as there is no frame intrusion, no painting or bodywork needed.
Since no infotainment system if your cell phone or tablet goes bad, for a few hundred dollars those can be replaced and just redownload the Slate App. instead of spending thousands and wait weeks or even months for parts, and you don’t have to completely disassemble the dashboard.

 

[Kopsis]

I'm a DIYer, but I really don't expect a modern vehicle to need frequent maintenance, and especially not an EV. To me the "simplicity" isn't about being able to fix failures, it's about avoiding many classes of failures entirely. Watch Engineering Explained's video on the issues with his Lucid Gravity () and ask yourself how many of those are even possible in a Slate? The DIY appeal to me is more for accessories and mods.

 

[Nivek]

This isn't trolling. I'm genuinely curious. You guys who are far better "wrenchers" than me, educate me please.

Some of you guys aggressively complain that nobody can fix anything in 2026. I get that. OEMs are increasingly locking us out of certain systems (especially software). Along with that complaint, you're saying that you willl be able to easily repair your Slate.

I contemplated this. I'm no mechanic, but over 50 years of owning automobiles I've done my share of work. My earliest memory is setting the timing on my VW Bus with a wire, a flashlight bulb, a screwdriver, and a very strange counterculture maintenance manual. But I keep coming back to a question I cannot answer - what will you be repairing on your Slate that you cannot repair on, say, a Ford UEV truck?

• Brakes? Well the narrative from the BEV world is that BEV brakers never need fixing. Because regenerative braking makes pads last forever.
• The battery system? I can't see a backyard mechanic maintaining a battery system. In fact, some modern battery packs are cell-to-pack, which means they are 100% not maintainable by anyone. Modular packs are maintainable, but wow - you are "da man" if you're going to disassemble and repair a high voltage automobile battery pack. OTOH, "Rich Rebuilds" does it.
• The high voltage electronics? Maybe? If you can access it and have significant experience in repairing high voltage circuit boards. Which I expect most backyard mechanics don't. Don't make a mistake, because those units can thousands of dollars.
• The battery cooling system? Yea, I could see that. It's usually just a water-glycol mix.
• The HVAC? I bet you could maintain that.
• The software? Here I know a bit, as a retired software engineer. It's a false narrative to say Slate has no software. It's filled with software. Almost every powered function on the vehicle involves software. The HVAC is software. If you get power windows, that's a module with software. ABS brakes are software. BMS is software. Stability control (one would hope Slate has it) is software. Signalling lights are software. And guys, most of that software is a black box owned by a supplier. Even Slate can't repair it. Slate just sees an API on the CAN bus.
• Wheels and tires? Yea, I bet you can maintain those.
• Bulbs and lights? Yea, I bet you can maintain those.
• Cabin air filters? I'm guessing Slate does not have one.
• Transmission? On a BEV it is a reduction gear. And they usually last the lifetime of the BEV.
• Suspension components? Yea, I could see fixing those in the garage.
• The Slate app? I suppose maybe if they open source it?
• mechanical things like roll up windows and manual door locks, hinges, etc? Yea, I can see that.

Sorry for me digressing with all these bullets. That's just me going through systems in my head. So back to my question. What do you guys who like to maintain your own cars expect will break on your Slates over the years, and do you think you'll be able to fix those things? And is that list any different from any other BEV? Say a GM Bolt?

Thanks guys. I'm really curious. I've been struggling to understand these threads. Educate me please!

I never take a vehicle to a mechanic and do all of the work myself. One of the big upsides to the Slate is how minimal I believe the maintenance/ repairs to be. I personally only expect brakes to go in a couple of years, and to have to do some suspension work someday. I dont anticipate that much of anything significant will need to be done within a decade. Most bushing and bearings in vehicles last a long time relatively speaking. Maybe a sensor or two will need to be changed? TBD, but it's going to be nice to not have a big complex vehicle I have to keep working on.

To expand on this, the Slate is minimally complicated. No crazy infotainment systems, no servo motors opening and shutting doors/hoods/trunks. Regular mechanical pull mechanisms and handles. One of the things slate brags about is the minimal number of components in final assembly (less than half of some other brands). This not only reduces the cost but reduces the amount of components that can go bad or need serviced. On top of that, the software is very minimal in a slate... no fancy self driving or anything like that. Cars these days have significant software problems.

 

[kvermeer]

• The high voltage electronics? Maybe? If you can access it and have significant experience in repairing high voltage circuit boards. Which I expect most backyard mechanics don't. Don't make a mistake, because those units can thousands of dollars.
• ...
• The software? Here I know a bit, as a retired software engineer. It's a false narrative to say Slate has no software. It's filled with software. Almost every powered function on the vehicle involves software. The HVAC is software. If you get power windows, that's a module with software. ABS brakes are software. BMS is software. Stability control (one would hope Slate has it) is software. Signalling lights are software. And guys, most of that software is a black box owned by a supplier. Even Slate can't repair it. Slate just sees an API on the CAN bus.

As an electrical engineer with NFPA 70E arc flash training and gear, yes, I plan on seeking high-voltage certification through Slate U and doing my own modular pack/power electronics maintenance. The thousands of dollars are not the important concern, it's more like "Don't make a mistake, because high-voltage batteries will kill you and there is no off switch for chemistry." But I do tasks where doing things wrong will kill you all the time.

Also, the key takeaway about the software isn't that it's an opaque vendor-supplied module that communicates on the CAN bus. We know that. I do have embedded programming experience and tools like a JTAG programmer, but I'm not going to de-pot their embedded circuit boards or stick a Teensy in there and reprogram the ABS, that would be insane. The key takeaway is that on most vehicles, this API - those brakes and HVAC and BCM and BMS modules are all software, they transmit their error messages and latch in faults that can be cleared over software. If you can access that software, it makes maintaining the vehicle *easier*.

Here's the software for Ford and GM, other manufacturers are similar:

https://www.motorcraftservice.com/Purchase/ViewIDSFDRS

https://www.acdelcotds.com/subscriptions

With Slate, I have great anticipation that their software will be more available to DIYers (and RepairPal shops) than a $1,200/year or $4,328/year subscription with Ford or GM. I expect to be able to stick a generic USB-CAN adapter into the OBDII port, boot up Slate Diagnostics, read out an error code that says "Left front vehicle speed sensor failed", swap the left sensor for the right, clear the serial number mismatch, test it and determine it's the sensor not the wheel and not the wiring and not the brake controller, so I'll replace that burned out sensor and reset the faults.

That's a *better* experience than your old VW Bus timing adjustment was, not worse due to software! The only problem with the software-defined vehicles is that the licensing is closed off and unaffordable, which is antithetical to Slate's values.

 

[ScooterAsheville]

I'm a DIYer, but I really don't expect a modern vehicle to need frequent maintenance, and especially not an EV. To me the "simplicity" isn't about being able to fix failures, it's about avoiding many classes of failures entirely. Watch Engineering Explained's video on the issues with his Lucid Gravity () and ask yourself how many of those are even possible in a Slate? The DIY appeal to me is more for accessories and mods.

But that's not the question I asked. I get where you're coming from. It's just not relevant to my question. I see several "right to repair" threads. I see several threads on "I'm gonna be doing all this maintenance on my Slate that I can't do on another vehicle". And I'm asking what maintenance and repairs?

I'm interested in what will break on a Slate that you can fix. Where the same thing breaks on a Bolt, for example, and you cannot fix it. Simple, clear question. If something is not on the Slate to begin with, that's answering a different question.

Best answer so far is when diagnostics themselves are blocked without a paid subscription. Great answer. My little brain can comprehend that.

 

[ScooterAsheville]

As an electrical engineer with NFPA 70E arc flash training and gear, yes, I plan on seeking high-voltage certification through Slate U and doing my own modular pack/power electronics maintenance. The thousands of dollars are not the important concern, it's more like "Don't make a mistake, because high-voltage batteries will kill you and there is no off switch for chemistry." But I do tasks where doing things wrong will kill you all the time.

Also, the key takeaway about the software isn't that it's an opaque vendor-supplied module that communicates on the CAN bus. We know that. I do have embedded programming experience and tools like a JTAG programmer, but I'm not going to de-pot their embedded circuit boards or stick a Teensy in there and reprogram the ABS, that would be insane. The key takeaway is that on most vehicles, this API - those brakes and HVAC and BCM and BMS modules are all software, they transmit their error messages and latch in faults that can be cleared over software. If you can access that software, it makes maintaining the vehicle *easier*.

Here's the software for Ford and GM, other manufacturers are similar:

https://www.motorcraftservice.com/Purchase/ViewIDSFDRS

https://www.acdelcotds.com/subscriptions

With Slate, I have great anticipation that their software will be more available to DIYers (and RepairPal shops) than a $1,200/year or $4,328/year subscription with Ford or GM. I expect to be able to stick a generic USB-CAN adapter into the OBDII port, boot up Slate Diagnostics, read out an error code that says "Left front vehicle speed sensor failed", swap the left sensor for the right, clear the serial number mismatch, test it and determine it's the sensor not the wheel and not the wiring and not the brake controller, so I'll replace that burned out sensor and reset the faults.

That's a *better* experience than your old VW Bus timing adjustment was, not worse due to software! The only problem with the software-defined vehicles is that the licensing is closed off and unaffordable, which is antithetical to Slate's values.

Cool answer. My ancient Boomer brain now gets the idea that some OEMs will paywall diagnostics. Thanks for pointing that out to me!

I used to do some embedded software myself. The stuff I had to maintain was written by monkeys. It was C++ filled with seemingly random jumps, all of it driven by interrupts. Poorly deconflicted threads everywhere. Having written assembly a half century ago, it reminded me a lot of that era. I hope embedded has become more structured since. The stuff dumped into my lap looked like spaghetti code.

Coolest experience ever... At Honeywell, the lady in the desk next to mine wrote software for Voyager. She made me realize how spoiled I was with structured languages, memory protection, type safety, etc.

The guy on the other side of me was an EE who did the embedded software and hardware. He frequently sighed.

 

[bloo]

Brakes? Well the narrative from the BEV world is that BEV brakers never need fixing. Because regenerative braking makes pads last forever.

The narrative is they last a lot longer than on an equivakent gasser. I've not heard they "never" need fixing. And e-brakes don't care if your car is ICE or not.

The software? Here I know a bit, as a retired software engineer. It's a false narrative to say Slate has no software. It's filled with software. Almost every powered function on the vehicle involves software. The HVAC is software. If you get power windows, that's a module with software. ABS brakes are software. BMS is software. Stability control (one would hope Slate has it) is software. Signalling lights are software. And guys, most of that software is a black box owned by a supplier. Even Slate can't repair it. Slate just sees an API on the CAN bus.

Not sure the AC would have anything other than hardware to run it. The compressor motor might have some embedded firmware in the control module - assuming it's driving a PMAC motor. Maybe a low SoC cutout, too?

Power windows are and turn signals are dirt simple to run on hardware alone.

Cabin air filters? I'm guessing Slate does not have one.

I'm guessing it does.

 

[cadblu]

I’m also a DIYer, and have been wrenching for many years, but if the issue isn’t covered in Slate U, I’m not going to attempt it. Leave that to Repair Pal.

 

[tubes]

I'm not going to compare to a Ford UEV because I don't know much about it.

You are asking exactly what I will fix, and I can't answer that (hopefully) years away from it.

What interests me are the following promises:

• A company that is open to customers working on their vehicle
• Them helping via Slate U
• Presumably panels I can remove to get access or replace if damaged
• Hopefully a dash I can get behind somewhat easily to replace, uh, a blend motor
• A dash I can fiddle around to customize a dashcam connection or audio connection
• A door panel I can get off and get in the door to fix, say, a lock actuator
• A bulb/LED assembly I can replace
• Brakes, suspension, etc. all explained with Slate U

I'm not looking to reprogram anything. I'm not looking to mess with the high voltage or motor. I am looking to Slate U to warn me not to mess with certain areas (don't drill here) etc.

 

[ScooterAsheville]

I wish I could go back and restart this thread. I'd ask a different question - one less likely to trigger people.

I'd ask What things do you expect will break or need maintenance on a Slate over the first decade, and do you think that will be a DIY repair?

Alas, too late now. I feel it's bad form to go edit the thread start after the fact. But I hate posting a thread that raises anyone's BP.

 

[tubes]

I mean, who knows what will break? Once we get our hands on them, we'll have a better idea.

 

[r6tn]

The whole "you can't work on your car anymore" is somewhat overblown. While they're more complicated, a shadetree mechanic can still do most of the things they want to do.

But, for some reason, automotive manufacturers are actively trying to change that

https://www.aol.com/news/trump-says...-ZWK0VkF8EnwoE6QSX18AKS8TfOr5p8afFeKBtuejLO7m

"President Donald Trump says he had a "great meeting" with the heads of General Motors, Ford and racing team legend and businessman Roger Penske this week about legislation that, in the president's words, would prohibit people from repairing their own motor vehicles."

I don't know how this would effect Slate. It doesn't matter how easy it is to change your own brakes if it's illegal, and we might be one bribe away from finding out.

 

[RedJoker]

I wish I could go back and restart this thread. I'd ask a different question - one less likely to trigger people.

I'd ask What things do you expect will break or need maintenance on a Slate over the first decade, and do you think that will be a DIY repair?

Alas, too late now. I feel it's bad form to go edit the thread start after the fact. But I hate posting a thread that raises anyone's BP.

My answer is: I don't know yet, but when something does break, I look forward to Slate U allowing me to fix it myself. I've done enough maintenance on vehicles over the years to know that things are getting harder and more guarded against the DIY'er. I'm hoping that changes with Slate.

 

[ElectricShitbox]

If you live in the northeast, expect to change your brakes every few years due to rust.