Predictable Pessimistic Pundit Prognostication

[Doctors Do Little]

Baloney Brian has struck again.

In this video, "Slate's Biggest Problem Isn't the Truck", the same "analyst" re-appears and reiterates his certainty that, contrary to Slate Automotive's assertion that each Blank Slate generates positive cash flow and break-even is 80,000 units, he's really sure they'll lose money on each unit sold and will rely on accessory sales to be profitable.

Normally, all publicity is good publicity, but dude is a click-whore and probably won't be bothered with facts.

 

[Freyar]

Baloney Brian has struck again.

In this video, "Slate's Biggest Problem Isn't the Truck", the same "analyst" re-appears and reiterates his certainty that, contrary to Slate Automotive's assertion that each Blank Slate generates positive cash flow and break-even is 80,000 units, he's really sure they'll lose money on each unit sold and will rely on accessory sales to be profitable.

I watched some of their other videos and they give me the feel of a pair of people so heavily involved with the EV market that they don't have a realistic view. Don't get me wrong, I share the same anxieties over Slate staying alive through Generation 1 like any early adopter, but given that they're making these claims without data and the way they touched on other EV-related topics, I can't trust things they're asserting.

 

[AZFox]

Industry journalists need access.

Even if an automotive journalist personally believes "finally! a car people have wanted but couldn't have until now!" they'd never convey that to the public because if they did they'd lose access to the companies they write about.

That's why the pessimism is predictable.

OTOH architectural journalists don't need access to auto manufacturers so they can speak freely.

 

[E90400K]

Baloney Brian has struck again.

In this video, "Slate's Biggest Problem Isn't the Truck", the same "analyst" re-appears and reiterates his certainty that, contrary to Slate Automotive's assertion that each Blank Slate generates positive cash flow and break-even is 80,000 units, he's really sure they'll lose money on each unit sold and will rely on accessory sales to be profitable.

Not much info on Brian White's background regarding his automotive manufacturing expertise other than from him. It says he is an accountant and comedian. Okay.

My thoughts are if you are going to repeatedly say Slate cannot make its breakeven point at 80,000 units, then you need to say why. The CEO and CFO of Slate both say that is what the numbers indicate. It's all math and easy to calculate. Whether it is achievable is based on how close the company comes to hitting its planned schedule milestones at the cost target for each. Basic program management 101 stuff. White offers zero reasoning or evidence as to why that won't happen; he has zero insight as to the numbers. Any of us can pull the same comments/concern out of our asses, me included.

And as to "Slate spinning off of Munro and Associates", first that has been discussed. The Slate corporate line is Slate started engineering in the spaces of Munro and Associates but as a part of RE:Manufacturing corp. Brian apparently has inside knowledge about the "real story". Yeah, okay. Whatever, sell some internet clicks...

All we can go by is what Barman, Faricy and Green have said and are saying what the numbers indicate; break even at 80,000 unit sales the first year. No one knows any different.

 

[Nojoe]

Not much info on Brian White's background regarding his automotive manufacturing expertise other than from him. It says he is an accountant and comedian. Okay.

My thoughts are if you are going to repeatedly say Slate cannot make its breakeven point at 80,000 units, then you need to say why. The CEO and CFO of Slate says that is what the numbers show. It's all math and easy to calculate. Whether it is achievable is based on how close the company comes to hitting its planned schedule milestones at the cost target for each. Basic program management 101 stuff. White offers zero reasoning or evidence as to why that won't happen; he has zero insight as to the numbers. Any of us can pull the same comments/concern out of our asses, me included.

And as to "Slate spinning off of Munro and Associates", first that has been discussed. The Slate corporate line is Slate started engineering in the spaces of Munro and Associates but as a part of RE:Manufacturing corp. Brian apparently has inside knowledge about the "real story". Yeah, okay. Whatever, sell some internet clicks...

All we can go by is what Barman, Faricy and Green have said and are saying what the numbers indicate; break even at 80,000 unit sales the first year. No one knows any different.

Brain insists that Slate can’t be profitable because they are leasing the space they are in, when I pointed out that Tesla leases a 635,000 square foot facility and they seem profitable, he claims it’s not the same thing.

Remember these two dudes were predicting the epic dominating sales of the Cybertruck and we all know where that one went.

 

[GaRailroader]

It's content. They can put out a video on Slate, and get 10x the views they get on any other EV topic. They don't have to be right in order for the content to monetize. They don't know whether Slate will be successful any more than Doug Demuro does. They do have a pretty good idea their video will be successful regardless of whether it is accurate or not.

 

[E90400K]

Brain insists that Slate can’t be profitable because they are leasing the space they are in, when I pointed out that Tesla leases a 635,000 square foot facility and they seem profitable, he claims it’s not the same thing.

Remember these two dudes were predicting the epic dominating sales of the Cybertruck and we all know where that one went.

Yeah, the dude is an idiot who knows not much about business. I worked in the Lockheed Martin plant in Middle River Maryland, which used to be Martin Marietta, which used to be the Glen L. Martin airplane factory. "A" Building was built in 1927 and opened in 1929. B Building and C Building were subsequently built through 1935 IIRC. All in all, 1M square feet. There was a 4th manufacturing plant built called D Building that was 900' x 900' (1M square feet - incl upper decks), which was torn down in 1972 IIRC.

The point being Martin Marietta and Lockheed Martin both leased the factory buildings from the Middle River Landholdings company even though the buildings were built and originally owned by the Glen L. Martin Aircraft Company. It's called the U.S. Tax Code...

 

[Susan]

Baloney Brian has struck again.

In this video, "Slate's Biggest Problem Isn't the Truck", the same "analyst" re-appears and reiterates his certainty that, contrary to Slate Automotive's assertion that each Blank Slate generates positive cash flow and break-even is 80,000 units, he's really sure they'll lose money on each unit sold and will rely on accessory sales to be profitable.

This part is probably wrong: So just a little bit of looking and I found that Brian "Baloney" White works for Tesla.

He was also whining about YouTube not promoting his channel, since he doesn't have 100,000 followers. Hope he never gets them.

edit: I'm now not entirely sure that this guy does work for Tesla. Although I'm 100% sure he'd like to.

 

[Freyar]

So just a little bit of looking and I found that Brian "Baloney" White works for Tesla. He was also whining about YouTube not promoting his channel, since he doesn't have 100,000 followers. Hope he never gets them.

I wasn't able to corroborate that myself. Was it something he mentioned somewhere on social media? I know he had/has an inside track for Tesla commentary at the minimum.

 

[Susan]

I wasn't able to corroborate that myself. Was it something he mentioned somewhere on social media? I know he had/has an inside track for Tesla commentary at the minimum.

I could be wrong of course. I went down a little rabbit hole to a linked-in profile that seemed to match. But the guy was wearing sunglasses and a hat in his profile pic. So, on reflection, it's probably a different guy. I think our Mr. Baloney would *like* to work for Tesla though!

And I certainly don't want to accuse Mr. Baloney of being smarter than he actually is!

 

[AZFox]

The existence of the Slate will ruffle some feathers.

My prediction is that a narrative will emerge.

I pay a lot of attention to how media and narratives work. It's not pretty.

 

[Susan]

The existence of the Slate will ruffle some feathers.

My prediction is that a narrative will emerge.

I pay a lot of attention to how media and narratives work. It's not pretty.

This NPR piece was mainly positive. And a new audience, people who don't tend to follow automotive influencers, will have heard about Slate, if they hadn't before:

https://www.slateforums.com/forum/threads/here-and-now-interview-with-peter-faricy.15657/post-257639

In the interview, Peter Faricy said, "the most important thing we're trying to do now is build trust with our customers."

Also, a piece of info I hadn't heard before from Faricy: "test drives coming sometime this fall."

 

[Imhotep]

I’m glad y’all posted your reviews before I clicked on the link. One less click for a YouTube leach. Thanks Slate folks!