Q&A with CEO Chris Barman (Dec 16, 2025). Slateforums gets a shout out 🙌

[cadblu]

IMHO they should do something periodically (monthly?).

The next one doesn't need to be Chris Barman. It could be Eric Keipper riffing on engineering, Tisha Johnson riffing on the design, or Jeff Jablanski &/or Senior Agent Aphrodite on general topics.

Or some/all of the above in a group, sitting around a table talking about what's going on and what to expect. Record it with a podcasting audio console and some halfway-decent microphones.

It doesn't need to be the Q&A format.

I've been thinking they should do a podcast. That tangent is a rabbit trail that should be in a separate thread.

They have plenty of stories to share, I'm sure.

While I like the idea, I would think the priority should be spending as much time as possible on the assembly lines overseeing the transition into limited production. I always appreciated seeing the management team walking the floor and getting input / ideas from the assembly team. The focus should be setting up Gemba teams and solve quality and safety issues in real time. There are going to be a lot of startup issues on each line, the sooner they are revealed, the better. I recall a phrase which still haunts me today: “We don’t yet know what we don’t know.” Challenging times lie ahead for Slate in the new year.

 

[thommeigh]

On AWD: Her response was so perfect. People insist on needing AWD to get through a bit of snow. 50/50 weight distribution and good driving is going to get you through so much better than you’d think. Its more fun this way too.

On Doug: In the ultra-affordable car videos I’ve seen from Doug he just drags and drags on the cars for being cheap. I don't think he's going to have much love for this minimalist machine… Hopefully I am wrong.

I agree with you on Doug… More and more in his reviews, I find him out of touch with the reality of what most real car owners want. He’s already said that he doesn’t think the Slate will be successful because it doesn’t have 4 doors. And surely he’ll have a lot to say about the fact that it doesn’t have a sub-4 second 0-60 time, too.

 

[AZFox]

While I like the idea, I would think the priority should be spending as much time as possible on the assembly lines overseeing the transition into limited production.

I wholeheartedly agree. That's why I wrote "The company's CEO has important things to do besides craft a 100% Perfect Q&A PR video".

They didn't let the perfect be the enemy of the good, which is admirable.

I think Mr. Jablansky's PR Team could figure out a way to create some engaging content with minimal disruption to the overall task at hand.

The content might come out a little rough at first. They'll get better with practice.

Engagement with the reservation holders is important enough for them to at least give it a try.

 

[MotoGary]

Despite my initial reaction (nonplussed) I'm going to try to be positive and assume that she's great at her actual job.

 

[dragondroptv]

I thought the Q&A was great. I have two big takeaways that give me a lot of hope for the future.

First, reiterating the same release timeframe and the same price is actually new and meaningful information—especially in an industry where most EV manufacturers promise one thing, then release late and often at nearly double the original price. I’ve worked in the auto industry for years, and when a company is less than a year from launch and publicly states that it’s still on track, that’s huge. Saying you’re firmly sticking to the promised price tag? That’s even bigger.

Second, I’ve watched Doug’s video on the Slate, and you can tell he doesn’t really like the product or the concept. So for the CEO to publicly say to a reviewer with over 5 million subscribers—who got more than 400k views on his last Slate video—“Come review it. We’re ready,” shows an incredible amount of confidence in the product.

 

[mthulhu]

If this is single motor, will it have a conventional rear diff? If so, I imagine it will be open, which may limit driving in snow a bit. I get the weight distribution and battery placement will help traction, but it's hard to overcome and open rear end in a pickup truck in low traction situations.

In the hypothetical future where I own a Slate, I would be all over an LSD upgrade if they made one available.

 

[SichuanHot]

I thought the Q&A was great. I have two big takeaways that give me a lot of hope for the future.

First, reiterating the same release timeframe and the same price is actually new and meaningful information—especially in an industry where most EV manufacturers promise one thing, then release late and often at nearly double the original price. I’ve worked in the auto industry for years, and when a company is less than a year from launch and publicly states that it’s still on track, that’s huge. Saying you’re firmly sticking to the promised price tag? That’s even bigger.

Second, I’ve watched Doug’s video on the Slate, and you can tell he doesn’t really like the product or the concept. So for the CEO to publicly say to a reviewer with over 5 million subscribers—who got more than 400k views on his last Slate video—“Come review it. We’re ready,” shows an incredible amount of confidence in the product.

I watched the podcast segment about the Slate on Doug's channel and I don't quite agree with the assessment that he outright hates the truck. His cohosts also balanced out the times when Doug was overly critical about Slate, so I thought it was pretty fair.

Doug's point of view for his argument is that of the average mid size pickup/SUV consumer. He uses data about 2 door vs 4 door sales, like that of the Wrangler, to back it up. The points he makes about how the market favors 4 door trucks and SUVs isn't wrong. Doug's main argument is that Slate might not be a sales success based off the prior market and current consumer trends (pro 4 doors) in the midsize truck and SUV segment. That doesn't mean Slate won't be a good product.

 

[ElectricShitbox]

Has anyone else noticed that absolutely no one covered the Q&A video?

I follow a decent amount of automotive press, and especially websites and youtube channels that focus on electric vehicles, and none of them have mentioned it.

 

[E90400K]

On AWD: Her response was so perfect. People insist on needing AWD to get through a bit of snow. 50/50 weight distribution and good driving is going to get you through so much better than you’d think. Its more fun this way too.

On Doug: In the ultra-affordable car videos I’ve seen from Doug he just drags and drags on the cars for being cheap. I don't think he's going to have much love for this minimalist machine… Hopefully I am wrong.

When Slates start showing up as used vehicles on his auction site, he'll start like them and they will suddenly become super quirky.

 

[KevinRS]

Has anyone else noticed that absolutely no one covered the Q&A video?

I follow a decent amount of automotive press, and especially websites and youtube channels that focus on electric vehicles, and none of them have mentioned it.

It was only a 10 minute video, mostly with info that is already out, there may not be much of an article or video to make from it.

 

[Letas]

Has anyone else noticed that absolutely no one covered the Q&A video?

I follow a decent amount of automotive press, and especially websites and youtube channels that focus on electric vehicles, and none of them have mentioned it.

There's not a ton to cover. Only 3-5 bits of new and confirmed information. Nothing was delved into deeply. It was just a PR thing to keep steam up for Slate.

And frankly, it didn't do that well- 18k views in 2 days. Just over 10% of reservations took the time to click the link for a car they have money on.

 

[ElectricShitbox]

I bring it up because a couple weeks ago Aptera released a 5 minute video showing an inconsequential step in their ramp up to production, and InsideEVs, Electrek, and others covered it the next day. Perhaps they make a point of sending that out as a press release to make sure it gets covered.

 

[dragondroptv]

I watched the podcast segment about the Slate on Doug's channel and I don't quite agree with the assessment that he outright hates the truck. His cohosts also balanced out the times when Doug was overly critical about Slate, so I thought it was pretty fair.

Doug's point of view for his argument is that of the average mid size pickup/SUV consumer. He uses data about 2 door vs 4 door sales, like that of the Wrangler, to back it up. The points he makes about how the market favors 4 door trucks and SUVs isn't wrong. Doug's main argument is that Slate might not be a sales success based off the prior market and current consumer trends (pro 4 doors) in the midsize truck and SUV segment. That doesn't mean Slate won't be a good product.

That’s fair, and I agree with your point. I originally used the word “hates,” but I went back and changed it before posting.

When I watched the video, though, I kept thinking: Why does he keep insisting it needs four doors when it only seats two? It felt like he was locked into the idea that it would fail simply because other two-door vehicles have, and at times he didn’t really let his cohost finish making the counterpoint.

To me, he kept missing the fact that it isn’t trying to be an SUV—unless you choose to configure it that way.

That said, I still think it shows a huge amount of confidence for the CEO to publicly say, “Come review it anytime.” That kind of openness speaks volumes about their belief in the product.