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

[Bayfire2441]

I guess that's good if the Bezos influence on Slate isn't as great as the outlets make it out to be.

I'm pretty sure that Chris has said he's seen a prototype but isn't involved with the companies day to day, so I'd bet its just like any other company one has investments in.

 

[ElectricShitbox]

I asked a few questions for the Q&A, and they answered one of them via email.

I asked how the door handles are connected to the door latches. (I won't buy a vehicle with electric door handles)

They responded:
"This is Jimmy from Slate. Thanks for taking the time to submit your questions to our team. I wanted to follow up and make sure you got an answer.

Great question. We've designed the Slate to be as simple and DIY-friendly as possible while ensuring reliability. I don't have the specific technical details on the door latch mechanism available to share yet, but I can tell you that repairability and keeping things straightforward is a core part of our design philosophy.
Keep an eye out for Slate University - an online library of resources and video tutorials covering everything from maintenance to personalization. That's where you'll find detailed technical specs and repair information."

So not really an answer, haha. I'm guessing it's a mechanical linkage, but I was hoping they would confirm it.

After I received this answer, I had asked a followup question:

" Thank you for your response! Would it be safe to say that the Slate's door handles won't require firmware updates? Am I going to get locked inside and die in a fire to shave off .0001 of drag coefficient?

Thanks for your time, we at the slate forums love getting new info to argue over while we wait."



And after a while they responded with:

" Thanks for the follow-up and for the laugh. We appreciate the sense of humor and the passion from the forums.

It’s safe to say Slate is very intentionally avoiding overcomplicating basic, safety-critical functions. Things like door handles are designed to work reliably and predictably without depending on firmware updates to operate. We’re not chasing marginal aero gains at the expense of common sense or safety. The goal is a truck that behaves like a truck, including being easy to get in and out of in every situation.

We love that the community is already debating and dissecting every detail, and we’re glad to be able to add some fuel to those discussions as real information becomes available.

One quick housekeeping note. Please make sure your full home address is added to your Slate account if it isn’t already. That helps us share location-based updates like events, test drives, and delivery timing.

Thanks again for the great question and for keeping the forum conversations lively. Feel free to reach out anytime."