Reusing and recycling accessories

[Dorbiman]

True...for things that I want to bolt on myself. But, I don't want extra tires laying around or remove a factory bumper for a better one, etc. That's terribly inefficient for the end-consumer. I know you are implying that the "later" part could be going to the 3rd party near by me to install, but are they going to take my street tires back if I've driven then 1K miles waiting for my (needless) AT tires and spare?

There has to be a happy medium. Near to them = fundamental replacement things. Near to me = easy to add on (vs replace) things?

For sure, I'm not arguing that. Just talking to why Slate may be going this route in the first place.

I, personally, want the option to keep the stock steelies when I get the 20's. If I'm not given the option to keep them, I'll likely just order the 20" wheels a few weeks or months after the fact. I'd like to keep the steelies in the garage for snow tires. The bumpers I could go either way with.

 

[Doctors Do Little]

For sure, I'm not arguing that. Just talking to why Slate may be going this route in the first place.

I, personally, want the option to keep the stock steelies when I get the 20's. If I'm not given the option to keep them, I'll likely just order the 20" wheels a few weeks or months after the fact. I'd like to keep the steelies in the garage for snow tires. The bumpers I could go either way with.

I feel you. I have 4 half-worn OEM tires in my garage for my Lightning. Didn't want to give them way, and haven't gotten serious about selling them.

 

[E90400K]

You're definitely right, but I'd like that add that the one downside to lots of factory installed options is the variance in supplier deliveries. You have to allocate well in advance how many of a given part you will need based on projections made months in advance. I'm intimately familiar with this at a large vehicle manufacturing plant. There are times when a shipment of Option A is delayed for sometimes weeks on end.

All of this to say that Slate's process should alleviate that pain point. If you make one truck, you can crank them out, especially when you have backup suppliers for the one standard part.

So, they can ship you the Blank Slate and have the accessories you optioned show up a few weeks later. It doesn't have to line up at exactly the right time.

It's a good point, and COVID certainly made consumers aware of such impacts because Just in time (JIT) supply protocols got hammered between 2020 and 2023. But good supply chain management should alleviate most problems at this point.

But costs are costs. Slate is just moving product diversity cost to the consumer directly on a one-by-one basis, which makes it individually more expensive rather than amortizing product diversity over the entire production. Hopefully most buyers like the steel wheels, base bumpers, and gray interior trim. I know I do.

 

[E90400K]

For sure, I'm not arguing that. Just talking to why Slate may be going this route in the first place.

I, personally, want the option to keep the stock steelies when I get the 20's. If I'm not given the option to keep them, I'll likely just order the 20" wheels a few weeks or months after the fact. I'd like to keep the steelies in the garage for snow tires. The bumpers I could go either way with.

Lets the owner keep a set of winter tires on the steelies for sure. I'm hoping to pick up a set of take-off Slate steelies for a winter tire package.

 

[Doctors Do Little]

Lets the owner keep a set of winter tires on the steelies for sure. I'm hoping to pick up a set of take-off Slate steelies for a winter tire package.

Thankfully, that's not a common requirement for GA. One set of (needless) AT vanity tires does the trick.

 

[AZFox]

Last-mile installation of wheels and bumpers does solve the new-versus-used take-off parts issue. The parts would be leave-off, not take-offs.

The wheels and bumpers would be new, packaged parts rather than parts that have been installed and removed (new-ish, but no longer new).

Stock bumpers and wheels could be shipped, packaged, in the Truck's bed (or sent separately or kept in stock by a delivery partner or whatever).

The point is: Last-mile installation means new, packaged stock parts would remain factory-new if an alternate wheel or bumper is chosen.

Bonus Benefit: Doing it that way would also give the factory less to assemble. That means simpler, faster production.

Tires degrade with age. That's something to factor in.

 

[AZFox]

Read Aphrodite's message to @AKrietzer (a.k.a. John) with Transit Wheels and last-mile assembly of separately-packaged commonly swapped parts in mind.

 

[Doctors Do Little]

Read Aphrodite's message to @AKrietzer (a.k.a. John) with Transit Wheels and last-mile assembly of separately-packaged commonly swapped parts in mind.

This had best be Burger King, where I can have it my way.

 

[AZFox]

This had best be Burger King, where I can have it my way.

....with a paper hat

 

[E90400K]

Read Aphrodite's message to @AKrietzer (a.k.a. John) with Transit Wheels and last-mile assembly of separately-packaged commonly swapped parts in mind.

The question is, do you get credit for the standard steel wheels?

 

[Doctors Do Little]

The question is, do you get credit for the standard steel wheels?

I would think so! If standard includes them and you get something else in it’s place, seems like the difference in cost plus labor?

 

[hbuck]

I did a few searches for keywords before posting this thread. I hope I didn't miss a thread that already suggests this.

I've been thinking about the whole concept of buying a blank Slate, then accessorizing. I'm mildly troubled by the idea of all the original parts going into dumps all across America. I have a few ideas for avoiding this, and maybe others (including Slate) have other ideas.

1. Slate can have a mildly incentivized "mail it back" program. Say I buy new interior trim. If I mail it back the original parts in the original packaging, maybe Slate gives me a 5% rebate on the new parts. Ideally, Slate would then reuse the returned parts in production.
2. Slate could mildly change their production process down the road to offer the most common accessories as a package. This complicates the build line, but maybe no so much. Say once a quarter Slate dedicates a whole week's production to building only "Fancy Slates". Like an interior trim upgrade with automatic windows, the nice trim upgrades, etc.
3. This site could have a "Swap" section where owners could swap parts they've replaced. For instance, somebody gets a fender ding. No biggie. Somebody on the site has that piece sitting in the garage and is happy to mail it postage due.
4. Maybe Slate could have a "how to recycle" section on their website for owners upgrading their vehicles.

My point is just that I can see a lot of bits and pieces going into the garbage bin. Anybody have other ideas?

I think minimalists concept is the way to go. Meaning get the barebones like the choice of battery because they will not be interchangeable. And get the top with any racks you want. The rest is just like you mentioned. Change out a wrap, returning it instead of tossing it, and let Slate properly dispose of it or set up a used parts department or contract that out.