Review by InsideEVs - I Drove Slate’s $25,000 Electric Truck. It Could Be A Real Game-Changer

[kvermeer]

Slate just posted this, is it possible we are hearing the sound close to the beginning, before the back track starts playing?

It's conceivable, though I'm not a fan of the hiss, and it's also possible the chime we hear is the reverse warning. Though I think it's more likely that there is no live audio, and all the sound is a backing track. The white SUV passing at high speed doesn't make any noise like you'd expect it to:

And the reverse warning chime-like sound matches the off-beat of the bass drum in the music and remains on cadence through the 2-second TikTok cuts.

Plus, if they had an AVAS sound on the vehicle used for this clip, I'd expect they'd also have had it on the production-intent vehicles used for the New Jersey reviews.

 

[Freyar]

https://insideevs.com/reviews/803784/slate-ev-truck-first-drive-review-2026/

By the way, thanks for linking the article first and foremost. I'm not a fan of this trend of people copy-pasting the meat of the article into a forum post.

 

[VigilKnotEagle14]

I don't think those notes are part of the track. They don't fit.

Is the tone from the SLATE the soft A4 note?
Link to an A4 note from a piano

 

[Freyar]

Is it the soft A4 note?
Link to an A4 note from a piano

Haha. I've no talent for music, this is just me listening by ear. It sounds distinctly separate to me.

The note plays three times during the clip, and sounds close to what you linked here.

 

[nicomalo]

It's conceivable, though I'm not a fan of the hiss, and it's also possible the chime we hear is the reverse warning. Though I think it's more likely that there is no live audio, and all the sound is a backing track. The white SUV passing at high speed doesn't make any noise like you'd expect it to:

And the reverse warning chime-like sound matches the off-beat of the bass drum in the music and remains on cadence through the 2-second TikTok cuts.

Plus, if they had an AVAS sound on the vehicle used for this clip, I'd expect they'd also have had it on the production-intent vehicles used for the New Jersey reviews.

Sorry, I wasn’t clear - I am making a guess that the sound within the first second of the video is the AVAS sound. The possible A4 note that VigilKnotEagle14 mentioned is what sounds to me like the beginning of the backing track.

 

[VigilKnotEagle14]

Sorry, I wasn’t clear - I am making a guess that the sound within the first second of the video is the AVAS sound. The possible A4 note that VigilKnotEagle14 mentioned is what sounds to me like the beginning of the backing track.

Gotchya, thanks for the clarification. I agree that I think the chime note in the second half is part of the track.

The sound in the first second seems too loud to be coming from the SLATE, unless it was added later at a higher volume in post. That's why I think it's a lead-in of the music track instead.

 

[kvermeer]

By the way, thanks for linking the article first and foremost. I'm not a fan of this trend of people copy-pasting the meat of the article into a forum post.

When it's from Business Insider and the article looks like this:

it doesn't deserve not to be reformatted. The actual text is 25% of the page, over 70% of the content is advertisements! That's heinously disrespectful.

InsideEVs has a banner pop-up that asks for permission to show ads. If you decline, there's space reserved for a banner ad, two sidebar ads, a "Trending Videos" interruption to the reading, and a few sidebars for other articles on their site. Still bad, if we apply a sane baseline, but a significant majority of the page is still content.

I expect that a surprisingly large fraction of forum users are not running an ad blocker. Out of respect for my fellow humans, if an article is as egregious as the BI one was, I'll fully support extracting the content.

 

[Freyar]

When it's from Business Insider and the article looks like this:

it doesn't deserve not to be reformatted. The actual text is 25% of the page, over 70% of the content is advertisements! That's heinously disrespectful.

InsideEVs has a banner pop-up that asks for permission to show ads. If you decline, there's space reserved for a banner ad, two sidebar ads, a "Trending Videos" interruption to the reading, and a few sidebars for other articles on their site. Still bad, if we apply a sane baseline, but a significant majority of the page is still content.

I expect that a surprisingly large fraction of forum users are not running an ad blocker. Out of respect for my fellow humans, if an article is as egregious as the BI one was, I'll fully support extracting the content.

I just use reader mode in combination with UBlock Origin and ABP. Sorts it out nicely enough, and if it's exceptionally egregious, reader view works.

Ad blocking is a security consideration.

I should have been more clear that I appreciate the link being before any summary/commentary so I can go get the original.

 

[d.h.]

Thanks for the link. Liked the review, very positive.

 

[E90400K]

Well worth reading. A few quotes that caught my eye and tickled my fancy:

"There is no Apple Car Play or Android Auto because there is no screen to project it onto. Isn’t this reduction and decluttering a form of luxury?"

"...many of the obtrusive nanny systems that make operating a new car such a nuisance are absent. I can’t thank Slate enough for that."

"What really impressed me during the drive, though, was the genuine sophistication in which the minimalist philosophy was executed. "

"It feels production ready."

This excerpt caught my eye, "For a truly open-air experience, you can also take off the doors, like on a Bronco or Wrangler."

Hummm, I wonder how precise that language is. Looking at the close up pics of the Slate's door hinges and wiring harness, I do not think the doors are designed to be easily and routinely removed as are the Wrangler and Bronco doors. I point to the Slate doors have a door check mechanism that limits and dampens the door swing. The door check does not look like it is easily disconnected. Nor does the wiring harness connector at the body side of the door jamb look like it is designed to be repeatedly disconnected and reconnected as are both the Wrangler and Bronco, which have spring-loaded covers that move into place to cover the connector once the harness is separated. I can't speak specifically to the current-gen Wrangler, but the Bronco door check mechanism is built into the door hinge design. I'm sure the Wrangler has a similar design for its door check. Also, the Bronco and Wrangler's door hinges are self-aligning, meaning they repeatably re-affix the doors in correct alignment to the door frame.

 

[whippet]

LOL No way I'm ever removing the doors as I'm always driving with my dog. Great article though, ups that confidence!

I do think I'd like some kind of wheel treatment. I can save that for way later when the aftermarket develops.

 

[tubes]

This excerpt caught my eye, "For a truly open-air experience, you can also take off the doors, like on a Bronco or Wrangler."

Hummm, I wonder how precise that language is. Looking at the close up pics of the Slate's door hinges and wiring harness, I do not think the doors are designed to be easily and routinely removed as are the Wrangler and Bronco doors. I point to the Slate doors have a door check mechanism that limits and dampens the door swing. The door check does not look like it is easily disconnected. Nor does the wiring harness connector at the body side of the door jamb look like it is designed to be repeatedly disconnected and reconnected as are both the Wrangler and Bronco, which have spring-loaded covers that move into place to cover the connector once the harness is separated. I can't speak specifically to the current-gen Wrangler, but the Bronco door check mechanism is built into the door hinge design. I'm sure the Wrangler has a similar design for its door check. Also, the Bronco and Wrangler's door hinges are self-aligning, meaning they repeatably re-affix the doors in correct alignment to the door frame.

So earlier in their marketing presentations they had doorless Slates. I think the Maker even had a "remove door" option.

Something appears to have changed as reality gets close. Same with the power windows.

 

[stEVe]

Aw nuts, I was hoping to catch a whisper of the sound in one of these videos. That explains why no one has recorded the AVAS sound yet nor commented on the spaceship chorus or hisses or tire-on-gravel or whatever. Still hoping for spaceship.



Wow, that's great! I'm an industrial controls engineer and I've worked on too many CNCs, robots, servos, and VFDs with bad inverter coil whine, I've heard cheap electric scooters and electric motorcycles that do the same and I've hated it, but I'm hoping that there's none in the Slate. The author is 53 years old, so maybe his ears are less able to detect very high-frequency squeal than a younger person's ears, but at least I can be confident that I'll be unable to detect it in a couple decades!

I can only hear the bass and drums at restaurants and bars. 😂

 

[EVfun]

Slate just posted this, is it possible we are hearing the sound close to the beginning, before the back track starts playing?

NO, from the Inside EVs article:

I stuck the key fob into the receptacle, put it into drive, and tried it out. There is no fuss, no simulated startup sequence—and, so far, no obnoxious fake sound. Production versions of the Slate, though, will of course be subject to the federal requirement for low-speed pedestrian warning sounds in EVs.

 

[misnomer]

Aw nuts, I was hoping to catch a whisper of the sound in one of these videos. That explains why no one has recorded the AVAS sound yet nor commented on the spaceship chorus or hisses or tire-on-gravel or whatever. Still hoping for spaceship.



Wow, that's great! I'm an industrial controls engineer and I've worked on too many CNCs, robots, servos, and VFDs with bad inverter coil whine, I've heard cheap electric scooters and electric motorcycles that do the same and I've hated it, but I'm hoping that there's none in the Slate. The author is 53 years old, so maybe his ears are less able to detect very high-frequency squeal than a younger person's ears, but at least I can be confident that I'll be unable to detect it in a couple decades!

Not gonna lie, one of my favorite things about my current car (2024 500e) is that I can hear that motor whine. It’s interest and character and if there’s one thing EVs are known for it’s their drivetrains just being devoid of character.