Simplicity!

[jonboy108]

L. Francis Herreshoff was a naval architect of the mid 20th century. He's quoted as having said,“Simplicity afloat is the surest guarantee of happiness”. Being a boater myself I've experienced both ends of the spectrum- from a simple rowboat to a fairly well decked out power cruiser. I believe the same could be said about vehicles. I've owned Porsches and Jeeps, VW beetles and antique Chevys. As a retiree and car junkie, I always come back to the simple as what I've enjoyed the most. I remember perusing the used car ads when they listed "radio, heater and whitewall tires" as desirable options. People complained about Honda Fits being tossed around in the wind. Those whiners never drove an old VW bus on an icy turnpike. Would I go back to the good/bad old days? Not on your life. But the Slate calls to something elemental. Things that you need and nothing that you don't. The chance to tinker and modify if you like, but no need to do so if you don't. I've done brake jobs in cold garages and I wouldn't ever do one again. But play with a car/truck to trick it out as I want it? Bring it! I sympathize with the fella I was talking with- at the time he knew he was dying, and soon. He looked out to his driveway and said, I"ll never get to do a brake job on my old Ford. I'm old, I ain't afraid of technology, but I sure dig having to use less of it. So let's hope and pray that Slate lives a long and fruitful life!

 

[MIDgrid]

Only about 600 parts on my future blank Slate Truck - that's what I'm excited about! Simplicity means much less to go wrong, much easier to fix, and add/subtract if and when the need or mood arises. It will scratch my EV itch and haul stuff too. I've loved the simple 50's/60's cars but don't miss rebuilding their carburetors, cleaning and adjusting the points, etc. Agree - Bring it!

 

[E90400K]

I'm not sure where the 600 part count comes from, because no vehicle is built in its entirety with just 600 parts. I think the Slate is built from 600 lowest units of assembly on the production line.

Reliability is engineered to to the part design and production processes. We'll see how Slate does with its limited budgets and short gestation time to full rate production.

 

[KevinRS]

The 600 parts has been stated several times, in comparison to 5-6k on other trucks. I'm also seeing 500 parts shipped to the factory, compared to 2500 with other trucks from an early video.

These may refer to part numbers, part of bringing the part number count down is using the same part multiple places.

 

[E90400K]

Being stated and being true are two different things.

Just for a fun exercise of estimating just the wheel bearings (4), axleshafts (2), front and rear suspensions, I already come up with 199 individual parts.

If the battery is 96 cells in series for 3 parallel banks that's 288 cells alone that the Factory is going to assemble into the HV battery, plus the battery frame, top plate, bottom plate, cooling hoses, connectors, etc. Say 300 parts total for the battery assembly to be produced in-house (let's not break the cells down into its component parts...)

So, we are at 500 parts to just get to the suspension and battery...

 

[Sparkie]

Being stated and being true are two different things.

Just for a fun exercise of estimating just the wheel bearings (4), axleshafts (2), front and rear suspensions, I already come up with 199 individual parts.

If the battery is 96 cells in series for 3 parallel banks that's 288 cells alone that the Factory is going to assemble into the HV battery, plus the battery frame, top plate, bottom plate, cooling hoses, connectors, etc. Say 300 parts total for the battery assembly to be produced in-house (let's not break the cells down into its component parts...)

So, we are at 500 parts to just get to the suspension and battery...

Thank you @E90400K for the details.
Like you, I've always believed that number was from the perspective of Slate's final assembly plant in Warsaw, Indiana.
And even from that Warsaw perspective, Slate's approach is still an industry leading simplification.

 

[ScooterAsheville]

Well, somebody obsessed with parts count should pose a question to the CEO next week. Ask her to publish a list of the 600 parts on the website. If there's nothing to hide, and no marketing slipperyness at work, Slate should be happy to publish that list.

I'm especially curious about the body - one part or 50+ parts? Slate originally planned on having suppliers delivering completed body subassemblies. The suppliers then said "in your dreams". Which is one of several reasons Slate is now having to raise more money to reach production. They have to take the stampings delivered by suppliers, load them into a body shop line, and weld them together. So that's more capital, more engineering, more time, more workers, more robots, more calibration, more cost, more factory space.

It all looked great on paper. But now "production hell" is upon them. I'm cheering for Slate to triumph, because who wouldn't? But I'm cheering with the same confidence as NY Jets fans.

 

[Imhotep]

Being stated and being true are two different things.

Just for a fun exercise of estimating just the wheel bearings (4), axleshafts (2), front and rear suspensions, I already come up with 199 individual parts.

If the battery is 96 cells in series for 3 parallel banks that's 288 cells alone that the Factory is going to assemble into the HV battery, plus the battery frame, top plate, bottom plate, cooling hoses, connectors, etc. Say 300 parts total for the battery assembly to be produced in-house (let's not break the cells down into its component parts...)

So, we are at 500 parts to just get to the suspension and battery...

When they say 600 parts, I hear 600 assemblies.

 

[E90400K]

Thank you @E90400K for the details.
Like you, I've always believed that number was from the perspective of Slate's final assembly plant in Warsaw, Indiana.
And even from that Warsaw perspective, Slate's approach is still an industry leading simplification.

Well, I'd say simplification through a product offered with much less content, styling, and sophistication. Whether the market accepts the approach is yet to be seen much less confirmed as a sustainable business plan. In reality today's modern cars offer an incredible amount of value for the money when MSRPs are adjusted for inflation. The issue is the American economy disappointingly has not kept wages in line with inflation. There is no way around it, the Slate truck is just a cheap automobile. There are plenty of models on the market that are priced well below the "average" price of $50,000. A decent mid trim level automobile such as the Camry, Accord, Civic, Sonata, all start at around $30K or less MSRP. For example, a 2025 Honda Accord SE starts at $30,560 and comes standard with heated front seats, an electric powered driver's seat, 180-watt audio system, electric windows, sunroof, automatic wipers, automatic headlights w/ high-beam assist, hill hold, driver assistance and safety technologies out the wazoo, and not to mention paint and 4-doors. That MSRP is not far from a Slate with the extended range battery and a DIY wrap kit, and probably less if one adds the SUV DIY kit.

My brother just bought a 2025 VW GTI for $32K, which is a very nice vehicle and comes with a 6-speed dual clutch automatic. My sister just bought a 2025 Mazda CX-5 with power/heated leather seats for $32K (straight up non-turbo 2.5L 4-cylinder tied to a tried and true 6-speed automatic - simple as far as ICE goes). Both cars have a high level of content for the price, and neither my sister nor bother have any desire to DIY the color even if the wrap kit and plain jane body styling is designed to make the wrapping process easy. Both vehicles are a hell of a lot nicer than the Slate.

 

[E90400K]

When they say 600 parts, I hear 600 assemblies.

Yeah. So, is the 9-peice-part door a 1-part assembly or in the 600-part count? And compared to say a Ranger, with a 20-piece part count door assembly...?

 

[AZFox]

Slate originally planned on having suppliers delivering completed body subassemblies. The suppliers then said "in your dreams". Which is one of several reasons Slate is now having to raise more money to reach production. They have to take the stampings delivered by suppliers, load them into a body shop line, and weld them together.

What is your source for this information?

 

[E90400K]

Well, somebody obsessed with parts count should pose a question to the CEO next week. Ask her to publish a list of the 600 parts on the website. If there's nothing to hide, and no marketing slipperyness at work, Slate should be happy to publish that list.

I'm especially curious about the body - one part or 50+ parts? Slate originally planned on having suppliers delivering completed body subassemblies. The suppliers then said "in your dreams". Which is one of several reasons Slate is now having to raise more money to reach production. They have to take the stampings delivered by suppliers, load them into a body shop line, and weld them together. So that's more capital, more engineering, more time, more workers, more robots, more calibration, more cost, more factory space.

It all looked great on paper. But now "production hell" is upon them. I'm cheering for Slate to triumph, because who wouldn't? But I'm cheering with the same confidence as NY Jets fans.

Just ask Tesla how easy it was to move from LRIP to full-rate production for the Model 3. As I remember it, once the assembly line was installed in the old NUMI factory by seasoned mainstream industry assembly line equipment suppliers, Tesla had to completely re-write all the computer-aided assembly software to get it all to work (Musk touted it as something like a 3-year effort condensed into 16 weeks - IIRC), and still they had panel gaps and assembly quality that was well below industry standards.

Slate sure makes it all sound easy...

 

[E90400K]

Well, somebody obsessed with parts count should pose a question to the CEO next week. Ask her to publish a list of the 600 parts on the website. If there's nothing to hide, and no marketing slipperyness at work, Slate should be happy to publish that list.

I'm especially curious about the body - one part or 50+ parts? Slate originally planned on having suppliers delivering completed body subassemblies. The suppliers then said "in your dreams". Which is one of several reasons Slate is now having to raise more money to reach production. They have to take the stampings delivered by suppliers, load them into a body shop line, and weld them together. So that's more capital, more engineering, more time, more workers, more robots, more calibration, more cost, more factory space.

It all looked great on paper. But now "production hell" is upon them. I'm cheering for Slate to triumph, because who wouldn't? But I'm cheering with the same confidence as NY Jets fans.

I'm cheering too. Loved how Tesla, a home-grown American company, basically created the EV supply chain that all other American and international manufacturers are now taking advantage of to build their products. If Slate truly has developed some new and innovative assembly and production processes, I'm all for it and looking forward to understanding it. As for me, I'll not ask any questions though, as I assume most of it is proprietary trade secret information she's not going to reveal anytime soon. But more power to her and her team! It's good policy to never ask someone a question you know they don't want to answer.

 

[ScooterAsheville]

What is your source for this information?

I believe one of the Slate engineers let that tidbit slip during Sandy's visit to the Slate factory. My memory isn't that great, but I think that was the source (YouTube, Munro Live). If I remember that bit of the interview, Sandy was gushing over how awesome it was that they didn't need a body shop (saving capital and space), when the Slate employee said something like "the suppliers declined to do that".

Part of Slate's "simplicity" argument was that they offloaded engineering and tooling costs to suppliers. Or in this case, it should be said "they tried". They had a great idea, but apparently no supplier was willing to invest in those robotics for a new OEM highly likely to fail.

Everyone on the forum should understand how suppliers work. They're hurting right now because the auto industry has been shaken like a toy in the mouth of a rabid pitbull. So they're not taking investment risk. Also, suppiers are slow to embrace new OEMs. You can hear about this in some of the Rivian CEO's recent interviews. He talks about how suppliers charged Rivian much more, and were slow to respond or embrace them for the R1. But with the R2, and with billions in fanancing and a promising future, now suppliers are lining up. He also said suppliers were fine if you just wanted to buy "as-is" parts, and that's the path Slate took. Just cobble together a primitive truck using off the shelf parts. Nothing at all wrong with that approach. But a phone call from Slate will be answered after phone calls from established customers - every time.

 

[Sparkie]

Well, I'd say simplification through a product offered with much less content, styling, and sophistication. Whether the market accepts the approach is yet to be seen much less confirmed as a sustainable business plan. In reality today's modern cars offer an incredible amount of value for the money when MSRPs are adjusted for inflation. The issue is the American economy disappointingly has not kept wages in line with inflation. There is no way around it, the Slate truck is just a cheap automobile. There are plenty of models on the market that are priced well below the "average" price of $50,000. A decent mid trim level automobile such as the Camry, Accord, Civic, Sonata, all start at around $30K or less MSRP. For example, a 2025 Honda Accord SE starts at $30,560 and comes standard with heated front seats, an electric powered driver's seat, 180-watt audio system, electric windows, sunroof, automatic wipers, automatic headlights w/ high-beam assist, hill hold, driver assistance and safety technologies out the wazoo, and not to mention paint and 4-doors. That MSRP is not far from a Slate with the extended range battery and a DIY wrap kit, and probably less if one adds the SUV DIY kit.

My brother just bought a 2025 VW GTI for $32K, which is a very nice vehicle and comes with a 6-speed dual clutch automatic. My sister just bought a 2025 Mazda CX-5 with power/heated leather seats for $32K (straight up non-turbo 2.5L 4-cylinder tied to a tried and true 6-speed automatic - simple as far as ICE goes). Both cars have a high level of content for the price, and neither my sister nor bother have any desire to DIY the color even if the wrap kit and plain jane body styling is designed to make the wrapping process easy. Both vehicles are a hell of a lot nicer than the Slate.

Yes, I know those cheap ICEs exist, but I am in the market for a simple affordable 2 door pickup truck.
The Slate gets bonus points because it will be easy for me to reconfigure it as I wish.