Slate board member discusses the truck on Motoman podcast

[sodamo]

Ah yes, attitude. As a HS freshman in 1959 I sought and got permission to take freshman shop, only college prep student so graced. That 1st quarter was perspective drawing, to this day I don’t do a project without sketching it out first.

 

[Susan]

In many instances shop classes ended up being where the "bad students" ended up being dumped, for an easy passing grade. That combined with the costs of equipping a "real" shop class without somehow getting grants or something means many of those programs died.

Dumping of students is what happens when education is not prioritized. But I had better not get political.

 

[Johnologue]

This was an interesting podcast. It touches on a lot of things my belief system is centered on. So just to frame my background, I started my career manufacturing aerospace products in an American manufacturing plant and have worked in several over my career. Personally, out of the 14 cars I've owned one (1) was manufactured in Japan, three (3) in Germany, the other 10 manufactured in the USA.

In my college days I incisively argued about the importance of (keeping) manufacturing in the USA, especially with my Econ professor, who argued otherwise (he's now an economic SME for a major news network - LOL). I was happy the pandemic exposed the issues of outsourced supply chain because finally the people in my circle understood WTF I have been talking about for decades. Made in the USA is just not a cheap mantra for me; I put my money where my mouth is. I seek out USA made products and am happy to pay more for them vs. a foreign equivalent. I refuse to buy outsourced shit from Walmart; I've never set foot in one. So, this whole RE:Build Manufacturing meme has my interest. It's an important part of my interest in Slate.

But to your question, can our country do it? My fear is it can't. I think we have passed the point of turnaround. I blame Phil Knight (Nike) for the quagmire. His MBA thesis was about off-shoring manufacturing to maximize profits, while keeping design and business management in the USA. What he failed to understand is the white-collar jobs involved in product development and manufacture eventually follow the manufacturing process. Our country has lost a great deal of the brainbase that is the core of manufacturing: the engineering. It has evolved to the point over the past 40+ of outsourcing and off-shoring that our schools at the high school and college level no longer teach the disciplines that are the base of manufacturing. I hope I am wrong.

(I still need to listen to the podcast.)

We have a lot in common, then; except last time I interviewed for an aerospace manufacturing job, they told me I was exactly who they were looking for; then ghosted me. Still a bit annoyed, but it's kind of funny in hindsight and I don't think it would've worked out anyways.

But, as far as ideas go, Re:Build is definitely doing something very interesting and important, and I think Slate itself could help turn a lot of big-picture things in a better direction, creating the potential for feedback loops that undo some of the damage done by the MBA-types.

I've been following the redevelopment of discontinued Pebble smartwatches since slightly before I heard of Slate (both early 2025), and one thing that struck me was the creator - a VC tech guy, but mostly alright - talking about the process of going to Shenzhen and talking with people about parts and manufacturing details, and comparing that with his experience doing those things with "western" companies. It's a streamlined, flexible, efficient system.

https://ericmigi.com/blog/february-shenzhen-trip-update/

The supply chain here is unparalleled. Odds are everything if you need a component to build your gadget like a chip, motor, display, metal or plastic part, glue, glass lens, buttons etc, someone nearby makes or sells it. You can get in a car, drive 1-2 hours and visit the supplier.

This is great but not even the best part - it’s the speed at which business is done. I’ve been in meetings where we realize that we need more information or an alternative supplier for a part, then within 10 minutes we have that new person on a call or chatting with us over WeChat, and later that day we have an answer to our question. This speed simply does not exist with Western companies. For example, I’ve been waiting for 3 weeks to get 100 samples from a chip company. The shipment has been tied up in various stages of bureaucratic SNAFUs that are carried out over email, across timezones, each with multi-day resolutions (first we needed a phone number for the shipping, then we needed an import number…etc etc). Another example, I asked 8 days ago for a quote on a part….still waiting.

The way I see it, Re:Build is basically trying to create that kind of ecosystem. If they succeed, I think we'll be designing more cool stuff here in the future, and it'll create the good kind of feedback loop that can drive further improvements across many areas. But I won't break out the corkboard and string to ramble about that further.

 

[Luxrage]

I don't know anyone who sneers at the trades.

I don't know about sneering, but I can say our school district has disrespected the importance of hands-on skills.

Going through high-school in the mid 2000's, it was all about STEM. They near crammed down our throats that STEM was the only viable post-graduation option that would lead to any sort of career/future and that the trades were for the luddites.

 

[sodamo]

Going through high-school in the mid 2000's, it was all about STEM. They near crammed down our throats that STEM was the only viable post-graduation option that would lead to any sort of career/future and that the trades were for the luddites.

Back in the 60’s, College Prep was considered top of the class, Industrial Arts and Home Economics the bottom.

 

[E90400K]

Going through high-school in the mid 2000's, it was all about STEM. They near crammed down our throats that STEM was the only viable post-graduation option that would lead to any sort of career/future and that the trades were for the luddites.

Not that I want to point it out, but heart surgery is actually, a Trade...

 

[E90400K]

Meaning heart surgery is a technical skill that requires hand coordination and understanding of scientific principles as does air conditioning repair.

 

[slate808]

Back in the 60’s, College Prep was considered top of the class, Industrial Arts and Home Economics the bottom.

I’ve been reading this thread with great interest. Decided to add my two cents (which I read are not being minted anymore except for collectors lol). When I was a teen, I wanted to be in the “Votech” track and literally argued with the school counselor about it. I was one of the “smart” kids and there was no way I could get out of my “College Prep” track. In those days how many graduates went on to 4 year colleges and universities was a big thing for high school administrations. So my high school agreed to let me take a carpentry shop class to meet one of my “elective” requirements. I LOVED that class. I built myself a coldframe for germinating seeds. Skills I learned and use to this day. Well, this kid (that be me) got a full scholarship for college. I could use it for a university but not a trade school. And the rest is my history. I’ll never know what could have been…

 

[Tom Sawyer]

Not that I want to point it out, but heart surgery is actually, a Trade...

Meaning heart surgery is a technical skill that requires hand coordination and understanding of scientific principles as does air conditioning repair.

🤣
I get what you're saying here and appreciate the sentiment. But it reminds me of bumper stickers I see around town in these parts that say "Cleveland is my Paris" - my reaction is I feel sorry for their confusion. I mean I can fix stuff too but don't ask me to do any heart or rocket surgery. 🤣

 

[cadblu]

It will suck to buy a $25k Slate in late 2029, and then watch as they price drops to $20k in 2030. That will affect the overall value of your newer used vehicle, and that sucks.

Just ask any owner of the Model S how they felt after Tesla lowered the price in January 2023 by $10,000! 😲. Tesla is known for wildly fluctuating prices and incentives to meet quarterly sales targets. Best time to buy is the end of any quarter, or even better, end of the year.

For some reason I don’t see Slate playing those pricing games. But incentives could be thrown in for good measure.

 

[CEW]

Well, lets face it - the whole EV business will be turned on its head by 2029 / 2030. New Solid State batteries (Toyota apparently is planning a new model with it by 2028) are way more efficient, and supposedly will be WAY cheaper! What's unknown apparently is - SCALE - producing enough of them for automakers to make a profit while charging us a whole lot less. Change over to Solid State batteries could drop prices by at least $10,000 - lots of speculation right now. When will the US be able to produce these ??

 

[Shrink36s]

Just ask any owner of the Model S how they felt after Tesla lowered the price in January 2023 by $10,000! 😲. Tesla is known for wildly fluctuating prices and incentives to meet quarterly sales targets. Best time to buy is the end of any quarter, or even better, end of the year.

For some reason I don’t see Slate playing those pricing games. But incentives could be thrown in for good measure.

The only price decrease I see is if something on their supply side gets a lot cheaper, and they think reducing the overall price will greatly increase sales and profits as a result. Like the battery gets dirt cheap, or they find a new way to manufacture the frame that saves a ton of money... They are already operating on small margins, so their ability to adjust is different than it is for Tesla, who, I believe, operates much more on luxury brand margins.

 

[phidauex]

Well, lets face it - the whole EV business will be turned on its head by 2029 / 2030. New Solid State batteries (Toyota apparently is planning a new model with it by 2028) are way more efficient, and supposedly will be WAY cheaper! What's unknown apparently is - SCALE - producing enough of them for automakers to make a profit while charging us a whole lot less. Change over to Solid State batteries could drop prices by at least $10,000 - lots of speculation right now. When will the US be able to produce these ??

The changes won't be that fast - even positive developments in solid state will take years to scale up to manufacturing levels that rival NMC and LFP lines, and they will be trying to pay off years of R&D as quickly as possible.

There is also just the economic reality of "up like a rocket, down like a feather" - when costs move against a supplier they raise prices as quickly as they can, but when they move favorably to a supplier, they are reluctant to give up that margin.

So yes, we should be hopeful for EV cost improvements over time, but we aren't likely to see giant drops all at once.

 

[SlaterTot]

Copes mentioned that they had considered a 4 door but was very vague

just listening to the Autoline After Hours Podcast #799, and at the 36 min mark they mention that Slate had told them that they do plan on releasing different models on the same platform.

combining these two interviews, I think they will launch a 4 door version if the 2 door shows some success.