Slate Extended Range Battery - Price?

[ezjob]

I hope the "Extended Range Battery" isn't thousands more than the standard range battery in the Slate Truck.

150 mile range just isn't going to suit me. I want more miles.

 

[AZFox]

The option will cost a few thousand.

 

[ezjob]

The option will cost a few thousand.

Not Good!
My charging stations are few and far between in North MS.

 

[KevinRS]

Not Good!
My charging stations are few and far between in North MS.

That's just the way it'd going to be, battery is one of the big costs in an EV. No one's expecting it to be just hundreds of dollars. If Slate could source the larger pack for that small of a difference, they would just make that the default.

 

[sodamo]

One would hope cost of the extended would be offset by the cost of the standard, but just what that difference is is unknown at this point. Hopefully, installation of the extended won’t be in addition to cost of installation/removal of the standard.

 

[ezjob]

2026 Nissan Leaf has 300 mile range and it is loaded with many extras for $30,000. I'm confused how a non-painted small truck can cost more with nothing extra and only go half the mileage range.

 

[AZFox]

2026 Nissan Leaf has 300 mile range and it is loaded with many extras for $30,000. I'm confused how a non-painted small truck can cost more with nothing extra and only go half the mileage range.

If that's how you look at it, it sounds like the Nissan may be a better choice for you.

Personally I wouldn't choose the Leaf if it cost thousands less.

 

[AZFox]

Not Good!
My charging stations are few and far between in North MS.

Are you familiar with EV ownership?

The reason I ask is because I wasn't at first.

After learning from members who are experienced EV owners I've changed my expectations (for the better!).

It's situational. For me it will be a second car, I can charge overnight at home, and I don't drive long distances every day. I'll use a charging station rarely, if ever.

 

[KevinRS]

Exactly. Most should be charging at home, when they are sleeping.
If your daily drive is longer than the Slate's range, you've got to get something with longer range. You can still drive over 2 hours with the standard battery, if you have occasional trips longer than that, you can plan a stop somewhere in the middle to refuel yourself and the vehicle at the same time.
If your trips will require 2 charging stops, and they aren't rare trips, that seems like too much.
Most people even if the Slate was their only vehicle, even some with gas powered vehicles, would consider renting a car for a long trip, as long as the rental company allows travel to the states where you are going. My parents rented a car to drive from Southern California to Vegas partly just to keep the miles down on their cars, years ago.

 

[bloo]

2026 Nissan Leaf has 300 mile range and it is loaded with many extras for $30,000. I'm confused how a non-painted small truck can cost more with nothing extra and only go half the mileage range.

I'm hoping the Blank Slate will be about $25,000. Realistically, I'm thinking $26,500. Extended-range battery will prolly add $2,500. So you get a 240-mile truck for about $29,000. You also get the ability to haul stuff you'd never want in a Leaf - like lumber, large furnature, or gravel.

Sure... you give up two doors. Yet not everyone needs or wants four.

Some people don't want a tablet dashboard, either.

Folks like me want small, simple, capable, and reliable.

We want an inexpensive truck the market has ignored.

We want a SLATE.

 

[ScooterAsheville]

2026 Nissan Leaf has 300 mile range and it is loaded with many extras for $30,000. I'm confused how a non-painted small truck can cost more with nothing extra and only go half the mileage range.

Scale. Nissan has scale. Slate has no scale. And scale is king, queen and emperor in the auto industry.

RJ Scaringe at Rivian has described this in multiple interviews. In the early years of Rivian with the R1 first gen, suppliers didn't want to talk with a BEV startup. Rivian flew to the suppliers and asked to meet. When they did meet, the prices were higher because the supplier was taking a risk Fast forward to second gen R1, and suppliers would talk and prices were lower. Fast forward to R2 and suppliers now fly to Rivian and solicited contracts at scale-pricing. That negoatiating power, enabled by scale and stability, is a big factor (also engineering) on why R1 and R2 costs to build the vehicle plunged to half and half again.

So Slate is at the starting line. Any supplier is happy to sell Slate off the shelf components at market price, no special mods needed. Anything beyond that means investments in tooling by the supplier, with a multi-year payback. So Slate is going to pay extra for any custom parts, especially at Slates pathetic scale (at full production it's still a small plant).

Many suppliers have gone out of business because they invested millions in tooling for a certain scale of production, on which the OEM then reneged. Writing a supplier contract is an exercise in who promises what, and who pays what when things go south. And even that doesn't help a Slate supplier if Slate goes into Chapter 11 with no assets left to pay claims.

If, and that's a big if, Slate reaches scale and stability, then suppliers will offer better terms.

Oh, I should add, the Slate is an aero brick. The only thing more bricklike would be a Slate with a Pizza sign on the roof. OTOH, who cares? The Slate is clearly designed for around town, low speeds. And at low speeds aero is almost an afterthought (drag scales around the square of velocity).

 

[ElectricShitbox]

Fun fact, the new Leaf is 800lbs heavier than the Slate.

 

[metroshot]

I hope the "Extended Range Battery" isn't thousands more than the standard range battery in the Slate Truck.

150 mile range just isn't going to suit me. I want more miles.

Ford charges $5,000 for their extended range (ER) battery pack.

Sounds like a Slate might not be the correct tool for the road - you should look for an EREV if you have such a long drive and/or lack of charger infrastructure.

For me in a heavily dense charge infrastructure, I chose standard range (SR) as I needed a commuter EV - not long distance daily trips.

With 230 miles per charge, I get to drive an entire week without recharging.

When I need to recharge, I use one of the many available Tesla Superchargers as they are less expensive than charging at home.

At home on the weekends during off peak, I do charge at home on L2 overnight.

Here's a 128 stall Tesla Supercharger when I travel to Northern California:

 

[ScooterAsheville]

I keep struggling to find a niche for the small battery Slate. I think maybe a few fleets willing to take a huge risk in stranded capital. Same for consumers - the weirdo 2-door electric truck fanboys like us.

The one place I can oddly picture Slate being a hit is in the city. I can see an absolutely stripped (as it comes off the line) Slate being the perfect urban vehicle. Short range. No such thing as scratched paint. Nothing on the vehicle worth stealing. Nimble.

Don't see the Slate working in the hinterlands. Out here in the boonies most people will buy a Ford or other Detroit truck. But when I started thinking about a cheap urban runabout, suddenly I can envision a place where Slate might just thrive.

It's all about price. IMHO, Slate needs to start out with an aggressive price. Or it's DOA.

 

[beatle]

Oh, I should add, the Slate is an aero brick. The only thing more bricklike would be a Slate with a Pizza sign on the roof. OTOH, who cares? The Slate is clearly designed for around town, low speeds. And at low speeds aero is almost an afterthought (drag scales around the square of velocity).

This was the most interesting thing I just researched. The Slate looks tiny because it's a short pickup, and pickups are typically huge, but while its small frontal area makes it way more efficient than any existing EV pickup, it's still way less efficient than a streamlined Leaf that is smaller still, so the Slate can't go as far, even with a bigger battery and almost 300 pounds less to tote around:

Metric	2026 Nissan Leaf (S+)	2026 Slate Truck (Ext.)	The "Penalty"
Battery Capacity	75 kWh	84.3 kWh	Slate +12% energy
EPA Estimated Range	303 Miles	240 Miles	Leaf +26% range
Efficiency (Miles/kWh)	4.04	2.84	Leaf is 42% better
Total Curb Weight	4,187 lbs	3,904 lbs	Slate is 283 lbs lighter
Drag Coeff. (Cd)	0.26	0.38	Slate is 46% "blunter"
Frontal Area (A)	≈24.4 sq ft	≈32.7 sq ft	Slate is 34% larger
Total Drag Area (CdA)	6.34 sq ft	12.43 sq ft	Slate pushes 96% more air
Height	61.3 in	69.3 in	Slate +8 in
Length	173.4 in	174.6 in	Identical footprints

But really, we're kind of comparing apples and oranges from an efficiency standpoint. The next interesting comparison will be to see how it stacks up with Ford's new EV pickup.