Slate for business and fleet customers

[EVexplored]

At ACT Expo, Slate had a really small booth (10 x 10) and didn't even have a vehicle on display. But we were able to talk with them for a few minutes about Slate being a perfect vehicle for a lot of businesses.

 

[cvollers]

I won't have a fleet, but I do think a Slate will be perfect for my business with a custom wrap. The green aspect of it is a big plus.

 

[JeffVA]

The fleet sales for this truck may be equal to or greater than regular sales. Huge tax incentives for business going green and size/price are perfect for many businesses not to mention decreased maintenance costs.

Bed is bigger than the Maverick and how often do you see people in the back seat of a Maverick? For a business this just makes sense

 

[cvollers]

The fleet sales for this truck may be equal to or greater than regular sales. Huge tax incentives for business going green and size/price are perfect for many businesses not to mention decreased maintenance costs.

Bed is bigger than the Maverick and how often do you see people in the back seat of a Maverick? For a business this just makes sense

Perfect sense.

 

[JoeBlow-Kokomo]

For anyone doing small local deliveries there is a huge gap in the vehicle market. No decent small commercial vans (US). A 110 plug in overnight EV with 150 mile range and a cap or topper suits my needs perfectly and I'll be retiring my flawless 2016 Transit Connect cargo van when I get mine. (not made anymore)

 

[ScooterAsheville]

There are multiple threads on this topic. Remember that fleets come in all shapes and sizes and use cases. For sure some will pick the Slate. For sure some will not.

A fleet manager is looking at...

• upfront capital investment
• operating cost
• uptime
• maintenance - frequency, cost, availability - especially predictive maintenance
• the availability of fleet management software support from the OEM - a huge profit center for Ford Pro, BTW.
• ease of disposal of the asset at end of life
• depreciation
• utility of the asset for the mission of the business
• I probably missed a few - these guys have spreadsheets to make these decisions

Remember that fleets include rental agencies. Hm. Interesting thought. Will Avis, Hertz, etc offer Slate? Seems like a no? If they do, that would mean lots of Slates on the used market in two years.

 

[cadblu]

Hertz does rent Teslas in certain markets. Overall customer acceptance of rented EVs has not gone exceedingly well. Maybe Slate as a specialty vehicle will do better.

 

[AeroWolf]

The recharge infrastructure and downtime to recharge is what kills EV's for the current mainstream passenger rental market where Hertz, Avis, Enterprise, and such operate. They will probably only employ EV fleets in regions where gov policy induces market forces in that direction.

Slate is good for local utility market forces; city municipal vehicles, local service businesses, and product delivery services etc.

Fleet operators;
Local municipal fleets
Local contractor fleets (Pest, plumbers, handyman, electricians, etc)
Hardware Store (Lowes, Home Depot, maybe Uhaul) rental services
Service Deliveries (Florist, catering, photographers, etc)

 

[sodamo]

I reserved a Tesla via Hertz once thinking a great opportunity. They told me I had to bring it back charged, but weren’t able (or willing) to tell me where to charge. Near as I could tell, nearest was about 1/2 mile from my hotel. I rented an Elantra.

 

[KevinRS]

I reserved a Tesla via Hertz once thinking a great opportunity. They told me I had to bring it back charged, but weren’t able (or willing) to tell me where to charge. Near as I could tell, nearest was about 1/2 mile from my hotel. I rented an Elantra.

Many hotels now have chargers. Some of them offer free charging. That does involve picking the hotel for it though. Rentals will still likely keep a big percentage in ICE vehicles, because many renters will be renting for situations where ICE has a clear advantage. I can see scenarios where you have an EV and rent ICE for a road trip because of range and fast fueling.
In fleets, there are lots of fleets where an EV like Slate doesn't make sense as well. If your drivers are driving all day, or longer distances, or need higher volume or weight of payload, Slate won't even be on the radar.