Slate isn't building the truck for us

[cadblu]

Okay, clickbait title, but it's still kind of true.

In the "Blank Slate" narrative thread, I mentioned how good the truck would be for fleets, including Amazon, and that a lot of the things Slate is doing are geared for fleets, but are being marketed to everyday car and truck buyers.

Yes. And this would help explain why Slate is an Exhibitor at World Truck Week event at the Indiana Convention Center beginning March 10. 2026. We all know that an exhibitor booth at these events is big bucks, which explains why Slate hasn't been seen at the LA, Detroit, or upcoming NY Auto show. Yet they somehow found money in their limited budget to setup a booth at this venue. Anyone can attend this show; a non-member badge to get into the exhibit hall will set you back $74.

Work Truck Week is the leading annual event where the commercial vehicle industry meets each March in Indianapolis. It brings together chassis OEMs, fleets, upfitters, equipment manufacturers, distributors, truck dealers, engineers, and product leaders to see innovations, exchange knowledge, and build partnerships. For more than 25 years, this event has evolved from a traditional trade show into a dynamic, industry-wide experience.

Trade Show Badge

NTEA Member
$54
Nonmember
$74

Includes
Work Truck Show exhibits
Ride & Drive

REGISTER NOW

 

[AL-Derby]

I will never buy a 4 door pickup. They look stupid.

Now that’s a first. So many people are saying just the opposite. I currently own a 4 door Silverado but I would prefer a little extra space behind the seat. I don’t need 4 doors. Just enough room for a dog our two is all I would like to have.

 

[John Santa Fe]

I almost always drive alone, a couple times a week with my wife, and less than ten times a year with 3 or 4 people, so this is a perfect second vehicle for us. Those rare days with 3+ passengers we will use my wife's car. This week I bought a $70 Android tablet to see how easy it would be to replace my car radio. It was surprisingly easy to setup my Android phone as a WiFi hot-spot to link the tablet. Then at a cost of $20 got a one year license to Simple.radio and I can listen to both all my favorite local stations and stations from around the world. The only draw back of the Slate pickup truck for compared to me Honda Element is I can't put my bike inside without taking off the wheels if I'm traveling to a bike event.

 

[Paul]

Okay, clickbait title, but it's still kind of true.

In the "Blank Slate" narrative thread, I mentioned how good the truck would be for fleets, including Amazon, and that a lot of the things Slate is doing are geared for fleets, but are being marketed to everyday car and truck buyers.

1. Fleet vehicles are typically strippers. The Slate obviously falls into this category. This lets the fleet owner upfit the vehicle however they want, and not pay for features that don't bring value to the vehicle's use as transportation. The SUV kit without seats may make for a great delivery platform, perhaps with a slide out drawer. A cover that opens on the sides will be even more useful. For everyday buyers, they just add seats.

2. Two-door pickups are dead for consumers, but the added utility of a larger bed and a smaller size make it ideal for urban delivery. The Rivian EDV has only 160 miles of range - right around where the Slate base range is. Yes, the Slate is much smaller, but I also see people delivering Amazon packages in sedans and crossovers. These small "last mile" deliveries can be offloaded to a fleet of smaller vehicles, perhaps vehicles that Amazon mandates their contractors use - just like Fedex. Or maybe Amazon vertically integrates them into their fleet like UPS. Not to mention an EV has huge advantages for stop-and-go deliveries that eat up both brakes, starters, and gas.

3. Do your own warranty work, we'll show you how. This sounds a little silly to a regular car owner, but a fleet owner would generally love to take care of all of their own maintenance. The biggest companies already do their own work, and Slate wants to encourage companies to transition to them by allowing them to retain most of that control. A fleet owner adopting an EV fleet can otherwise be a hassle because EV manufacturers like Tesla and Rivian are notorious for their walled-garden approach that discourages owners from doing their own work.

4. You're going to wrap it anyway, why paint it? So many businesses will wrap their vehicle for brand identification, at least in part. Why pay for paint that will never see the light of day?

5. Why pay for your people to listen to the radio? The lack of infotainment reduces driver distraction (good for everyone) and cuts out an unnecessary expense. I do think Slate should put some R&D into making a very robust mounting system for all sorts of screens. Think in-house RAM Mount or ProClip. A decent sized logistic company will run their own software anyway.

As much as I love the idea of a Slate for my own vehicle, I do think that Slate probably won't survive without a good percentage of trucks going to fleets. I just don't think the form factor and stripped features will otherwise appeal to enough people, especially given that the SUV kit will push it into some pretty stiff competition. A lot of people also just never modify their cars. I do think I probably just scratched the surface on fleet advantages though. Part of me thinks the market for a small fleet vehicle was the seed that started the Slate in the first place, and they are just doing a lot of clever marketing to make it seem otherwise.

I'd love to have a two-door pickup. I think four doors really look awkward. Manufacturers love creating this Frankenstein four-door bathtub bed maximum profit of just making one of something. And it really doesn't suit any one buyer. People just keep missing the concept of Slate, Which happens to be its name, if you missed it. That's what makes it inexpensive. That's what keeps the dealership from not buying the most expensive loaded pickup that's better for their profit margins and force it on you. By design you're supposed to build it up if you want that. By design it's inexpensive out of the door. By design it's supposed to make you think and come up with solutions and fix it yourself. And isn't subject to layers of thinking that puts it at a dealership at $60,000. People will have to be creative and not just demand it has every option and say it's going to fail if it doesn't follow the truck model we're stuck in. If people want four doors and $60,000 trucks with options galore up front, There's plenty to choose from. And aside from that, this would be a great fleet vehicle.

 

[JImmy]

I had to order my 2-door truck and only wanted one option or accessory the trailer tow package. Now I don't tow very often and still need a solo truck to carry some things. 2=doors and no accessories is just fine with me.

 

[AztroRover]

Agree with many others the 4 door of anything is a compromise. People buy the four door versions based on the perception and legacy 2 door version created. Think wrangler. Historically the wrangler image was based on the 2 door not a 4 door - the sad compromise. No one wants a 4 door, they need it, -the compromise.

 

[Johnny5]

Yas! Fleet trucks, electric, I want one!. I'm driving an old fleet truck now. Before it I had a Aerostar delivery van. My partner drives a Transit-connect. Electric durable fleet truck, without dealing with retail sales people? That is a truck and experience built for me personally. I wish to pur-chase a fleet of one, for the delivery of one nerd, and related hardware.

 

[ScooterAsheville]

The only draw back of the Slate pickup truck for compared to me Honda Element is I can't put my bike inside without taking off the wheels if I'm traveling to a bike event.

You would be so at home here in Asheville. The Honda Element is still highly present here. It's an outdoorsy community, and the Element lasts forever in our nice climate. I belive there will be Honda Elements rolling around in Asheville in 2050. Maybe converted to BEV by then.

Puzzle to me why they killed that thing. It's like Subara killing the Baja. You don't kill icons. Yet Kia just killed off the hamster car (Soul). I suppose next up, Mazda will kill the Miata (I owned and loved three Miatas).

 

[null98115]

Okay, clickbait title,

Actually, the entire post is clickbait.

 

[Luxrage]

Had some movers over today in a box truck for some house work. They weren't using the radio in the truck, instead they had a bluetooth pod on the dash, so maybe Slate is onto something with the fleet buyers after all lol.

Puzzle to me why they killed that thing. It's like Subara killing the Baja. You don't kill icons. Yet Kia just killed off the hamster car (Soul). I suppose next up, Mazda will kill the Miata (I owned and loved three Miatas).

I've got family in Brevard and I lost count at how many I saw. IIRC The Element came in at too high of a price point for their target buyers and they didn't want to redesign the platform with the next generation of CRV that it was based on. Better to burn out than get turned into another soulless SUV. It had already lost the plastic panels and most of the fun colors by 2009.

 

[LoneWolfo6]

It was a good idea, but now with the $7,500 Tax Credit gone, it isn’t anymore. Even as fleet truck.

Canoo tried that and failed.

Amazon tried a Cell phone and also failed.

Little late to the EV anything game!

Time will tell if EV new and old consumers will accept, we have only seen about MAYBE 70k of the original 2 million orders filled in three years on the Cybertruck?!

 

[LoneWolfo6]

Two door trucks are cool, but why buy one that has nothing in it for $39k-$50?

It’s just a Barney Rubble mobile compared to four door options.

 

[beatle]

Canoo failed because they just couldn't build much of anything. They tried too hard too soon to vertically integrate without the funding they needed, deciding to build their own factories for control over everything, not realizing that takes forever and an ocean liner of cash. They also kept changing directions on whether they were building a truck, consumer van, or a delivery van.

The Cybertruck probably needs no additional commentary, but its polarizing design and high price caused it to fizzle with regular buyers after the initial fanboy sales. Musk also did a lot of brand damage to Tesla with his political involvement last year that just added gas to the lithium fire. This was exceptionally bad timing given that this was the time they needed regular buyers to get interested in the truck. Instead, the backlash against Musk transferred to the Cybertruck, since nothing says "Musk" louder. I still think it's a pretty functional, nice truck with its basically invincible steel body, but it's way too big and expensive these days to appeal to many people.

There are plenty of reasons to buy a 2 door truck, but that Sierra is pretty unappealing to me. It's about the same size as my R1T which I already think is too big for where I live. I have no need for rear seats, especially with a frunk to hold things that I don't want to put in the bed. The seats makes for a larger cab that just takes up room that could otherwise be used to haul cargo, or cut out to make the vehicle shorter and more maneuverable.

 

[sodamo]

Another lost soul looking for validation. So sad.

 

[E90400K]

In reality, many of the 4-door short bed trucks are used as daily commuters, by a single driver, with nothing in the bed.
While I do see the work trucks with stuff in the bed, and I see people carpooling, at least 2/3 trucks on the freeway have a solo driver, an empty bed, and the paint looks like it's new.

This again? Christ.

How many Honda accords are daily'd with a lone driver and an empty trunk? You just can't see the empty trunk, so it doesn't bother you.

Lol.