Slate (Near Production Unit VIN 002) at Demo Days Alameda -- Photos

[motorolas]

Got a chance to meet Katie and Raj from Slate.

There was mentioned that Slate would be offering financing.

The unit available was a near production unit - VIN “00002”.

Looks like quite a few sizes of Torx head screws. (Thanks for the catch on speeling,@E90400K! I also caught in one post I started to spell grille as grill!)
Will be interested to see what the customer Slate U kit will look like for wrenching DIY stuff.

Much better polish than the demo I saw last year.

Still see some rough edges as expected. Like the area that meets the corner of the front and the body panel and door.

Met a fellow forum member.

Added more photos, wish I got more photos of the nuts, bolts, and screws though.

“The Nuts, Bolts and Screws of Slate”

 

[Twisted Santa]

Excellent photography. Thank you!

 

[RevMS]

Love the selfie with your buds in the headlight!

 

[timeonmyhandz]

Red emergency button under the dash.. What's that for?

 

[cadblu]

Is the Rivian tote bag included with every Slate?

 

[KHN707]

Red emergency button under the dash.. What's that for?

Emergency stop for non-production / test vehicles. Standard industry practice.

 

[GrizzlysGhost]

Great closeups, thanks for sharing!

 

[motorolas]

Is the Rivian tote bag included with every Slate?

It was another forum. Member who had gone to the Rivian stand.

 

[motorolas]

Great closeups, thanks for sharing!

Thanks, I figured we’ve seen a lot of of the wide shots. And I was hoping to take pictures of the screw heads.
I asked if we could open up the glove box, but they had them close up this time around. The Slate rep did say they would be coming back to the Bay Area with test drive units sometime in the near future.

 

[danielt1263]

The VIN's check digit isn't valid; it should be a 9 instead of N. I wonder why they did that? Also, it reads as being built in 2027, and having a 150kW motor and 52.7kWh battery. Maybe the invalid check digit is specifically because the motor and battery data is incorrect? I wonder...

(This is very much me overthinking things because I've got nothing better to do with the truck.

 

[kvermeer]

Magnificient pictures, thanks for sharing!

Love the decal on your hat, and the subtle orange stitching on the upholstery.

Blowing up the picture of the gas strut, it appears likely to be made by Hahn Gasferdern in their Gastonia, NC facility:

https://www.hahn-gasfedern.de/en/company/hahn-west

Hard to read the part number on the bottom, maybe 9?228?43 but I can't really make it out. Hahn does use some 6-digit part numbers. Maybe a G08-19 based just on approximate dimensions? Can someone get a better pic of that?

I love that you lifted up the cover for the fusebox to find... another cover for another fusebox, just with tape over it. Did they let you lift that one off? Not pointless, because you can see the strut mount back in the shadows! Potentially relevant for those of us looking to install a lift or lowering kit. Also, that pic clearly shows that you'd need to lift the hood to access a bunch of the fasteners for the front quarter panel. You can't steal the front fender with just the exposed fasteners.

On that pic of the underside, in spite of the solid front grille common to EVs, that looks like a pretty generous space and generous airflow for the radiators/heat exchangers. Maybe a couple 12V fans can bolt to the front to help with airflow, but you're going to have a hard time fitting anything more in that space. And it would suck to reduce frunk volume. Also, while there are internal hex/torx fasteners all over the top of the vehicle, I appreciate seeing external hex here; way easier to clean grass/mud/ice/gunk and get a good grip on those instead of trying to use a dental pick to clean out the fastener. BTW, my Escape has christmas tree fasteners that hold on the splash guards. To do any work on the thing, you have to throw away parts and buy new ones if it's been more than a month and the plastic has dried out. Love it. (Also, that's a plastic splash guard. Who's going to be the first to have an actual steel skid plate under their Slate?)

The brake duct/air deflector thing in the bumper is functional, but the slot is smaller than I would've expected.

I love the emergency stop button on the floor. That's the same place where my high beam switch goes! I trust that the panel bond all over that area is in part because they've got a replacement panel there for the aforementioned emergency stop button.

They peeled off the OEM sticker on their battery, but the circular red 4/26 logo is common to Clarios batteries (ACDelco, Duralast, Diehard, Everstart). I'm wondering if they just picked that one up at a random local auto parts store rather than using their official partner who they'd want to advertise!

Love the shot with the reflections gawking at the headlight. It does appear that those little fasteners around the turn signal cover that have been confirmed to be T20 are much smaller than the buttonhead fasteners on the hood above, which makes sense but is interesting.

I take it Rivian is also at the show and is handing out tote bags? LOL.

The center speaker is so minimalist, I love it. How's the tactile feel of the controls? Not getting the center speaker anyways, so it doesn't matter to me, just curious.

That side speaker looks like just a standard 3 1/2" or 4" circular driver. How thick is that grille? It's flush in the maker, but clearly not in that image. This render does not match:

I think that's good news, those enthusiasts who want a normal radio head unit can get a cheap pair of speakers and that grille instead of some complicated proprietary bluetooth thing with special low-profile speakers in the door.

I trust that gap around the glass will have a seal in the production truck.

That side mirror does beg for an accent color piece, I like it a lot.

The fill necks aren't exactly centered in those holes, but that's OK. Quite a bit of tolerance stack-up there. I do appreciate that all three fill necks are in a recessed crater, so if you spill some washer fluid it will drain through the truck instead of getting all over the junk in your frunk. I believe that's DOT3 brake fluid at the top (attached to the master cylinder on the firewall), potentially really hot (though not as hot as in an ICE) coolant at the bottom, which means it must be washer fluid in the middle. I trust there will be a washer fluid label on the middle one on the production truck, that's the one that owners will use 98% of the time. Wish it was a slightly shorter reach from the front bumper to the washer fluid, but packaging is tough and the radiator is in the front. NBD.

What's the box on the wooden table top?

 

[RevMS]

(Also, that's a plastic splash guard. Who's going to be the first to have an actual steel skid plate under their Slate?)

I probably won't be the first ... but I'm sure it's coming! Things like that will be on Amazon before the year is out most likely.

 

[Doctors Do Little]

Got a chance to meet Katie and Raj from Slate.
There was mentioned that Slate would be offering financing.
The unit available was a near production unit.
VIN “00002”.
Looks like quite a few sizes of torque’s head screws. Will be interested to see what the customer Slate U kit will look like for wrenching DIY stuff.
Much better polish than the demo I saw last year.
Still see some rough edges as expected. Like the area that meets the corner of the front and the body panel and door.
Met a fellow forum member.

Awesome!

For Slater of the Month, measurements of the Frunk?

 

[MrTom]

So is it OK to scuff the underbody of a Slate? Like running over a pile of ice or a small bush or? Good underbody pic but I can't tell if that's shielding or if a broken branch could skewer something important.

 

[phidauex]

Same bro, same!

Thanks for the detailed photos, glad to see something closer to final build quality. Not perfect but much better than we've seen on some of the earlier prototypes.