Slate: The Everything Truck (Fortune Interview)

[cadblu]

Video of Fortune interview:

https://fortune.com/videos/watch/the-everything-truck/2937ad65-f462-4439-94aa-340ebbcc6f5b.




Newly released interview conducted by Fortune Magazine and the Slate team regarding 3rd party opportunities and the value proposition that Slate promises to deliver.

 

[ScooterAsheville]

Enjoyed watching it. Not a lot of news. But I took away a few things. One that made me happy is that they're reconsidering the battery - I was not even remotelyy impressed with 150 miles range. Another was that they don't necessarily choose the cheapest solution for everything, but rather the value solution.

I have more questions than answers about Slate. Patience is a virtue. I'm sure the answers will be forthcoming over the next year. My read is that Slate is not giving us those answers because Slate does not yet have those answers.

I do find the comparison of the Slate to the $50,000 average transaction price for a new vehicle in the USA to be absolute BS. That comparison should be to a Maverick or a Santa Cruz. A $27,000 Slate sounds really good compared to something that costs $50,000. I'm not so sure it's such a great comparison to a far better equipped $27,000 Maverick - which I've been driving for three years now.

 

[Sandman614]

Enjoyed watching it. Not a lot of news. But I took away a few things. One that made me happy is that they're reconsidering the battery - I was not even remotelyy impressed with 150 miles range. Another was that they don't necessarily choose the cheapest solution for everything, but rather the value solution.

I have more questions than answers about Slate. Patience is a virtue. I'm sure the answers will be forthcoming over the next year. My read is that Slate is not giving us those answers because Slate does not yet have those answers.

I do find the comparison of the Slate to the $50,000 average transaction price for a new vehicle in the USA to be absolute BS. That comparison should be to a Maverick or a Santa Cruz. A $27,000 Slate sounds really good compared to something that costs $50,000. I'm not so sure it's such a great comparison to a far better equipped $27,000 Maverick - which I've been driving for three years now.

You mean the $27000 Maverick that doesn't exist any more?

 

[Driven5]

I do find the comparison of the Slate to the $50,000 average transaction price for a new vehicle in the USA to be absolute BS. That comparison should be to a Maverick or a Santa Cruz.

Most people looking at Maverick do so because it is a hybrid that happens to have a bed, not because it is a truck that happens to be a hybrid. So the typical comparison of Maverick to Santa Cruz and Ranger is largely BS.

Most people looking at Slate do so because it is an EV that happens to have a bed, not because it is a truck that happens to be an EV. So the typical comparison of Slate to a zero electric-only range Maverick is largely BS too.

 

[ScooterAsheville]

The only comparison metric that matters is what large numbers of people in the USA consider to be the competion. Fanboys never figure this out. Carmaking is a business. You do it to sell vehicles in large numbers, because you lose money on a plant until it scales past 80% capacity.

The Maverick is competition for Slate, especially low mileage used Mavericks. Multiple Toyotas, Hyundais and other inexpensive but high quality rides are also competition. They don't have to be trucks. What matters is what people are cross shopping, not some arbitrary market segment definition.

 

[Letas]

The only comparison metric that matters is what large numbers of people in the USA consider to be the competion. Fanboys never figure this out. Carmaking is a business. You do it to sell vehicles in large numbers, because you lose money on a plant until it scales past 80% capacity.

The Maverick is competition for Slate, especially low mileage used Mavericks. Multiple Toyotas, Hyundais and other inexpensive but high quality rides are also competition. They don't have to be trucks. What matters is what people are cross shopping, not some arbitrary market segment definition.

BIngo!

And, what matters to one consumer does not matter to another. For me- the Slate doesn't cross shop with the Maverik, because I don't care about a bed.

Any "low cost" EV compares for me. R2, Equinox EV, and maybe even the new Bolt EV.

Others see it entirely differently, and that's okay. If someone is looking for an economical (to purchase, and operate) light duty pickup? Slate and Maverick are best buds. It all depends.

 

[Driven5]

"That comparison should be to a Maverick or a Santa Cruz" = "some arbitrary market segment definition."

 

[sodamo]

Guess I must be an outlier. No interest in other non truck EV, not interested in other non EV trucks. Interested in Slate because it is an EV truck, bonus small, low tech, DYI configurable, low cost, not cross shopping as there is nothing to cross shop.

 

[E90400K]

Guess I must be an outlier. No interest in other non truck EV, not interested in other non EV trucks. Interested in Slate because it is an EV truck, bonus small, low tech, DYI configurable, low cost, not cross shopping as there is nothing to cross shop.

I still think low price of entry here is the major factor for success for Slate. My interest in Slate is it being an American-soil manufactured vehicle with a low-price level of entry and theoretical low operating cost. The EV part I think is a hinderance for the market because it has limited range and slow recharging speed along with minimal pickup truck capability. It is very lightweight with just 1,400 pounds cargo and 1,000 pounds of towing. If the Slate price is up near $27K, the ICE Tacoma and Frontier stretch-cab models at $30K are just a better value from a pickup use case perspective and most people will make that $3K jump ($60 more a month). And if you can't charge it at home, EV are no less expensive to fuel on the public charging network than ICEV. People are just not going to buy an EV when it costs the same to fuel as ICEV but has a 10X refueling time factor.

 

[Dorbiman]

I still think low price of entry here is the major factor for success for Slate. My interest in Slate is it being an American-soil manufactured vehicle with a low-price level of entry and theoretical low operating cost. The EV part I think is a hinderance for the market because it has limited range and slow recharging speed along with minimal pickup truck capability. It is very lightweight with just 1,400 pounds cargo and 1,000 pounds of towing. If the Slate price is up near $27K, the ICE Tacoma and Frontier stretch-cab models at $30K are just a better value from a pickup use case perspective and most people will make that $3K jump ($60 more a month). And if you can't charge it at home, EV are no less expensive to fuel on the public charging network than ICEV. People are just not going to buy an EV when it costs the same to fuel as ICEV but has a 10X refueling time factor.

It depends. There's a fun little interactive bar chart on this article that lets you select your state, approximate your ICE mileage, EV efficiency, and price/kWh, and compare home charging + public charging

 

[Doug T]

It depends. There's a fun little interactive bar chart on this article that lets you select your state, approximate your ICE mileage, EV efficiency, and price/kWh, and compare home charging + public charging

This is a very helpful article to understand the costs of EV versus ICE vehicles. The one comment I have is that is does not discuss off-peak rates that many utilities offer. I always charge at off-peak hours, and I suggest anyone considering an EV check their local rates.

 

[Dorbiman]

Agreed, I think it's helpful as a "worst case" type scenario

 

[atx_ev]

Guess I must be an outlier. No interest in other non truck EV, not interested in other non EV trucks. Interested in Slate because it is an EV truck, bonus small, low tech, DYI configurable, low cost, not cross shopping as there is nothing to cross shop.

this is me.

I did try to lease a chevy equinox ev before the credit expired, but the dealers were so scammy.

A lease has

cap cost
money factor
residual
period

That is it. From those you 100% can calculate the monthly payment.

On the chevy website the calculation showed that I can get under 200/month with zero down for a 24/10 lease on an equinox with a specific vin (dealer had marked the car down supposedly)

The dealers would never give me all 3 of the key terms and told me it was $300/month. The money factor and residual are set by chevy. The only thing the dealer controls is the cap cost. They would tell me im leasing the car for 32K, but if that were true my payment would be under 200/month.

So they basically were lying about the cap cost and would never actually put it in writing.

 

[E90400K]

It depends. There's a fun little interactive bar chart on this article that lets you select your state, approximate your ICE mileage, EV efficiency, and price/kWh, and compare home charging + public charging

Great link, thanks. I checked most states and all except these, ICEV are less expensive to refuel using the public EV grid (by more than $2 on average). Forbes cites maintenance per mile for EV at 6 cents and ICEV at 10 cents, which hardly impacts total cost per mile when charging on the public grid. Account for most EV poor deprecation and the picture is even worse.

 

[E90400K]

this is me.

I did try to lease a chevy equinox ev before the credit expired, but the dealers were so scammy.

A lease has

cap cost
money factor
residual
period

That is it. From those you 100% can calculate the monthly payment.

On the chevy website the calculation showed that I can get under 200/month with zero down for a 24/10 lease on an equinox with a specific vin (dealer had marked the car down supposedly)

The dealers would never give me all 3 of the key terms and told me it was $300/month. The money factor and residual are set by chevy. The only thing the dealer controls is the cap cost. They would tell me im leasing the car for 32K, but if that were true my payment would be under 200/month.

So they basically were lying about the cap cost and would never actually put it in writing.

They were not going to eat the EV deprecation curve.

But buy one, man were they giving them away last month. I tried to get a friend buy one last month, but she just couldn't commit to EV. And she's the perfect candidate, drives 12 miles round trip daily, can charge at home with just 120V. But the one time a year she drives over 300 miles to the beach and complexity of charging vs. sticking a gas nozzle in the fuel fill port, I couldn't convince her otherwise.