Small battery Slate (150 mi) has better driving dynamics?

[P. Regent]

I'm happy to hear this. LFP is a good chemistry for me. Safer, and I'm in California, so cold weather isn't a real issue, and the small weight penalty isn't a factor for the Slate IMO.

 

[ScooterAsheville]

This rhymes with something Slate said last fall. After all the changes to the rules around US content and killed subsidies, they said they were going to reassess the battery pack.

If they went to LFP, it means they lilely took cost out of the vehicle. So maybe some of the more optimistic price targets in our polls might be realized after all.

 

[KevinRS]

I am 50/50 on whether the article is correct on LFP. They don't say it as a quote from Faricy or anyone else at slate, just state it as fact, and don't contrast it to an NMC extended battery or anything.
Unveiling the production version is one of the first things said in the article, which leads me to believe at least some of us may be able to get up close looks at production vehicles in the next month as I've hoped.

 

[SparkYellow]

I can't find any official statement from Slate, but according to SK On in 4/2025, it's NCM.

https://eng.sk.com/news/sk-on-selected-as-battery-supplier-for-u-s-ev-startup-slate

 

[KevinRS]

I can't find any official statement from Slate, but according to SK On in 4/2025, it's NCM.

https://eng.sk.com/news/sk-on-selected-as-battery-supplier-for-u-s-ev-startup-slate

Yeah, and since then there have been hints from Slate that there would be a change, and speculation that LFP for the standard range was possible.

 

[1yeliab_sufur1]

https://www.freep.com/story/money/c...-details-mid-20s-electric-pickup/90492827007/
was trying to find it on the colts website just checking but it looked like its originally from Detroit free press same time but easier to find here is case anyone was skeptical about a sports news paper reporting on a truck

 

[pfan760]

Splitting hairs. It's a roughly 3600 lb compact pickup truck with a 200 HP motor. If you think this is going to be some Miata-esqe canyon carver, you might want to adjust your expectations. Is there likely to be a measurable difference? Maybe. Is there likely to be a meaningful difference? Probably not.

400 lbs is splitting hairs? Lol

 

[P. Regent]

I can't find any official statement from Slate, but according to SK On in 4/2025, it's NCM.

I can see both things being true: LFP for the standard range, NCM for the extended. That would reduce the weight differential and potentially make the LR more attractive for some while allowing the SR to have a lower price.

 

[The Weatherman]

I can see both things being true: LFP for the standard range, NCM for the extended. That would reduce the weight differential and potentially make the LR more attractive for some while allowing the SR to have a lower price.

Just to be clear it would be NMC - Nickel Manganese Cobalt. The chemistry elements are the same but the order represents volume by type. You should never stop learning. 😊

 

[SparkYellow]

Just to be clear it would be NMC - Nickel Manganese Cobalt. The chemistry elements are the same but the order represents volume by type. You should never stop learning. 😊

Thanks! I checked the company's press release and saw NCM. 🙄

 

[sodamo]

Couldn’t find validation on the Slate website, but their does seem subtle language changes open to interpretation. Come on 6/24

 

[E90400K]

Well it appears the news just leaked out in the base battery:

Slate CEO dishes new details on company’s 'mid-$20s' EV pickup

The base pickup is a two-door, rear-wheel-drive truck with a lithium iron phosphate (LFP) battery. LFP batteries are less expensive and more durable than the more common lithium ion batteries. The downside is that they don't have as much range. Slate promised a 150-mile range on a charge when it announced the vehicle in 2025.

Slate's pickup has fewer than 800 parts when it rolls off the line, compared with 3,000 to 4,000 in a traditional pickup, Faricy said.

I'd just love to know what they count as "parts". There is no way they can build a truck with just 20% of the part count of a "typical" pickup truck.

Slate just says shit and no one (journalists) asks "how".

 

[The Weatherman]

Seems there is also a NCM proportioned chemistry. I had gotten so use to seeing NMC that I missed that. Same materiel, but a different recipe. 🤙

 

[tubes]

I'd just love to know what they count as "parts". There is no way they can build a truck with just 20% of the part count of a "typical" pickup truck.

Slate just says shit and no one (journalists) asks "how".

I was thinking about this as I cut the grass yesterday. What is a part? A SKU? I mean, there's gotta be hundreds of fasteners alone. Each one of those isn't a part, I assume. But if they made an effort to attach the panels with just 3 types of fasteners, that would be 3 parts? I'm fixated on fasteners and body panels because in recently working on my Honda and Toyota, I shake my head over the 10s of different types of push-pin connectors they use to attach panels.

 

[GaRailroader]

I was thinking about this as I cut the grass yesterday. What is a part? A SKU? I mean, there's gotta be hundreds of fasteners alone. Each one of those isn't a part, I assume. But if they made an effort to attach the panels with just 3 types of fasteners, that would be 3 parts? I'm fixated on fasteners and body panels because in recently working on my Honda and Toyota, I shake my head over the 10s of different types of push-pin connectors they use to attach panels.

I think you are probably right. If you take the bill of material and count the lines(unique SKUs) that is the # of parts. Next to the part # and description is a quantity field, if you add that up that is the number of pieces. So when they are saying 800 parts they are saying 800 lines on their bill of material. Now take for example, the motor/axle assembly which probably has an integrated inverter. That is being supplied by a Chinese company that has a factory in Michigan. That is probably 1 SKU for that entire assembly. Slate is not counting the # of ingredients that went into that assembly they are buying the completed assembly so to them it is 1 part.