Special Q&A for Reservation Holders w/ Slate Auto CEO

[KevinRS]

Parts of the app will probably be rather simple, for example with navigation it will probably just be a wrapper for an already available nav app.
On the fob function, that's part of the problem with asking for details that early even though messaging an agent. As far as we know, the truck itself will have no wireless connection at all besides the fob, no wifi, no cellular, no bluetooth, but there is that occasional conflicting agent statement like "The Slate App will allow you to remotely activate climate control, lock/unlock doors, and more."
That would specifically require one or more of those connections. An add on connection card might be possible, but it hasn't even been hinted at.
I would like to be able to turn on the climate control remotely. When leaving home, the fob range would work, but when leaving a store or work, you need more range.
With the manual knobs, it would have to be either just power on the climate control with the settings you left it on, or those knobs could be rotary encoders.

 

[AZFox]

On the fob function, that's part of the problem with asking for details that early even though messaging an agent. As far as we know, the truck itself will have no wireless connection at all besides the fob, no wifi, no cellular, no bluetooth

Getting kinda picky here, but there's one exception:
Steering Wheel Bluetooth Controls

 

[AKrietzer]

This would be my first EV, and probably the first EV interest for a lot of people. I have been watching and reading all I could on Lucid, but they are in the $80,000 to $250,000 price range. I had no interest in Tesla or Rivian or the others. I think there will be a lot of questions not directly related to Slate, but about EVs in general. How would the Slate navigation part of the Slate app be different than using the Waze app, which I already have? Would the Slate app show things like miles remaining, battery condition and use, or is that part of the built in speedometer screen? How do you set it to charge to only 80%, or all the way to 100% for a long trip, or is that a setting on your charger? I have a lot of questions, and I have at least a year to read up on a lot of it dealing with charging and other general EV information. I've already learned a lot from this forum.

 

[Adam W]

Steering Wheel Bluetooth Controls

My reading of that accessory is that it has nothing to do with the truck at all. It's just a generic volume & play/pause remote control that's made to fit in the steering wheel. Something similar to this thing from JBL.

 

[cadblu]

My reading of that accessory is that it has nothing to do with the truck at all. It's just a generic volume & play/pause remote control that's made to fit in the steering wheel. Something similar to this thing from JBL.

Hopefully Slate comes up with a better solution than using a 3v battery in the steering wheel remote control.

 

[AZFox]

My reading of that accessory is that it has nothing to do with the truck at all. It's just a generic volume & play/pause remote control that's made to fit in the steering wheel. Something similar to this thing from JBL.

Yes, definitely. It's similar to a remote shutter for cellphone cameras that are for removing camera shake or taking selfies.

I think all the shutter gizmo does is connect as a keyboard and send a "Volume Up" keyboard signal when you push the button.

The media controls accessory does the same (connects as a BT keyboard), except it has multiple buttons for sending play, pause, next, and previous.

 

[cadblu]

Understood and I'm hopeful too. But the SUV kit requires removal of the back wall of the cab which would provide some rollover protection in the pickup configuration. I fear the rollbar may be needed due to that as much as it is needed to protect seated back passengers.

Slate has made it clear that the SUV kit contains the topper, rear seats, and roll bar containing air bags. The assembly of these components follows a strict sequence / procedure utilizing mistake proofing, or Poka-Yoke. Meaning that error codes will be displayed and the truck might even become disabled if you purposely omit the rollbar or go out of sequence which could compromise safety. Please take note, there is a huge liability issue if the air bag harness is not properly installed; and you should expect an electrical interlock will lockout the vehicle from normal operation.

Regarding the cargo kit, hopefully it will omit the seats, roll bar and airbags but it will follow its own installation procedure which differs from the suv kit.

 

[danielt1263]

Regarding the cargo kit, hopefully it will omit the seats, roll bar and airbags but it will follow its own installation procedure which differs from the suv kit.

My understanding is that when the rear window and bottom panel is removed, the roll bar is needed for structural integrity. Presumably, the cargo kit would not entail removing that bottom panel...

 

[AKrietzer]

The cargo kit may not require the removal of the back wall of the pickup cab, possibly only the back window which would be used on the back of the cargo kit.

 

[danielt1263]

As far as we know, the truck itself will have no wireless connection at all besides the fob, no wifi, no cellular, no bluetooth, but there is that occasional conflicting agent statement like "The Slate App will allow you to remotely activate climate control, lock/unlock doors, and more."
That would specifically require one or more of those connections. An add on connection card might be possible, but it hasn't even been hinted at.
I would like to be able to turn on the climate control remotely. When leaving home, the fob range would work, but when leaving a store or work, you need more range.

I think you are thinking too advanced. My 2015 Kia can lock/unlock doors with the fob, no wifi needed. Having the fob turn the HVAC on/off from a button also doesn't require wifi. That would give you the ability to turn on the climate control remotely, but not change the temperature.

That doesn't solve your range issue though...

 

[danielt1263]

Also navigation and media controls when driving.

Ideally the app will just do a small number of necessary things and do them well.

Are navigation and media controls necessary? It depends on who you ask, I suppose.

Here's hoping they don't attempt to "monetize" with the app, because that would be a huge turn-off to a lot of people.

I remember seeing a closeup of the "app" during the post launch press event on some YouTube channel. It was clearly just a bunch of images in a slide show.

 

[AZFox]

The cargo kit may not require the removal of the back wall of the pickup cab, possibly only the back window which would be used on the back of the cargo kit.

"So, there's a cargo kit that you can get instead of going with the SUV kit. And that's basically or essentially the SUV kit without seats."

-- Senior Secret Agent Aphrodite (source)

Considerable lack of detail there. Basically or essentially there's plenty of room for interpretation.

It was #2 in her list of Top Five Questions people ask. Maybe some of those people are looking for a Canine Carrier Combo like many of us are.

 

[sodamo]

Slate has made it clear that the SUV kit contains the topper, rear seats, and roll bar containing air bags. The assembly of these components follows a strict sequence / procedure utilizing mistake proofing, or Poka-Yoke. Meaning that error codes will be displayed and the truck might even become disabled if you purposely omit the rollbar or go out of sequence which could compromise safety. Please take note, there is a huge liability issue if the air bag harness is not properly installed; and you should expect an electrical interlock will lockout the vehicle from normal operation.

Regarding the cargo kit, hopefully it will omit the seats, roll bar and airbags but it will follow its own installation procedure which differs from the suv kit.

Agreed IF installing the rear seat. Rear seat requires the rollbar and airbags. If no rear seat, no need for airbags. If no rear seat, no airbags will the rollbar be required, we don’t know. Error codes would be dependent on presence of the rear seat. Slate has stated you can remove the rear seat, so would assume no error code. I’d say doubtful you can properly install a rear seat without the airbags and/or rollbar.