Suspension Poll: Lifted, Lowered, or Standard Height?

[KingCarlosXIII]

Cosmetically it does nothing for me. But living in the snowiest city in Wisconsin means I need a little more ground clearance 8 months out of the year. So though I have never needed a lift on a vehicle before in my life, I am pretty confident I will not regret getting it done on the Slate.

 

[Benjamin Nead]

Since I'm coming from the passenger car EV world (and a subcompact one at that,) I'm inclined to favor the lowered suspension. The side view pictures here were helpful for me determining this. I'm not after an exaggerated Low Rider aesthetic. But I also don't need built-in extra height for heavy loads I know I'm never going to haul, or for bumpy terrains I know I'm never going to cross. If I end up getting a few extra miles per battery charge because of slightly better aerodynamics, all the better.

 

[South Whitley Bulldog]

Do you expect to order one of the kits for lifting or lowering your Slate?

If you change your mind you can change your vote in the poll.

What are your reasons for lifting or lowering?

What do you think the tradeoffs of lifting or lowering will be?

Images of the suspension heights (lowered, standard height, lifted):

Do you expect to order one of the kits for lifting or lowering your Slate?

If you change your mind you can change your vote in the poll.

What are your reasons for lifting or lowering?

What do you think the tradeoffs of lifting or lowering will be?

Images of the suspension heights (lowered, standard height, lifted):

I will raise mine due to snow here in Indiana I live in country and have gotten stuck even with out Jeep wranglers our road is especially bad had 4 foot drifts before Slate will be staying home on those days

 

[evtruth]

I will raise mine due to snow here in Indiana I live in country and have gotten stuck even with out Jeep wranglers our road is especially bad had 4 foot drifts before Slate will be staying home on those days

Nooooo, use it, the torque will be fun! 😂 I'm in Warsaw, been driving EVs for several years now, no issues with cold weather.

 

[AZFox]

As someone who has put over 70K miles on his Teslas with 25K+ of those miles being roadtrips (Indiana to... DC and back, Tampa and back, ATL and back, St. Louis and back, etc) I don't really care about efficiency anymore, [...] I've never been anywhere near stranded and honestly I rarely ever look at the charge percentage indicator anymore.

As an EV n00b this is good to know.

My EV experience is with a golf cart. I can count on two fingers the times I almost didn't make it home because I bit off a little more distance than the state-of-charge could chew.

In the cart I always bring along the charger and an extension cord "just in case" I need Juice Boost. I think you can do that with the Slate as well.

[...] I put 18" wheels and off-road tires (they lifted the car about an inch) on my Tesla.

A Tesla wearing hiking boots! Who knew you could eve do that? Looks great.

 

[evtruth]

As an EV n00b this is good to know.

My EV experience is with a golf cart. I can count on two fingers the times I almost didn't make it home because I bit off a little more distance than the state-of-charge could chew.

In the cart I always bring along the charger and an extension cord "just in case" I need Juice Boost. I think you can do that with the Slate as well.



A Tesla wearing hiking boots! Who knew you could eve do that? Looks great.

I think the key to overcoming range anxiety is knowing your vehicle. It's also knowing that Superchargers are, mostly, less than 100 miles from each other. Even with the Slate having a base 150 mile range I don't think a VAST majority of owners will need to worry about even roadtripping these things. Yeah, it'll take a little longer, but I don't foresee it being an issue.

Once I get a delivery date I'm going to plan a weekend road trip immediately and do a video for my YT channel on it to show people that even a 150 mile range can work for the occasional roadtrip. There's a LOT of bad info that gets spewed about EVs online that just gets repeated. It's frustrating.

 

[evtruth]

I think the key to overcoming range anxiety is knowing your vehicle. It's also knowing that Superchargers are, mostly, less than 100 miles from each other. Even with the Slate having a base 150 mile range I don't think a VAST majority of owners will need to worry about even roadtripping these things. Yeah, it'll take a little longer, but I don't foresee it being an issue.

Once I get a delivery date I'm going to plan a weekend road trip immediately and do a video for my YT channel on it to show people that even a 150 mile range can work for the occasional roadtrip. There's a LOT of bad info that gets spewed about EVs online that just gets repeated. It's frustrating.

Replying to my own comment here, but just saw this post on X. I think user education and real world experience are key to looking range anxiety.

 

[South Whitley Bulldog]

Nooooo, use it, the torque will be fun! 😂 I'm in Warsaw, been driving EVs for several years now, no issues with cold weather.

Yeh drifting is fun just don’t like the digging out part can I still buy studded snow tires ? Last thing I had those on was a 65 mustang

 

[Charliegti]

Will order stock and wait for H&R to make lowering springs or coilovers (or at least adjustable perches for the rear). The aftermarket should be huge if Slate happens.

 

[Karl Childers]

Saw this on linked in. Not sure how to send the short video over here. (I'm old)

 

[atx_ev]

i dont like scraping curbs or scraping the hitch when pulling out of steep driveways.

If the ground clearance is 6 inches (some people reported this) then I would lift to 9. If the ground clearance is more like 11, then I wouldnt lift.

 

[zipn]

Lowered for ease of entry and exit if needed which also will require a look at the seat height above ground. Wife has mobility issues so want passenger seat entry height ( butt height) low for her. Price dependent too.

 

[metroshot]

Lowered for ease of entry and exit if needed which also will require a look at the seat height above ground. Wife has mobility issues so want passenger seat entry height ( butt height) low for her. Price dependent too.

Good point!

My EV has the easy entry/exit seats which lowers when turned off.

I love it because as I am old, my body is not limber anymore.

I based the seat entry/exit feature and tried on different EVs like BMW, Hyundai, Kia, and Mercedes.

Settled on Ford Mach E.

Perfect for my stiff back & neck....

 

[5ohbrad]

Will order stock and wait for H&R to make lowering springs or coilovers (or at least adjustable perches for the rear). The aftermarket should be huge if Slate happens.

This is a great take. The aftermarket usually has some better than OEM suspension options.