Test Drive Review: I drove the Slate truck. Its toy-like looks hide a surprisingly serious pickup (Business Insider)

[Shrink36s]

Writer did a real short video on LinkedIn:
https://www.linkedin.com/posts/ben-...this-i-drove-ugcPost-7488550824009187328-dLiX

 

[19SL80s]

That's a good article from someone who actually drove the truck. I noted that he calls the regen braking "aggressive" but that he got used to it. He also called the cab fun and roomy.

I want aggressive regen. My Model 3 used to have it. I think they nerfed it through an OTA update.

Automakers should at least let customers adjust regen on their own. It took me several days to a week to get used to, but I love one pedal driving. It also saves on wearing out your brakes.

 

[FloppaEnjoyer8067]

You obviously weren't around for the VW Thing. That thing was "personalizable" and was advertised as such. It flopped.

VW rabbit and VW thing are on my list of cars I would buy if I had a big garage... Love those things

 

[Kopsis]

I suppose this is close to the hill-assist on vehicles with manual transmission, i.e., to hold the brakes for 1 or 2 seconds when we move the right foot from the brake to the accelerator, while letting out the clutch. Asking because I don't know how much regen braking holds on hills.

The idea behind true 1PD is that you don't have to use the brake pedal except in emergencies. If you take your foot off the accelerator, the car will slow to a stop and then stay stopped (even on a hill). For that to work, the 1PD has to use blended braking (switching to friction brakes when the motor is turning too slow to produce adequate regen drag).

Not all EVs do that, so with those you still have to use the brake pedal to come to a complete stop. Most that do that will have an auto-hold feature so that when you lift off the brake pedal, the friction brakes stay engaged until you press the throttle again. Sounds like that may be the direction Slate is going? It would be nice to get something conclusive from engineering (or a reviewer who really knows EV tech).

 

[FloppaEnjoyer8067]

The idea behind true 1PD is that you don't have to use the brake pedal except in emergencies. If you take your foot off the accelerator, the car will slow to a stop and then stay stopped (even on a hill). For that to work, the 1PD has to use blended braking (switching to friction brakes when the motor is turning too slow to produce adequate regen drag).

Not all EVs do that, so with those you still have to use the brake pedal to come to a complete stop. Most that do that will have an auto-hold feature so that when you lift off the brake pedal, the friction brakes stay engaged until you press the throttle again. Sounds like that may be the direction Slate is going? It would be nice to get something conclusive from engineering (or a reviewer who really knows EV tech).

Although Slate is almost certainly not doing this, it wouldn't be difficult to use the motor as an actual brake. However, this would take energy and since Slate did not design their own inverter, the inverter manufacturer would need to support it.

 

[Kopsis]

Although Slate is almost certainly not doing this, it wouldn't be difficult to use the motor as an actual brake. However, this would take energy and since Slate did not design their own inverter, the inverter manufacturer would need to support it.

Technically feasible but it would probably destroy your EPA city loop range numbers.

 

[malewizard]

Everyone sees the world through their perspective, using their own filtering system. One person "feels" something is too loose or too tight or whatever,and the next person in the same spot,but with a different perspective feels good and has no problems. Taking other humans opinions on how something "feels" or looks, is subjective to them alone, and only influences you, if you want to look at it through their perspective of things. Some people are inherently negative no matter what they speak about. I judge for myself,and weigh the personal opinions on a graded scale of "total ignoring to might influence me down the road", (after I see and experience the item for myself). Some people like things simple and clean. Others like to "show" their vehicle as some sort of personal expression. That doesn't appeal to me, but I know there are those that like to do that. All in all, its a unique process that goes into liking something, for each person, and simply reading an opinion from someone who feels they can speak for everyone, is arrogant, and ego building for them, but has no REAL value .

 

[tubes]

Everyone sees the world through their perspective, using their own filtering system. One person "feels" something is too loose or too tight or whatever,and the next person in the same spot,but with a different perspective feels good and has no problems. Taking other humans opinions on how something "feels" or looks, is subjective to them alone, and only influences you, if you want to look at it through their perspective of things. Some people are inherently negative no matter what they speak about. I judge for myself,and weigh the personal opinions on a graded scale of "total ignoring to might influence me down the road", (after I see and experience the item for myself). Some people like things simple and clean. Others like to "show" their vehicle as some sort of personal expression. That doesn't appeal to me, but I know there are those that like to do that. All in all, its a unique process that goes into liking something, for each person, and simply reading an opinion from someone who feels they can speak for everyone, is arrogant, and ego building for them, but has no REAL value .

PIZZA comes to mind here. It is amazing the war of words people have over pizza styles. Friendships are broken because of pizza style disagreements. It is ridiculous! To each their own.

 

[Auer]

PIZZA comes to mind here. It is amazing the war of words people have over pizza styles. Friendships are broken because of pizza style disagreements. It is ridiculous! To each their own.

Yeah, fuck pizza!

 

[calamari]

Yeah, fuck pizza!

That's not a pizza topping that I've tried...

 

[tubes]

Yeah, fuck pizza!

One of those "inherently negative" people @malewizard brings up. Well done.

 

[Freyar]

PIZZA comes to mind here. It is amazing the war of words people have over pizza styles. Friendships are broken because of pizza style disagreements. It is ridiculous! To each their own.

Indeed, to each their own. I'll have my pizza with pineapple, thanks.

 

[RevMS]

PIZZA comes to mind here. It is amazing the war of words people have over pizza styles. Friendships are broken because of pizza style disagreements. It is ridiculous! To each their own.

New Haven has the best pizza.
Chicago pizza is good ... but it's not pizza.

Fight me.

I had never driven a car with 1PD before I got my Model 3. Driving an EV is awkward when you first try to drive away from a stand-still after coming from a life of driving all kinds of ICE vehicles with all kinds of transmissions. But it didn't take long to learn to love both the instant torque availability AND how to lift at just the right time to come coasting to a stop at a stop sign. The brakes will probably outlast the vehicle.

 

[FloppaEnjoyer8067]

Everyone sees the world through their perspective, using their own filtering system. One person "feels" something is too loose or too tight or whatever,and the next person in the same spot,but with a different perspective feels good and has no problems. Taking other humans opinions on how something "feels" or looks, is subjective to them alone, and only influences you, if you want to look at it through their perspective of things. Some people are inherently negative no matter what they speak about. I judge for myself,and weigh the personal opinions on a graded scale of "total ignoring to might influence me down the road", (after I see and experience the item for myself). Some people like things simple and clean. Others like to "show" their vehicle as some sort of personal expression. That doesn't appeal to me, but I know there are those that like to do that. All in all, its a unique process that goes into liking something, for each person, and simply reading an opinion from someone who feels they can speak for everyone, is arrogant, and ego building for them, but has no REAL value .

Speaking of feel, I hate steering wheels that feel like nothing. Electric power steering (electro hydraulic) has always felt like the author described to me. I like a nice heavy steering. If it is light and spongy, I’m hoping I can just disconnect the power steering and run it manual.

 

[Paul]

Nice article!

> Its aggressive, Tesla-like regenerative braking initially made my inputs jerky. Once I learned to feather the accelerator, however, the one-pedal driving felt natural, and I rarely touched the brake.

I find the other threads on this forum that describe mandatory 1PD as a deal breaker, that the old dogs could never learn new 1PD tricks to be embarrassing. If he only drove it for 45 minutes, that can barely count as a learning curve! No, when you were 16, your first starts off the line were probably a little jerky. You learned and adjusted. You can learn again.

Looking back through his review history, I don't see that he's ever driven a Tesla. He's got articles on the Hyundai Ioniq 5, Kia EV9, Polestar 2, Fiat 500e, and Rivian R1T, all of which have significantly adjustable (or even optional) 1PD modes.

> Its big-nosed hood — which covers a seven-cubic-foot frunk, enough to fit roughly two medium-sized check-in bags — gives the driver the commanding view Americans expect from a pickup.

It's a good thing that the author lists a Ridgeline among the trucks he's driven. I've got a Ford Superduty F250, a Silverado 2500HD, a Ram 4500, and a couple F350/F450 flatbeds in my more recent past that threaten to crowd out familiarity with the '93 Ranger in my profile photo. I cannot imagine the view from the Slate truck being described as the "commanding view Americans expect." If it really is a hideously gargantuan vehicle as I might expect from those other modern American trucks... ick, I'm going to want the lowering kit more than I already do.

> Slate hopes customers will keep spending after buying the truck, but not through the monthly software subscriptions that Detroit has recently fallen in love with. ... The pitch is less "pay to unlock this software feature" and more "physically build the vehicle you want."

Thank you, Slate! I'm aggressively, vehemently, combatatively not in love with those pay-to-play features. Many years ago, I read an article by Joel Spoelsky (a writer/tech entrepeneur, founder of StackOverflow) in which he wrote:

> Working my way backwards, this business about segmenting? It pisses the heck off of people. People want to feel they’re paying a fair price. ... customers had no loyalty whatsover to the legacy airlines that had been trying to pick their pockets for all those years.

> And God help you if an A-list blogger finds out that your premium printer is identical to the cheap printer, with the speed inhibitor turned off.

We frogs have been thoroughly boiled, today no one would be surprised to have to pay a monthly subscription and keep the printer connected to the Internet where it can sell your print history if you want to keep the speed inhibitor turned off.

I'm buying Slate in large part because it rejects those hostile trends!

It makes sense to just have just one, aggressive regen. That's where you're going to get the range. If you gave people the option to shut it off from the start they would never use it (because that's what they're used to) and then complain about the range. That takes all the variables out of determining range and reviews. Familiar with people driving the Mach-E and people would often just shut it off from the start or the dealership would do test drives with it off not to scare people with something new.... But then how many people are actually going to set it to the most efficient and learn to use it. In the end It's going to be about range, particularly in a vehicle that doesn't have a pile of $70k battery capacity to waste.