The Slate needs a lower price. I know they are not pickups, (most are crossovers/SUVs), but with rebates, % and other deals I can get several other E

[E90400K]

It's kind of hard to abuse an EV drivetrain so used options are pretty good. I bought both of my Teslas used at 3-4 years old. Faster EVs can be pretty hard on half shafts if hammered a lot. The AC unit does double duty for cooling the battery and the cabin, so it can be more prone to failure. and can strand you if it fails outright. A car that has always been charged to 100% and isn't designed for it can have some additional battery degradation, as can one that has been frequently DCFC'd in brutal heat.

The frustrating thing is that there really aren't any warning signs for things that you can just limp through. Systems can fail immediately without warning. It's true that ICE vehicles can do the same, but there is always more mystery to the failure to the EV powertrain, especially since there are rarely any user-readable error codes to determine what's wrong. I think (lack of) repairability is another reason why EVs crater in value. I only bought used cars for decades, but I've cycled through a number of EVs since there is so much on them I cannot diagnose and repair myself.

The only abuse I can see with an EV drivetrain is just constantly running high amounts of current through it to get 0 - 60 pulls in the sub-4-second range. I think that is some of the expense as well, because to constantly do pulls like that the electronics have to be beefy enough (engineering term ) to handle the high current. Of course, as with ICEV, it generates heat. Heat and dirt are the two things that kill any machine. What I don't know is, is running high amounts of current through a new EV drivetrain (i.e. just a few miles old) damaging to the components before they have had time to "break-in". I know if I bought an EV, say a Model 3P, I'd still break it in before doing pulls at full throttle. You'd never do full throttle pulls on a new ICEV drivetrain if you want to keep the vehicle long term, in fact the manufacturers tell the owner not to.

That's the other thing I like about the Slate, it's not built to pull off 0 - 60 times in under 4 seconds. Even with 200 "electric" HP it could probably hit sub-5-second 0 - 60 times. Another cost -saving measure by Slate engineers to use electrical components matched to an adequate 8-second to-60 acceleration time.

 

[beatle]

Most engines go through a short break in period to seat the piston rings against the cylinders. Since there aren't any of those in an EV, you don't really need to break anything in. I guess you could overheat the mesh in the gear reduction by driving at high speed for extended periods of time, but that's not really a big concern. The gear reduction is part of the drive unit which has an 8+ year warranty anyway.

Electrical components of an EV don't need to be broken in. They are all solid state or electromagnetic. Just send it and forget it.

Slate picked a 201hp motor since it's pretty efficient at typical load and easy to drive with a smaller battery. It is overall less expensive to make a smalller motor than a larger, more powerful one. I agree that it should feel peppy enough, though I think it's 0-60 will be in the 7-8 sec range. This should be good for battery life since the battery will discharge at a relatively low C rate, reducing heat.

 

[Letas]

they constantly mention radio and power windows and the allude to a bunch of other things, but never mention them.

Power windows and a radio will probably be under $350. So maybe the truck is 25350 with power windows and a radio.

the two features they keep mentioning wont necessarily cost that much. Now if you want a replacement infotainment for any car, it is like $2K. And these days you have to use the mfg infotainment because it is tied into all the car systems.

$350 feels very generous. Unless you aren't including any audio system in your car, and your radio is just for show. I think to get a comparable infotainment and audio setup (not tin can sounding with a laggy display), you are easily looking at $1500+ after install. Now you get to choose your own exactly to your specs, but $350 is ludicrously low

 

[Letas]

Not anytime soon. They never mention it unless it's to discourage people from asking about it. It's not on their published roadmap. They don't even refer to the R2 as the R2S. The only indication that they're going to do an R2T is the trademark renewal back in October.

What do you envision the R2T would look like? 2 door pickup with similar bed to the R1T? Or different?

Just curious. Not hating. If I had a crystal ball I would say the likelihood of me owning an R2 (S) is higher than any other vehicle in the next 5 years, Slate included. I just think the R1T bed is already so small and only semi functional, I am curious what an even smaller version would be.

 

[beatle]

I think they'd need to stretch the R2 chassis to allow for a slightly larger bed. With the R2 as-is, it'd only have a 3 foot bed which would never fly in the pickup world.

Stretching the chassis 18 inches is possible by extending the frame rails and wiring to make the wheelbase longer and get the bed to a competitive size, but it complicates a lot of things and makes the line less efficient for a vehicle that will surely sell less than the "R2S." With the small SUV being the bet that Rivian is making on survival, it makes more sense to pile everyone into that lifeboat, even if I am still annoyed to not get an R2T for years.