USB-C touch screen VS a tablet

[Kopsis]

I believe the Slate will have a 12v battery in the frunk so there's the constant 12v power feed.

An often surprising thing about EVs is that all the electronics typically run off that crappy old 12V lead acid battery. If that gets low, you're dead in the water even with tens of kWh sitting under the floor. I keep a 12V Li jumper pack in my EV6 frunk in case that happens.

The 12V charges from the traction battery when the car is on, but some EVs are bad at maintaining them when it's off. As a result, you need to be careful about adding unswitched 12V loads.

 

[KevinRS]

The antenna part is probably part of the sticking point. Most vehicle radio antennas are mounted on or through a metal body, that works as a ground plane. You will see decreased performance and signal if you use one of these antennas on a composite body. There are options, but they may need to be tested, and tested on the production truck.
No constant on 12v is another. Most head units are going to want that 12v to keep time, keep presets, etc. That 12v battery may be tiny and isolated from most things that could drain it to avoid finding it dead. It may just power the receiver for the fob, the door locks, and not much else, everything else being powered only when the vehicle is powered on, and converting the HV to low voltage. Using a traditional head unit might mean giving it it's own battery.

 

[sodamo]

Not sure I understand the 12v power problem. I recently installed a single din radio with Carplay in my cabbed tractor, the only 12v power was a switched circuit., when key is off so is radio. It did have an external antenna already in place.

 

[E90400K]

The 1984 plastic-bodied, steel space frame Pontiac Fiero had a AM/FM radio and antenna.

It can be done...

 

[E90400K]

Not sure I understand the 12v power problem. I recently installed a single din radio with Carplay in my cabbed tractor, the only 12v power was a switched circuit., when key is off so is radio. It did have an external antenna already in place.

Constant 12V supply for radio station presets memory (?). My thought at least.

 

[bloo]

Constant 12V supply for radio station presets memory (?). My thought at least.

And the clock.

 

[E90400K]

The antenna part is probably part of the sticking point. Most vehicle radio antennas are mounted on or through a metal body, that works as a ground plane. You will see decreased performance and signal if you use one of these antennas on a composite body. There are options, but they may need to be tested and tested on the production truck.
No constant on 12v is another. Most head units are going to want that 12v to keep time, keep presets, etc. That 12v battery may be tiny and isolated from most things that could drain it to avoid finding it dead. It may just power the receiver for the fob, the door locks, and not much else, everything else being powered only when the vehicle is powered on and converting the HV to low voltage. Using a traditional head unit might mean giving it its own battery.

Even if Slate were to use the pint-sized 12V 35AH battery that many EV use, like the Mach E, a radio should not consume but a few milliamps for memory and such a small automotive battery should last months. Considering the 150-mile of range the Slate will have, I'll bet most will sit on EVSE chargers every night, or at least a few nights a week. It shouldn't be a problem. The Slate should come with several 12V taps of both switched and constant-on DC supply.

I still suggest the rear glass is a good spot to put the radio antenna, but surely the low take rate for old-school radio installs precludes the engineering investment for it, as you keenly state.

 

[E90400K]

I think we're going to need to scour the automotive junk yards for 1972 Ford Maverick push-button radios. Will match the manual rollup windows, however!

 

[cadblu]

Per Katie (Slate Agent):

“In the meantime, stay tuned. Greatness takes time and we can't wait to show you what's next…”

1. It’s hard to stay tuned with no radio 🤔.
2. “We can’t wait… “ well that makes two of us
3. “Greatness takes time.” You have now just raised my expectations.

 

[E90400K]

Per Katie (Slate Agent):

“In the meantime, stay tuned. Greatness takes time and we can't wait to show you what's next…”

1. It’s hard to stay tuned with no radio 🤔.
2. “We can’t wait… “ well that’s makes two of us
3. “Greatness takes time.” You have now just raised my expectations.

Comments like hers lower my expectations. Seems like no one at Slate knows any of the details about the truck. IMO, with low-rate initial production just weeks away, they should.

 

[Tom Sawyer]

Comments like hers lower my expectations. Seems like no one at Slate knows any of the details about the truck. IMO, with low-rate initial production just weeks away, they should.

Please contain your enthusiasm. We've talked about this...

 

[fuzzyweis]

An often surprising thing about EVs is that all the electronics typically run off that crappy old 12V lead acid battery. If that gets low, you're dead in the water even with tens of kWh sitting under the floor. I keep a 12V Li jumper pack in my EV6 frunk in case that happens.

The 12V charges from the traction battery when the car is on, but some EVs are bad at maintaining them when it's off. As a result, you need to be careful about adding unswitched 12V loads.

A 12v lead battery is better at keeping it's charge sitting around and like's being constantly charged vs more modern chemistries, also it's a really proven technology, and like for Slate, simpler and proven is better.

Funnily the old GM EV1 in the 90s had a switch that if your 12v battery died, you could charge it from the high voltage pack, weird how modern EVs don't have that kind of switch, maybe a safety thing.

I don't think the draw on a regular double din radio to keep it's memory settings is that much, probably less than the system that listens for the remote fob signal, but yeah if you keep adding things eventually you have to watch the draw.

-Jim

 

[atx_ev]

A 12v lead battery is better at keeping it's charge sitting around and like's being constantly charged vs more modern chemistries, also it's a really proven technology, and like for Slate, simpler and proven is better.

Funnily the old GM EV1 in the 90s had a switch that if your 12v battery died, you could charge it from the high voltage pack, weird how modern EVs don't have that kind of switch, maybe a safety thing.

I don't think the draw on a regular double din radio to keep it's memory settings is that much, probably less than the system that listens for the remote fob signal, but yeah if you keep adding things eventually you have to watch the draw.

-Jim

also for lots of things there is nonvolatile memory that doesnt need any electricty to retain memory. For the amount they need for settings it is basically free. You would want to keep the clock going but a watch battery lasts years.

 

[E90400K]

Please contain your enthusiasm. We've talked about this...

We have?

 

[Saint Alban]

Not sure I understand the 12v power problem. I recently installed a single din radio with Carplay in my cabbed tractor, the only 12v power was a switched circuit., when key is off so is radio. It did have an external antenna already in place.

Though I don’t care about AM/FM presets since I only want an aftermarket system for CarPlay, I do worry about a unit loosing other settings like equalizer, screen brightness, volume when the unit is turned on, etc. Also units may go through a longer initial boot startup. I’m pretty sure there will be solutions, I’m just curious/eager to know.