When will Slate Auto ship their 500th vehicle? (Market research tool)

[bartflossom]

If something happens and the Slate doesn't ship, it'll be the 2nd most crushing thing in my life. Right after the Luka Doncik trade. 😭

 

[AL-Derby]

Time will tell. Too long to wait and a lot can happen between now and 2028

Cybertruck flop.

Atlas Truck EV bankruptcy.

Nokia Bankruptcy.

Canoo went from moving forward to bankruptcy.

RAM EV cancelled.

Ford Lightning cancelled.

That's exactly what I am afraid of. I am not a numbers cruncher but it's easy to see the hand writing on the wall. I wasn't one of the earliest reservations. If the factory is going to have the capacity for 100,000 units a year how long will it take to reach that number? I doubt it will be the first year. That should put me into 2028 delivery if I am lucky.

 

[sodamo]

I know I’m not always the brightest in the room, but if Slate is planning 100,000/year, shouldn’t we be hoping for 500 first month?

 

[AKrietzer]

I think they may have some delays once they try to start, then production will be slow for a while. I think #500 will be in January, 2027.

 

[GaRailroader]

Tesla reached its 500th production unit in the 5th month of Model 3 production. I wouldn’t be surprised if Slate had a slower ramp. I’d rather see Slate delay production and get it right then meet the production schedule like Fisker did with vehicles that shouldn’t have been allowed to get in customer hands.

 

[cadblu]

Tesla reached its 500th production unit in the 5th month of Model 3 production. I wouldn’t be surprised if Slate had a slower ramp. I’d rather see Slate delay production and get it right then meet the production schedule like Fisker did with vehicles that shouldn’t have been allowed to get in customer hands.

Using history as a guide, I would rather see Slate delay production to get everything right, than to push subpar product out the door just to meet delivery schedule. That damage to the brand will be irreversible. We, as early adopters, will inevitably become an extension of Slate’s testing team when we put the truck through daily use. So either way, there WILL be issues.

In order for Slate to achieve a solid reputation, it’s way better that they remain transparent about production delays, and remedy the problems before we do. Even if it means taking a late delivery.

 

[The Weatherman]

To all those that are predicting the demise of the Slate, I want to point out that vehicles that have been canceled or are being converted to something else, like the Lightning of which I own one, let’s not look past the cost differential. The Lightning and Cyber truck were announced as costing ~$40k. I paid closer to $80.

If these guys can keep this truck’s price down we’re they’ve promised and the quality up, I firmly believe it will be a resounding success. 🤞

For any of you who have never driven an EV let me assure you once you do and spend about a week with one you will never want an ICE vehicle again. I can’t do justice to the experience by trying to explain it. It’s something you have to experience for yourself.

 

[SichuanHot]

To all those that are predicting the demise of the Slate, I want to point out that vehicles that have been canceled or are being converted to something else, like the Lightning of which I own one, let’s not look past the cost differential. The Lightning and Cyber truck were announced as costing ~$40k. I paid closer to $80.

If these guys can keep this truck’s price down we’re they’ve promised and the quality up, I firmly believe it will be a resounding success. 🤞

For any of you who have never driven an EV let me assure you once you do and spend about a week with one you will never want an ICE vehicle again. I can’t do justice to the experience by trying to explain it. It’s something you have to experience for yourself.

I've driven a few EVs before, namely the Toyota Mirai and Tesla Model 3 in greater capacity. They're both fine cars though the Mirai is abysmal in all metrics since it's a hydrogen fuel cell EV. All the EV stuff about it is nice like instant torque and quiet cabin. However, whenever I get back into my old BMW, it always manages to put a smile on my face the way no EV has done yet. Every EV seems to be lacking soul, even the bombastic Porsche Taycans.

 

[The Weatherman]

I've driven a few EVs before, namely the Toyota Mirai and Tesla Model 3 in greater capacity. They're both fine cars though the Mirai is abysmal in all metrics since it's a hydrogen fuel cell EV. All the EV stuff about it is nice like instant torque and quiet cabin. However, whenever I get back into my old BMW, it always manages to put a smile on my face the way no EV has done yet. Every EV seems to be lacking soul, even the bombastic Porsche Taycans.

Go checkout a Lightning!

 

[AZFox]

Slate will be assembling only 600 "parts" and all Blank Slates will be the same configuration except battery size.

Maybe that'll help them ramp up production faster that usual.

FWIW, they're expecting the plant's capacity to be 150,000 per year, not 100,000.

 

[cadblu]

FWIW, they're expecting the plant's capacity to be 150,000 per year, not 100,000.

150K units per year. Doesn’t say “which year.”

 

[AKrietzer]

I've driven a few EVs before, namely the Toyota Mirai and Tesla Model 3 in greater capacity. They're both fine cars though the Mirai is abysmal in all metrics since it's a hydrogen fuel cell EV. All the EV stuff about it is nice like instant torque and quiet cabin. However, whenever I get back into my old BMW, it always manages to put a smile on my face the way no EV has done yet. Every EV seems to be lacking soul, even the bombastic Porsche Taycans.

Have you driven a Lucid? I've heard a lot of good things about them, but they still have some computer bugs to work out. They are nearly 6,000 pounds and people say they are rough on low profile tires. Also they cost from $70,000 to $250,000. I was never interested in Tesla, but wanted a Lucid since they were first introduced about four years ago. There are no dealerships near me.

 

[AZFox]

Lucid seems to have bitten off more than they can chew.

In many ways the company and their vehicles are opposite from Slate Auto and the Truck.

Recent CNBC video:
https://www.slateforums.com/forum/t...ont-merit-their-own-threads.13405/post-207607

 

[SichuanHot]

Have you driven a Lucid? I've heard a lot of good things about them, but they still have some computer bugs to work out. They are nearly 6,000 pounds and people say they are rough on low profile tires. Also they cost from $70,000 to $250,000. I was never interested in Tesla, but wanted a Lucid since they were first introduced about four years ago. There are no dealerships near me.

I haven't driven a Lucid, but I've seen a few on the roads. They seem to be focused solely on the boutique market without any heritage, which is kind of why I'm not really interested in it. The specs on their cars are pretty impressive though.

 

[KevinRS]

These other EVs being cancelled might be a good thing for Slate. If Slate can make it to market as they plan, they will be beating most everything EV on price, and probably beating all cars including gas on total cost of ownership. If they can do that, and then scale production up quickly after launch, which should be easier with the simple build strategy of only making 1 model with limited parts, they should do very well.
Part of their plan is profitability from the first trucks sold. Many EV models still haven't reached profitability, They know from the start that they won't profit until they sell a certain number, because they have to reach a certain scale to profit. Slate has been designed to keep that number low.
Many of these other manufacturers have had issues with their advanced features having defects and generating recalls, and other issues that have pushed that profitability number farther and farther out, resulting in them eventually getting cancelled to cut the losses.

On that model 3 production graph, I expect the first months there are what any other company would have called pre-production. Tesla did things different, in some way that was good, in some ways bad. Slate planned to have the line in place about now, and to be doing preproduction test units early next year, which should lead into demo units for events that will match what we will buy. That timeline comes from an interview in September, we don't know if they are still on that timeline.

Tesla I believe shipped very early units off the line to customers, which led to some issues, and is why that chart shows such low numbers for months. Within just a few months I'd expect Slate to be at the rate shown at the start of that chart, but not selling yet. Maybe they will have a slower ramp to start, but we won't see that, they will hold off on actually delivering vehicles until they can deliver larger numbers, those first months will go to proving the line, certification testing, and then events.