Who’s Reserving the Slate EV: Everyday Americans, Young Professionals, New Drivers, Contemporary Seniors, Auto Enthusiasts

[E90400K]

It's not necessary, nor is it helpful, to repeatedly post conjured-up scenarios where choosing to buy Slate Truck would be a poor buying decision.

It's a reasonably conceivable scenario where a young-aged, median-income family with recently wed adults and small children live in an apartment and have no access to at-home, overnight, L2 charging. Everyone agrees that relying solely on the public infrastructure to charge an EV is not a good use case because time to recharge and cost to recharge are not reasonable (in the USA at least).

Slate has stated a significant consideration for standing up its company and producing a low-price EV pickup that is reconfigurable to a 2-door SUV is because the median-income family in the USA can't afford (or shouldn't try to afford) a monthly car payment over $400. Slate has been clear that is their target market. Additionally, there are studies upon studies and reports upon reports that median-income families in the USA are priced out of the housing market, let alone the single-family home market, which one can only conclude such families live in apartments or a condominium building where the is little to no EV charging infrastructure and those people must rely on the public charging infrastructure.

You stated the Maverick is not a competitor to the Slate Truck. I think the Maverick is a competitor to the Slate Truck and I gave one reasonable scenario why. I think my posts are necessary and are helpful.

 

[sodamo]

If I'm a young parent of a young and growing family who lives in an apartment or condo …. and who needs an open-bed pickup truck, .

Think how positive, how helpful to post suggestions how this fictitious parent could make this work and even benefit from their Slate.

 

[RedJoker]

It's a reasonably conceivable scenario where a young-aged, median-income family with recently wed adults and small children live in an apartment and have no access to at-home, overnight, L2 charging. Everyone agrees that relying solely on the public infrastructure to charge an EV is not a good use case because time to recharge and cost to recharge are not reasonable (in the USA at least).

Slate has stated a significant consideration for standing up its company and producing a low-price EV pickup that is reconfigurable to a 2-door SUV is because the median-income family in the USA can't afford (or shouldn't try to afford) a monthly car payment over $400. Slate has been clear that is their target market. Additionally, there are studies upon studies and reports upon reports that median-income families in the USA are priced out of the housing market, let alone the single-family home market, which one can only conclude such families live in apartments or a condominium building where the is little to no EV charging infrastructure and those people must rely on the public charging infrastructure.

You stated the Maverick is not a competitor to the Slate Truck. I think the Maverick is a competitor to the Slate Truck and I gave one reasonable scenario why. I think my posts are necessary and are helpful.

My take away is that you don't think an EV is appropriate for this scenario, period. So your point is that Slate won't have those customers because they won't be looking at ANY EV, not because of anything related to the specific form factor of Slate.

The rest of the discussion is simply whether a Maverick is the appropriate gas powered vehicle.

I hope I got that right...

 

[Bayfire2441]

It's a reasonably conceivable scenario where a young-aged, median-income family with recently wed adults and small children live in an apartment and have no access to at-home, overnight, L2 charging. Everyone agrees that relying solely on the public infrastructure to charge an EV is not a good use case because time to recharge and cost to recharge are not reasonable (in the USA at least).

Slate has stated a significant consideration for standing up its company and producing a low-price EV pickup that is reconfigurable to a 2-door SUV is because the median-income family in the USA can't afford (or shouldn't try to afford) a monthly car payment over $400. Slate has been clear that is their target market. Additionally, there are studies upon studies and reports upon reports that median-income families in the USA are priced out of the housing market, let alone the single-family home market, which one can only conclude such families live in apartments or a condominium building where the is little to no EV charging infrastructure and those people must rely on the public charging infrastructure.

You stated the Maverick is not a competitor to the Slate Truck. I think the Maverick is a competitor to the Slate Truck and I gave one reasonable scenario why. I think my posts are necessary and are helpful.

There are also scenarios where the Slate outperforms the Maverick. In my case, I don't really see the Maverick as a competitor to the Slate. It depends on your perspective as to if you consider the Maverick a competitor or not but I do agree the general public will see it as a competitor and EVs aren't the best option if you dont have access to a charger at home. Although, I'd also point out that some condos and apartments do have chargers so, no scenario is gonna be universal.

 

[GaRailroader]

It's a small pickup. It competes against the Tacoma, Frontier (their extended cab models) and with the 4-doors: Maverick, Santa Cruz, Ranger, and Colorado, all which can be had for under $35K MSRP before manufacturer and dealer discounts. All of which have a lot of content compared to the Slate and paint (in multiple color choices).

Sorry, but it just does.

I think you are partially right here. For some buyers they will cross shop the Slate against those other legacy gasoline pick-ups.

Other buyers, myself included, won’t give the gasoline offerings a 2nd look. There are several studies that are indicating that once a consumer purchases an EV that there is a 95% chance that they will not buy another ICEV in their lifetime. I am in that boat. After 4 years of nothing but EV’s, all I’ve had to do was rotate tires, replace cabin air filters, low voltage battery and wiper blades I am not going back. The options for me are Slate, Rivian R1T, Cybertruck, and I think GM has 3 EV pick-up variants. I cancelled my CT reservation within a day or 2 of getting my Slate reservation. Slate is expected to cost less than half the lowest price competitor.

To the segment of the market that I fall in to, the Slate is quite compelling. How big is that segment of the market? I’d guess probably 5% and growing. That is probably plenty big enough a market for Slate. They are only trying to sell 150k copies annually right?


https://environmentamerica.org/cent...t=A new survey from the,for a gas-powered car

 

[E90400K]

My take away is that you don't think an EV is appropriate for this scenario, period. So your point is that Slate won't have those customers because they won't be looking at ANY EV, not because of anything related to the specific form factor of Slate.

The rest of the discussion is simply whether a Maverick is the appropriate gas powered vehicle.

I hope I got that right...

You don't have it right. The point is a significant portion Slate's mission statement is to provide an affordable vehicle to that portion of the market (median-income families) that is not served well with the current offerings from the legacy manufacturers and their $50K trucks. A majority of those median-income families do not own homes where they can charge at home, so they are forced onto the expensive public network, where there are no fuel cost savings between ICEV and EV and refueling is not convenient.

So if the prospective small pickup buyer doesn't have access to inexpensive private charging, the Maverick is a very good alternative to consider.

 

[KevinRS]

My choice is between Slate and other low cost EVs. My preference is Slate because while I don't need extra seating, I'd like to be able to occasionally bring home stuff that really needs a truck bed to fit in. Lumber, sheets of plywood, etc.
Maverick doesn't even have a plug in hybrid, and the EV trucks out there are around twice the price of a Slate, and are overkill for my uses.
I've spent more on gas and ICE maintenance than I've spent on car payments, so that's a big part of why I'm looking for an EV.

If Slate looks to be falling through or something else changes, I'll have to start seriously looking at new and used EVs as an alternative, but I really like the idea of having the utility of a truck bed without spending even more on gas.

 

[Sandman614]

Seriously what do you people gain from coming in to every thread and screaming "BUT YOU CAN GET A MAVERICK" and creating hypothetical families in your heads

Like what is your end goal? What are you hoping to get out of it? Because to me you all just come across as either huffing copium trying to convince yourself you made the right choice or are Ford employees paid to poopoo on everything else

 

[bartflossom]

Good: I have a Maverick hybrid. Love the mileage. Easy to drive. Easy to get in. Made some nice road trips in it. Would recommend for anyone living in an apartment without a charger.

Bad: Had to replace 12v battery at 10K which is common. Know I'm going to have to replace the CV joints before 25K because everybody does, unless they bought the Tremor. I pay 150 bucks for a full synthetic oil change and a rotation at dealership because I have terrible luck with all the quicky lube places.

Now, after half a year since I reserved the Slate, I find myself really longing for no more oil changes, and strangely, no more metal body panels with paint.

Please please let Slate be successful. I can't wait to start pimpin' this beyatch up, just like I did my old 63 VW bug when I was 16 and couldn't be pried away from my J.C. Whitney catalog.

 

[phidauex]

I mean, the Maverick is an obvious comparison because it is one of very few small trucks available. But I think the market is pretty different. I'm here because I want a small EV truck, not because I want a small truck. I have a small truck which is great (but showing its age).

I think one of the biggest problems with the Maverick is that it checks a lot of boxes but is still sort of a weird car/truck thing that doesn't know what it is, and, frankly, is a bit dorky. Is that the end of the world? No... But it doesn't help. The Maverick sells just fine and meets a lot of people's needs, but if it met everyone's needs, no one would be here on this forum.

In my case I don't want another cheap ICE - I've tasted the fruit of electric and I'm ready to move on. The most possible other contender right now is Ford's upcoming light truck EV (possibly the "Ranchero"). That is the one that Slate needs to worry about, not the Maverick.

 

[Bo’sFarmGeneva]

I'm new to the ev market but a long time car guy. This is not a hybrid, it's not a wedge. There is nothing on the market like it. You can try and compare it to that Tesla monstrosity but it's apples to oranges to me. Small truck/suv, fully customizable and not getting a bunch of junk I don't want. I can't wait to see the day when they roll out the factory and one to my house.

 

[E90400K]

I'm new to the ev market but a long time car guy. This is not a hybrid, it's not a wedge. There is nothing on the market like it. You can try and compare it to that Tesla monstrosity but it's apples to oranges to me. Small truck/suv, fully customizable and not getting a bunch of junk I don't want. I can't wait to see the day when they roll out the factory and one to my house.

Agree. The problem with the EV market is two-fold, (1) Tesla and (2) EV enroute charging. They are kind of interrelated. (1) Tesla was the first full-fledged EV manufacturer with no legacy ICEV vehicle fleet. That meant Tesla had no ICEV customers to keep happy, which gave it free reign over EV design. With the Model 3 (and somewhat with the Model S) Tesla decided to go pretty much full tablet-on-the-dash as the man machine interface. That set the design meme for the entire EV industry because manufacturers mostly follow each other into the market.

(2) Tesla went with the tablet-on-the-dash design because it's less expensive than designing and manufacturing physical controls, but mostly because EV charging requires a load of technology infusion to keep track of fuel consumption and remaining fuel level and charging station availability by location. A tablet is the best way to display such information and interact with the vehicle's various systems that affect range performance.

With a big tablet-on-the-dash, now there is a platform to keep a map up at all times as well as it being necessary to have navigation to find charging infrastructure when one is out of his local area. Trying to read a small map while driving is a huge pain in the ass, so Tesla made the tablet really big.

So, the tech is required because of the EV charging need. Drive an ICEV? There is at least one gas station in every town and in larger towns and cities, lots of stations to choose from; you don't need a map or navigation to find one. Every major highway has signs for what exits have fuel stations, and most are right off the exit.

Hopefully the Slate will break the large-tablet-on-the dash design meme as proof of concept EV don't really need them. As a car guy too, I hate the huge tablet on the dash and look forward to using my smartphone to update the Slate's software when necessary and use Google Maps turn-by-turn directions, because that's all I really need.