Why only a short bed?

[TPL]

When we speculate about additional Slate variants, 5 years down the line, a longer bed seems like a relatively straightforward thing to engineer. Slightly more complicated, but no doubt in the Slate-survives-and-thrives future, is a quad cab.

 

[Twisted Santa]

Yep. The short bed has been my biggest grievance since the Slate was revealed. I often use every inch of the 6’ 4” bed on my current truck, but I‘m going to make do. The extra parking spaces that I’ll be able to fit in now will hopefully make up for the loss of cargo capacity.

 

[Revenant89]

Long beds create drag.

 

[GrizzlysGhost]

When we speculate about additional Slate variants, 5 years down the line, a longer bed seems like a relatively straightforward thing to engineer. Slightly more complicated, but no doubt in the Slate-survives-and-thrives future, is a quad cab.

Long bed or not, whatever it is 5 years from now better be warm because this happens in 2031.

 

[Ranb]

Would you consider using a small trailer for hauling your ATV?

I have a suitable trailer. But it is easier to carry the ATV in the bed. My skills at backing a trailer have much to be desired.

 

[Ranb]

When we speculate about additional Slate variants, 5 years down the line, a longer bed seems like a relatively straightforward thing to engineer. Slightly more complicated, but no doubt in the Slate-survives-and-thrives future, is a quad cab.

I think an additional 18" of frame and bed will also allow for a larger capacity battery. Of course the price will increase accordingly if they increase the range.

 

[Luxrage]

Slate could always do what they did to dodge small truck taxes in Finland and extend the pickup beds to meet the new 'fullsize' regulations :

https://www.theautopian.com/whats-the-deal-with-these-finnish-pickups-with-extended-beds/

 

[FlyHappy]

I saw the Slate pickup in a Youtube video an hour ago. But then I saw the specs; 5 foot bed only. That is a deal breaker as I have a 2-seat ATV that requires a 6.5 foot bed to haul around.

The bed is, in my opinion, the most important feature of a pickup. Why limit it with a short bed, instead of regular and long beds? As far I know, all EV pickups have beds shorter than 6 feet. These quad cab pickups with short beds are just big cars with limited utility use.

Why? Economics and market research.
I wish for a longer bed, and surely many others, but it's not necessarily a deal breaker (for me), and most buyers seemingly won't care. The truck use case is more for weekend hobbyists and trades with minimal truck needs. The draw for a compact vehicle outweighs the drawback of an 18"-24" longer vehicle and its associated manufacturing costs.

Now.... you need to be fair - it isn't that "EV pickups have beds shorter than 6 feet", but most trucks of the size or price class. That has been the case for 15 years or more. Ranger, Colorado, Santa Cruz, etc. The era of small, cheap trucks with 6 or 8' beds is way behind us.

You, like most people with big equipment to haul have long been forced into big, expensive trucks, regardlress of drivetrain.

The good news, long term, is that if Slate is even marginally succesful, it is likely to encourage manufacturers to reintroduce standard cab pickups with longer beds.

 

[E90400K]

OP, I agree with you. I think the Slate should have gone with a 6-foot bed on a 2-door cab chassis, but it is what it is.

 

[MotoGary]

OP, I agree with you. I think the Slate should have gone with a 6-foot bed on a 2-door cab chassis, but it is what it is.

A big part of "what it is"...is also an SUV. Thinking of it as just a truck ignores Slate's vision of what it is and what it can be.

 

[SparkYellow]

I thought about this clip for some reason.