A $20,000 electric truck with manual windows and no screens? Meet Slate Auto. | Ars Technica
A $20,000 electric truck with manual windows and no screens? Meet Slate Auto.
Owners can buy kits to add accessories and features to the Slate Truck.
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Pro:
Cons:
Meh
I drive 150 miles in a day about once a month when I drive the nicer gas car for pleasure. My commute is 40 miles round trip in shitty 1990s cars that I wouldn't want to drive any further, probably akin to the QoL in this truck. My weekly travel total averages 200 miles.
If you actually write down your habits, the majority of people are much less affected by the short range than they think. If you're hauling 2000lbs of gravel 400 miles a day, this is not, and is not supposed to be, the truck for you
Right 150miles is enough most of the time for most people, but it wouldn't make much sense to buy a pickup truck if you can't use it that one day every few weeks/months you actually have to transport something a little farther away.
And most people wouldn't buy a pickup with two seats, so considering the use case of a two seat pickup truck, 150miles range isn't that great.
I have a hitch in my gas sedan and a 4x8ft trailer. That'd be my alternative if I sold both my regular cab Rangers for a Slate and needed to go more than 150 miles. Being American, the average car-owning American household has slightly more than 1 car for every driver. If your household has only one car, then no, the Slate might not worth it for the occasional long trip. If you do the lifetime math, renting a larger gas pickup will typically be cheaper than the ammortized cost of a larger EV pickup or gas for an ICE pickup.
I'm just saying, I constantly see car people act like they don't have multiple cars, like the constantly drive their dream vacation of 8 hours in a car per day, like their bed is constantly full, like the typical pickup truck outing is with 4 people, 20 sheets of plywood, and a 7000lb trailer instead of one guy hauling his laptop to work, and like they'd always need to charge at a station instead of overnight at home.
I'll agree on not getting one for the other point you made, though. Fuck Bezos
I love the idea of just using your own phone or tablet for Nav/media if implemented properly.
150 miles would work just fine for most people, assuming it actually does 150 miles and will continue to for years, which I feel like is never what actually happens. There it a larger battery option, obviously for more $$$ lol.
240mi with the user replaceable add on extended battery
