Slate Truck is a $20,000 American-made electric pickup with no paint, no stereo, and no touchscreen
a year ago by return2ozma to c/news
Every smart feature a vehicle *doesn't *have is a selling point for me. I want my car to be dumb as a boot.
I fucking hate the touchscreen in my vehicle.
After reading the article and the website, I can't find anything that explicitly says there is no network connection built into the vehicle.
The instrument panel is a screen, and will be used to display the backup camera video. There is some computer capable of handling video processing and displaying the instrument graphics - so more than just low-level electronics to handle the battery and drive control. It could have built-in GPS, it could have 5G, it could still be collecting and sharing data on driving habits &etc, it could be subsidized by that on the backend. Just because those functions aren't displayed to the end user doesn't mean they aren't in the system.
Oh yes I was not commenting on any of that. Data privacy and the reliability of computer hardware and software over time are separate issues.
I was just speaking from the basic-level user experience of operating a vehicle- touch screens are terrible. Pretty much everything you want to do in a car should have 3 requirements:
Keep your eyes on the road. Controls need to be in consistent locations and have some other way of communicating what they are and what their status is non-visually. Dials, knobs, buttons that lock in-or-out, switches, levers, sliders. Anything close together needs to be differentiated- buttons with different textures, shapes, or resistance for example. This is very difficult and almost antithetical to touchscreens. The strength of the touchscreens is their flexibility- they can have deep menus that re-use a small amount of space efficiently, but the trade-off is that they need the user's vision to work.
Non-visual feedback to the user for their activation. Touch screens CAN do this with haptics and sounds. And there are physical inputs where this can be a problem, like regular buttons or knobs with uniform shapes. Levers, sliders, switches, and dials have this as inherent properties
Response time. Touch screens on vehicles are usually underpowered and seem to take seconds to register an input, then apply it. If the music changes and is suddenly way too loud, it's annoying to be subjected to that for 5 seconds while navigating the touch screen and waiting for it to work, in contrast to a regular old volume potentiometer that operates basically instantly. Really any music or audio controls can get really annoying with delay, though I'll admit those are a luxury. Things like the lights are not.
Not a requirement, but cars should be judged on whether these things FEEL good. Touch screens have improved slightly over time with better materials and haptics, but that only applies to higher-end ones and still isn't great. Cheap physical inputs can suck too, though they are usually still better than touch screens.
Everything you describe could be handled by a single ESP 32 module but they probably do have much more computing power than that.
Other articles seem to indicate that it would need you to use your phone to perform updates on the onboard computer.
I guess this doesn't preclude the possibility of other types of embedded surveillance.
Hoping it doesn't have tracking š¤
If they also make a 4wd version in the future then this would basically be the first new car I'd consider buying.
Edit: I emailed them and they said it doesn't have any data collection at all.
The vehicle will absolutely collect data, but likely won't be transmitting or collecting personal data (which is mostly done within vehicle infotainment units). It'll be stored within the hardware which is much more preferred but I'd still consider that "data collection".
Most vehicles have an Event Data Recorder (EDR) which records and stores vehicle data in the event of a collision/abnormal operation above a certain threshold. They're mandated in many countries. You can connect to these systems, some easier than others, and get vehicle data such as vehicle speed, accelerator pedal position, brake activation, changes in velocity, yaw rate, steering wheel angle, steering wheel angle rate of change, ABS/TC activation, number of ignition cycles, odometer readings, etc. Newer vehicles with enhanced safety systems (of which this vehicle doesn't sound like it's intended to have) can provide even more data including but not limited to proximity to a target object and camera images.
It's not data in the sense of personal or tracking data, but it's still data.
Fucking FINALLY.
I've been waiting for a small pickup like the old 90s 4-banger Toyota. And this is electric, simple for function, and actually affordable?
Capitalists must be seething. If it doesnt have leather interior, 19 speaker surround sound, and cost 80k, get it out of our country! /s
Small gas-powered trucks are effectively illegal in the US.
It's regulation made in response to automakers calling everything a "light truck" to get around fuel economy and emissions standards in the 90s and 2000s.The straw that broke the camel's back was the PT Cruiser being classified as a truck by Chrysler.
So, starting in model year 2012, vehicle fuel economy standards started being based on vehicle footprint. The side effect was that small, powerful vehicles designed for moving cargo more efficiently or in tighter spaces than large trucks were impacted. It's why 2011 was the last year model of the old Rangers, S10s, Dakota, etc.
That's why the new Rangers are larger than the old F150s. They have to make them bigger to meet CAFE standards.
Same issue hit the small cargo vans in 2021/22. As the CAFE standards went up, it became impossible to meet fuel economy standards for the NV200, Ford Transit Connect, and Ram ProMaster City compact cargo vans, so they were all discontinued.
New York City was changing its whole Taxi fleet to NV200s due to their flexibility and accessibility options, and now can't buy new ones because a Toyota Camry has less-strict fuel economy requirements.
A Maverick is a light truck in much the same way a 737 is a small plane. Sure there are bigger ones, but it's a 4 door truck with a 4 foot bed that's high enough to make loading and unloading harder than it needs to be. It's twice the weight and almost twice the size of a 70s/80s Toyota Pickup, which is a light truck.
A Nissan Hardbody is one of the small trucks people keep complaining aren't made anymore.
Dimensions of the 4 doors variant: length 5.1m, width 1.8m, height 1.7m
Maverick dimensions (biggest model just to prove the point): length 5.1m, width 1.84m, height 1.76m
It's the same thing with all trucks, compared to the equivalent model (i.e. not comparing a 2 doors with a crew cab like the anti truck crowd loves to do) modern trucks look much bigger but it's a design and height thing more than anything, their length and width hasn't increased that much, especially if you compare with cars of the same model over the same period (1985 Civic sedan vs 2025 Civic sedan for example).
Twice the size how? Like, crew cab versus single cab? Not sure that's a fair comparison
Hybrids meet CAFE.
But their towing and carrying capacity versus the old Rangers and S-10s is pitiful.
That's not accurate. "Light Truck" also includes a crew cab F150 with an extended bed that requires a Sherpa to enter. The Maverick and an F150 have the same standards, but weighted based on vehicle footprint.
But the Maverick standard model is a hybrid, so it meets CAFE standards.
Thatās why the new Rangers are larger than the old F150s.
If you're comparing a crewcab Ranger to a 2-door F150, sure, but that's not really a valid comparison.
Comparing equivalent configs tells a different story: every crewcab F150 is taller, longer, and wider than a new crewcab Ranger. The 10th gen and earlier (pre-2004) F150s, which are shorter than 11th gen+ F150s, are still bigger when compared to the Ranger in equivalent configurations.
Article said it caught his interest, which to me means he took notice and will likely try to own it and enshitify it soon, not that he is currently behind it.
He's one of 16 investors. Source:
Relatively affordable. It is 20k after the federal discounts and kick backs. Meanwhile, the Chinese EV market has been making cars as low as 4k. https://greenspeedx.com/...
I'm not a pro China person (because one time in Ark, a Chinese team kept destroying my thatch base), but they seem to have the things. Apparently Mexico is aiming to compete in the EV market as well.
Oh, the US has state subsidies too. They just get pocketed by execs.
America used to have the things as well but then there was a civil war and it got banned.
You might ask yourself what it is that allows them to produce and sell a brand new vehicle for $4k, basically the same price as a high-end PC or a couple of high-end smartphones.
Mostly automation and sensible regulations. Also direct to consumer sales with third party dealerships not really existing for new cars. Also generally a lower cost of living allowing for lower wages and thus lower labor costs for the non automated parts.
Why is it that China is the only country on the planet able to sell new vehicles for this cheap? Surely other countries have automation and sensible regulations too.
Microraptors
So "chickens" basically?
Chickens that dismount you and knock you out
Yeah, I'm pretty hype for this. It's got just the basics of what's needed, and if you want to mod it with upgrades you can.
I only wish there was a way to make it AWD/4WD, and if there was a way for it to tow a little more weight, then it'd be perfect.
As it is now, it's still a very compelling concept that I might get into as outside of towing, it solves all the things I need a truck for.
Capitalists must be seething
Capitalists funded this, that's one the benefits of capitalism, if the market is only offering pricey crappy products that people don't enjoy buying, theres an opening in the market that can be filled with a company selling people exactly what they want and need.
Thereās no radio, no Bluetooth, and no speakers of any kind beyond for those required to play basic warning chimes.
Many will consider this a cost-cutting step too far, but the interior was designed for ease of upgrading, with easy mounting space for anything from a simple soundbar to a full sound system.
Thereās an integrated phone mount right on the dashboard, but thereās nothing stopping you from bringing something even larger. I expect the low-cost Android tablet and 3D-printing communities to have a field day coming up with in-car media streaming solutions.
This is 100% it.
All I want is a modular car system. Everything modular. Dashboard. Body panels. Whatever. I want 3+ cars possible on one frame, and to not need anything more than basic tools to swap parts around.
You wanna drive a FOSS OmniMech and so do I
Wonder why? Seems to me like a money printing machine for them, the factory and non- factory repair shops and the aftermarket.
Unless it's seen as a way to hide your car from illegal activities, which well now that I think about it is probably the reason they didn't follow through with the idea.
If only that money wouldn't be partially going into the pockets of Bezos, it would be amazing.
And while easily replacable panels and such are a good thing. Having the mounting screws exposed like that is a horrendus idea. Because I suspect I know what much younger and very drunk people would do, based on the Mercedes hood ornaments I have in a box somewhere.
As an FYI, (In the United States) all modern cars will have to have some kind of screen (whether built in the mirror, on the dash, or as part of the gauge system) as all cars are required to have backup cameras as of 2018.
Starting in 2029 all cars will be required to have automatic braking technology as well.
We're never going to be able to purchase new cars that are completely dumbed down ever again, but with how many lives it will save I'd say it's worth it.
I'm glad that there are some companies that are willing to offer cars with the bare minimum of features at least. I personally would prefer having automatic windows over crank, but if someone wants to save money more power(har har) to them!
EDIT: weather vs whether Braking vs breaking
Way over-thinking it.
Europe and Japan 10-15 years ago all had radios with 4x6 inch no-touch displays for pre-loaded GPS with no internet connection. They switch to backup cameras when in reverse.
America doesn't need to invent anything here, this is old technology widely used by large parts of the rest is the world.
all modern cars will have to have some kind of screen (whether built in the mirror, on the dash, or as part of the gauge system)
Starting in 2029 all cars will be required to have automatic breaking
As an FYI, they mention both of these in the article
A mandatory part of todayās safety features is a digital rear-view camera. Typically, this view pops up on a modern carās central infotainment screen, but the Slate doesnāt have one of those. It makes do with just a small display behind the steering wheel as a gauge cluster, which is where that rearview camera will feed.
Need room for more than two passengers? Slate has an SUV upgrade kit that will bolt onto the back of the truck, adding extra rollover crash protection and rear seats with seat belts to match, all in a package thatās easy to install at home.
They aren't mentioned in this article, but it does evidently have airbags. Where are you getting this info?
I'd be surprised if people couldn't put in a simple and cheap aftermarket deck and a couple speakers, which would only be around a couple hundo. If these things are easy to work on so you can install it yourself, even better.
I had a truck without a working stereo so I just used some Bluetooth speakers
They absolutely are intending to provide aftermarket parts
Hopefully they've provided cutouts for speakers and a head unit so that they don't look like my old squarebody with 6x9's cut into the doors.
Id prefer to at least have the slot for one as an option. I grew up with professional aftermarket sound systems in cars (thanks for the tinnitus, dad) so it just wouldn't feel right to me.
That and android auto. There's nice options for head units with screens last i looked.
You should not be wearing anything in or on your ears while driving.
The rise of headphones that allow you to hear the outside world while wearing them is gunna make that law obsolete
Make sure you say that to the cop while he writes your ticket
Motorcycle riders wear ear protection for wind noise.
There is also the Telo Truck. It's advertised as being as capable as a Toyota Tacoma, but the footprint of a Mini Cooper.
It's asthetic is more akin to the small trucks in Japan, though.
Edit: it does seem like it has more tech-forward features, but it is otherwise a relatively simple truck in a very manageable size.
Big bonus for Telo is that they support Right to Repair and are trying to use off-the-shelf parts where possible to enable end-user repairs. Oh and it isn't a unibody so, panels can be replaced if damaged.
I love all the right to repair and simple features and small footprint, but God damn that is an ugly mother fucker. To the point I'd be a bit embarrassed to drive it
"Ah it can't be as bad as all that"
Checks link
"Goddamn that is one fugly truck!"
Remove the doors and roof and it MAY look better, this fucker would make a damn fine Dune buggy if it's able to roll bars installed.
Iāve had a lowkey obsession with this truck for a few months now. Sure, the looks arenāt for everyone. But I would get one tomorrow if I could afford it.
I have an older Kia Soul EV that I absolutely love, but could use a truck bed from time to time. I also love kei trucks (I live in Hawaiāi and theyāre everywhere!). Small vehicles with clever use of space is my jam. And I will never go back from an EV unless Iām absolutely forced to. This Slate truck is kinda awesome as well. Gives old 80s pickup truck vibes and Iām here for it.
That glass roof is a hard sell for me. The truck I currently drive has a sunroof with no cover and I need to wear a hat just to drive comfortably on a sunny day. I never need to see straight up while driving.
I like the Telo, though it is about twice the price of the Slate.
They can advertise it as being as capable as a toyota tacoma as much as they want but it will never be true. The tacoma has been widely regarded as one of the most reliable trucks of all time and without getting exact numbers has way more cargo capacity than the telo. They should just market it and sell it for what it is. A much needed introduction to the world of micro trucks in urban spaces for north america.
I am excited, this is what my husband and I have been waiting for - a regular vehicle with no bells and whistles just to raise the price
I'm at least glad it's not yet another bigger truck. I just want a vehicle to get from A to B that can actually fit things in the bed
Yup! And hopefully starts a new thing that other makers get behind!
(after federal incentives)
:|
BRUH
Itās backed by Bezos. Wouldnāt even consider it for that reason alone.
Sign me THE FUCK up, have been looking at 90s danger rangers to sate my small truck fix but so many of them have a car-looking front end.
I mean, those are all real problems, but you can say that about any company or product....
I pretty much do and I'm kinda stoked, cautiously
If I can have a Linux truck that works and can tow something if need be... I'm down
Oh fuck yeah
Sudo unlock drivers-door
I live in a rural area and need to do truck stuff frequently (ex. We have no trash pickup and have to haul it ourselves to the dump). Something like this is very appealing to me. I could also see this being useful as a fleet vehicle that doesnāt really leave campus grounds (think facilities/grounds/maintenance).
he knows people will want it š¤·
Rich people's money and actual dark illegal money is intertwined in our economy. The economy would probably collapse without it.
I wonder how this could be fixed?
If you taxed the rich would it work best to do it gradually? Also would that give cartels and organized crime advantage? Would you have to tackle both?
I wonder if in doing so without doing it gradually would be as messy as what the Trump admin is doing now?
Kind of like what Steve Martin looks for in cars:
- 4 Fucking Wheels
- A seat
Legally, you need quite a few more features than this just to be able to sell it.
I would also include seats. And maybe doors. Also a windshield.
Please add the triangle windows.
Definitely interestedā¦
This is a truck Iād actually feel comfortable driving. Unlike those gender affirming, semi truck adjacent, embarrassing pavement princess trucks that you see everywhere now.
Please make a 4x4 model I will definitely buy one.
You know what... Give me an option for a bigger battery, and ensure that replacement batteries are going to be available for a while, and I'll definitely look into it.
The article says they will have a 240 mile battery upgrade available at some point, that can be done at some yet undisclosed service center (article assumes a car service chain).
Sweet. Hopefully those batteries will also be manufactured and sold for long enough for me to get at least one first party replacement, before having to deal with third party vendors.
It only seats two yet has a bed big enough to hold a sheet of plywood. It only does 150 miles on a charge, only comes in gray, and the only way to listen to music while driving is if you bring along your phone and a Bluetooth speaker.
Instead of steel or aluminum, the Slate Truckās body panels are molded of plastic. Or, as Slate calls them, āinjection molded polypropylene composite material.ā The theory is that this makes them more durable and scratch-resistant, if only because the lack of paint means theyāre one color all the way through.
By eliminating paint, and thus eliminating the paint shop, Slateās manufacturing process is massively simplified. So, too, the lack of metal body parts. āWe have no paint shop, we have no stamping,ā
Plastic with no paint is not going to do well in places like the Southwest. But Iām sure that getting it painted or wrapped wonāt be a huge deal.
It does fine for a few years, but eventually starts sun bleaching and looking terrible. Seen a lot of hacks to make it look better, but the plastic still gets brittle and dry. A coat of paint or spray on bed liner does wonders to fight that.
I can't make 150 mile range work. That completely kills this one for me, personally.
Also, if it's 150 mile range, that means it's 100 miles with using the truck bed for light truck stuff, and probably a 75 mile range if it's cold out while doing truck stuff. Be great for a lot of people, but I have to get a 250 range for my viability.
Someone posted link to Telo trucks,
350 mile range according to the website, footprint is same as a minicooper
Can fit 8' sheets of plywlood or seating for 8 people depending on configuration of the midsection
Model is MT1 that states it.
If this thing is legit its a beast in a small package
Seems like half the article is talking about paint.
Full-sized trash cans don't fit in a car very well. But they fit nicely in a truck. This truck can "haul"...all kinds of bulky, awkward shit that doesn't weigh much. I've got a lot of that in my life.
Yep, furniture especially. A Queen-size bed is bad enough, but at least you can tie that onto the roof of most sedans. A table and some chairs? Some dressers? Doesn't matter how light they are, you run out of space real quick, and that's assuming you've got your Luggage Tetris skill maxed so you can cram everything in perfectly.
...or you could just set it all in the bed and put a net over it if you really wanna make sure it won't go anywhere. I know which one I prefer.
Equivalent towing capacity of a Chevy Impala, so yes.
This is less of a truck and more of a truck-shaped go-kart.
I have an older Ranger. I don't do much truck stuff. The bulk cargo area is the draw, not the weight capacity. The heaviest load I carried was 800lbs of plywood, which was 15 sheets or something. I have a 4x8 trailer that can also help haul bulky household goods for moves, a motorcycle, lumber, or furniture. While the trailer is rated for 1700lbs payload and weighs 300lbs itself, I have never put more than 500lbs on it, despite filling the 4x8 floor stackef 4ft high. I made the trailer before getting the Ranger, so now they're redundant and never actually hauled together.
If you're already towing, this probably isnt the truck for you. If you aren't towing, it provides an option to tow something if you have to. The reason I chose the Ranger is because it's cheap, gets good fuel economy, and has the capacity to grab full lumber sheet goods on my commute home. While I could find a 30mpg car for the same price, I'm still in the mid 20s. Maybe I could spend 30k on a newer F150 V6 and get similar, but then it costs 10x what I paid. Bulk space and handling scratchy cargo is the main goal. I think of the Slate as being what the Ranger should've been now.
I don't need a truck, but this is perfect for people who want to take a bunch of mountain bikes out to the downhill mountain bike park. Throw 5-6 bikes in the back, take the riders in a separate car.
That said, I hope they come out with a smaller wagon or sedan with clearance (so a hitch can be installed for mountain bikes).
Yeah, for towing that's basically useless unless you're only using it to tow around a wood splitter or something.
That said, my family has had a 1993 Ford ranger for many years. I'm pretty sure even with the 4-cylinder engine it still has a towing capacity several times that much, but we have never towed anything with it. We have gotten a lot of use out of it as a truck though, moving furniture, camping gear, small loads of firewood, trips to the hardware store, etc.
I can also potentially see this being big for certain fleet vehicles. Growing my dad worked on a military base as a civilian in their wastewater treatment plant. Part of his job involved driving around the base once a day or so to take water samples from a couple places. The public works department had a couple small trucks, Chevy S10 I think, that he'd use for that. They got used by other public works employees, never for anything particularly heavy duty but they did occasionally tote around some bulky tools, equipment, materials, but a significant amount of what they used them for could probably have used a golf cart. I'd be amazed if those trucks went 10 miles most days, they sat most of the time, kind of a perfect sort of situation for them to sit on a charger.
Ranger fam unite! 4cyl towing is only 3500 I think. Less than a car+trailer because that's what people always ask about in the ranger community. And that's with the proper frame hitch. The bumper is like class 2
It does only have the bumper, I've never looked into it because we've never needed to tow anything. We have the long bed so anything we've ever needed to haul fit in there just fine.
I love that truck. It has yet to hit 100k miles because until the last couple years my parents had 3 vehicles and especially now that they're retired they never really go anywhere anyway.
And for a 32 year old truck, it still gets pretty decent gas mileage, pretty damn close to 20mpg, the new rangers don't beat that by much.
It's not without its downsides, it's rwd so it's kind of shitty on anything but dry pavement unless you have some weight in the bed, and it's 0-60 time is probably best stated as "eventually," but it's done everything I've ever needed a truck to do.
If Ford came out with basically that exact truck with a modern engine to get better gas mileage but otherwise kept the performance the same, it would probably be my next vehicle. Wouldn't mind AWD/4wd too but I could live without.
I really like the maverick but the small bed is kind of a deal breaker. I've heard some rumors that they may add a midgate in a couple years to open the bed up into the back seat so if they do that I'm probably sold.
My 98 has the 2.5 Lima/Pinto, the slightly larger version of the 2.3 in your 90s Ranger, and consistently hits 21mpg on 50mph highway with traffic lights. My buddy with a 94 2.3 also gets about 20. However, I've read lots of good things about the 2.3 Duratech/Mazda L that started in 01. I just picked up a 2008 in much better condition but have yet to check the fuel economy. It'll be interesting going from a clapped out long bed to a short bed with a hard tonneau and a bedrug liner. But, realistically, I'm driving empty 95% of the time so I'll take the cover for a little extra aero.
I've looked at the maverick as well. The price (of any newer car) is the main reason I went with an old ranger. That's neat about the midgate, I hadn't heard about that. While the 4ft bed of course reduces cargo space, my main concern is about long lumber. With an adjustable tailgate angle and bed pockets for cross boards giving it 6ft of support, the community seems perfectly happy with it for 8ft goods. That'd be awesome if a midgate fit 4ft wide goods through it, almost containing 8ft from rear seats to tilted tailgate. And a 40mpg hybrid? I'm in... Except for the price right now.
my trailer weighs like 350lb total, that gives me 650lb to haul in it still
they lost me at automatic high beams. we don't need more cars on the road with LED high beams blinding everybody within two kilometers
That's the theory and it sounded great in the adverts. But in my experience, "automatic" means on by default and most folks don't think about them, creating the problem- we're all blind because the damn things come on too much. To work properly, they'll have to know where the city limits are, not just trigger at "x" lumens level. And while we're temporarily blinded, "Fooly Automasted Slef Driving" will probably kill us before that happens...
I've never seen the sensors on mine miss, 2022 vehicle though. In fact my brights sometimes turn off for any red light along the road and reflective signs.
That said, the LED headlights without the brights on are bright enough and people constantly think the brights are on when they are not. I always think about the brights and am at the ready to manually disable them.
The headlights themselves are too bright, and there's no lower lumen off-white options it seems. Just full boar white. It used to be you weren't allowed to install headlights this bright, but then billionaires paid and lobbied for rules to allow a pass if the vehicles rolled off the lot with them, and 20 years later.. here we are. Not even sure the old rule still exists in any form.
that is very inaccurate
they often don't work until after they've already flashbanged you, and they don't recognize anything but vehicles
They don't work well enough to justify their legality
and fuck every single one of them
I am physically unable to drive after sundown because those headlights fuck so hard with my light sensitivity. I can't see anything, it feels like someone slowly stabbing your eyes with a pencil.
Admittedly not the smartest thing to do, but I now keep a reflective umbrella in the car for when my partner is driving and one of those assholes decides to tailgate.
You know, I like the design. If I can take a wrench to it and customise it or repair broken stuff easily and for cheap, even better.
The range is kinda meh, but for working in remote sites, bringing a diesel generator is already par for the course, and that bed looks like it fits a lot of stuff.
No stereo sucks though.
I often drive long distances for work, and I NEVER listen to the radio. All my listening is through headphones off my phone. I even keep a spare pair charging at all times. Not only does it sound a million times better than any crappy car system, it's far easier to take phone calls. I hate holding my phone while driving. It's also easier to hear the map navigation lady.
Counterpoint: Deaf people are allowed to drive
Nonsense, how is it either?
Too loud? I'm a musician, I value my hearing, so I don't play anything too loud. I always use earbuds, so I can always hear emergency vehicles. Besides, I've heard plenty of car speaker systems that were loud enough to block out sirens easily.
Illegal? In what way? In states that have banned holding phones, they encourage hands-free phone calls. If speaking on the phone is considered a distraction, then why isn't speaking to another passenger, or listening to music? Both would be just as distracting as a hands free call. Modern cars all connect to a cell phone automatically, and take calls through the speaker system. If it's illegal, then why are car companies allowed to install them as standard equipment? I don't use that system only because I like the audio quality of my ear buds far more.
By your logic, sound systems and phones in cars should just be totally illegal.
Edit: Wow, I thought there were a lot of judgemental old ladies on Reddit, I expected less on Lemmy. Time to ban sound systems and passengers because we can't have anybody getting the slightest bit distracted. I don't know what the problem is anyway, in my city, the traffic is so bad at any tine of the day, that nobody can drive over 25 mph, even on the highway.
I spent much of my career in the music business, with a significant portion in the audiophile audio business. ALL car stereo systems are a shitty compromise to real high quality audio.
I was the same way until I found out it was only 2WD. Add a second motor for the front wheels and I'll pay $30k for it
It does say "no touchscreen", not "no screen". I'm betting it will have a small screen for the backup camera, with no touch elements.
The article states it will display the backup camera feed on the dashboard screen
The rear view mirror has been used in The past as a mini screen and I liked it. And if you unhook the camera in my Ford it would flash the little screen blue for a moment then realize nothing was hooked up and would turn off. Though you could just unhook the mirror connector and it would be just a mirror as well if you want to disassemble the interior to unplug it.
Getting closer to what I want, which is a reasonably sized and priced EV truck built for actual utility. I'm ok with it leaving out all the extras that I don't need, and hopefully that means it isn't also going to be tracking people and harvesting their data.
My biggest objection to the truck itself is that it's still trying to look like an ICE truck. There's no engine in front, you could easily slide the cab forward a bit to make room for a larger bed. I would much rather have a tiny frunk and an 8 foot bed, even if it means making the whole thing slightly longer. It's shorter than a corrolla, so it's not like they couldn't add a little length to the design if necessary.
Bezos being involved is also a massive turn off, but than I'm not sure who is going to go into mass manufacturing EVs without some rich asshole funding it.
I love cab over trucks but the one thing I have experienced is the ride quality difference between an unloaded cab over and an unloaded pickup truck. The pickup wins every time due to physics. I think the other two reasons for them to pick an ICE truck look would be the limited space for covered/enclosed storage (not much of any in a cab over) and customers being used to that look. Look at the Canoo EV. That think checks all my boxes for design but is expensive and caked in features that I donāt care about.
One of my neighbors has a kei truck and I want one so bad.
Like, I love the functionality of a pickup, but they are wildly impractical for everyday use...not to mention the...implications....
Something cheap enough to be an auxiliary vehicle, that can carry 4x8 sheet goods and 12ft boards without much hassle would be awesome though.
As it is now, we have two cars (A VW Passat (sedan) and a Honda Odyssey (minivan)). The minivan can carry 4x8 goods and 12ft dimensional lumber, but it requires removing the middle row. Kind of a pain in the ass. It's rather uncommon to need both cars at the same time (but still comes in clutch, pardon the pun, when we do need it)...generally the sedan is for solo trips and the minivan is for family outings. I'd replace the Passat with a kei in a heartbeat.
No stereo is fine if it has ports for me to just buy my own car stereo kit and add it afterwards. I don't see the point of no paint, like don't you need it to protect the metal from the environment
It's no paint because the body is plastic. It's not even black plastic coated grey. Just grey plastic.
I see, are there any other all plastic mass market cars out there, I'm just not sure how that material holds up in terms of wear and tear and accidents
Look up Saturn plastic body panels. The hood, roof, and top of the trunk we're still metal.
I had one as my first car. I got rear ended once, and the plastic parts were mostly fine (a little paint chipped off), but the metal top got bent. The trunk itself worked and I never fixed the metal.
Edit to add: the car was made in 1999, I think I bought it in 2008 and had it for about ten years. I got rid of it because the electronics were getting gremlins. Neither the paint on the plastic or metal panels had issues except for the mentioned fender bender.
Saturn used to have door panels set up in their dealerships and encouraged kids to jump on them. I was one of those kids.
What I would love to see for a pickup like this is a rentable battery slab you could drop into the bed and temporarily boost the mileage for longer trips.
Trucks are incredibly useful?
I have an answer for this that's from my personal life if that's helpful.
I've lived either in the great plains or in the rural south my entire life, and I only found out a year ago you can pay $20 to rent a pickup truck. So up until that point, I thought, every group (of friends or family) has to have a person with a truck in it, in case someone needs to move, or in case of an emergency (like a tornado effing up their house and now you have to clear the property).
When I found out that renting a truck is so cheap, I was so mad! All that time wasted paying extra for more car than I needed! I prefer something small and cheap and efficient, personally, but so does everyone else I know so I always wound up with the truck. (And I helped a LOT of people move over the years as a result.)
Obviously this is n=1 but at least it's my story? And my answer is legit, "ignorance and being too poor to own my house, and landlords like to jack rent on someone staying in one place every year so you have to keep moving to avoid that needless creep of fees."
Is it a networked surveillance nightmare?
From caranddriver with no sign-in requirement.
Apart from its digital gauge cluster that also serves as the rearview camera display, power locks, cruise control, and a forward-collision-warning system with automated emergency braking, the Truck offers little in the way of luxuries.
Sounds nice. I do like highway lane following, but not essential.
Reserved
I am really excited for this as a DIYer and Maker
Can't wait for the 3D printed mods.
Aftermarket stereo market here I come, haven't had to buy one of those in a long time.
The msrp of this truck is $28000. For having nothing in it that is absurd. Not to mention the rebates put it at 20k but you still have to pay upfront which deters most people from getting. Overall shit truck, shit design, shit price.
Glad someone has the balls to produce a truck people actually want. Give me power windows, locks, radio, cruise and a cheap radio and I am fine. I guess I throw in 4x4 because I live in Colorado.
I would love to also see an ice or a hybrid version of this truck too. This is exactly want so many people are wanting right now. Very excited to see this EV when it hits the road
Frugal design. I love it.
This is like the electric version of the bare-bones Toyota ICE pickup
I want one. The ONLY thing that would stop me is the rear-wheel drive. We get a lot of snow and rear-wheel and snow are not compatible.
Make it 10k-12k and it would be a yes if parts and repair ability were guaranteed for 10 years.
See, tariffs work!
/s
Because a decafe old TN panel touchscreen and a lick of paint was what made cars 70k.
You misspelled "I didn't read the article."
Why read bad marketing clickbait?
So you can form an opinion on it. Otherwise this is exactly like how small children say they don't like broccoli without trying it
The truck does not exist yet
Reminds of the first VW Beetle under fucking Hitler. One color, black. I wish Toyota would introduce their Hilux Champ to the North American market.
The Hilux is a perfect example of why tariffs won't work the way Trump wants them to. The Hilux is not offered to the North American market because a retaliatory tariff applied over 60 years ago due to a trade dispute involving chicken (it is now known as "the chicken tax") the original reasons for which are largely forgotten to modern consumers, yet the tariff has remained in place ever since. Rather than incentivizing the makers of trucks like the Hilux to move production to the US to bypass the tariff, instead the market for such trucks simply vanished, and manufacturers never bothered investing any effort to bring it back, because... why would they? There's no profit in it for them.
The tariff hangs over the entire product category like a sword of damocles. Nobody will import them here, because they would need to be specially customized to meet domestic regulations and customers won't pay for the tariff on the imports nevermind the redesign, so all they would be left with is a bunch of unsellable prototypes . And since there's no way to test the viability of their products in the market, nobody can make a case to invest in building them here either, because the tariff could be gone tomorrow and they would instantly be put out of business by cheaper imports of the rich variety of light cargo vehicles used throughout the world. The tariff creates an insurmountable risk/reward mismatch that no sane company can ignore.
You can argue and nitpick about economics all you want, the proof is in the economy itself. If you think tariffs work, go ahead and buy a Toyota Hilux. I'll wait. Some people have been waiting 60 years. It still hasn't happened. And it's not going to.
Aight but does it have cruise control? If so it's still too much. But they're almost there.
Just the basic one or adaptive cruise control?
Yes, more of this please!
No idea why it has no stereo though. That feels like a pretty basic feature. Doesnt even need to be built in. Just iso standard head unit bay would do.
Good luck, independent car manufacturers usually get bankrupted out of business directly or indirectly by a market dominated by traditional car manufacturing lobbies designed to be replete with minefields that usually go up in difficulty just before it's supposed to reach mass production. There have been plenty of innovative EV designs that have died off because of this, and it's telling how much power those lobbies have when its the one thing countries will unite against to keep Chinese competition off of their borders.
Paywalled.
Anyone got a battery range on this vehicle?
Thanks.
Already tired of seeing this cool car and now Iām already seeing more āfuck carā articles and post; as well as countries wanting to limit cars on the road. Something is at foot
Yes, please!
We need a wider range of vehicle prices on the market. I bet a lot of people would go for barebones models for cheap if they had the option.
What's with the American obsession with pickups? Hard to find a worst design when it comes to practicality. You carry extra people way more often then huge loads. If you do need to carry big loads just get a van, at lest your cargo is protected from the weather and people. If you don't carry extra people or cargo get a smaller car. Almost no one uses pickups in Europe and everyone is still getting their job done. Where I live most old farmers just use this:
I find a pickup to be quite practical in my line of work. Mine is regularly packed to the brim and I'm from Europe as well.
To start, yes many people get a truck that shouldn't, so no arguments there. But to think a van is just blanket superior undermines your point. They have different use cases really (I've never seen a welding van for example).
For example, as a truck owner who can only afford one vehicle, and who uses their vehicle for personal and work, a van would be no good for my needs. The vehicle needs to be able to haul both people when not in use for work (so crew cab is a must) and large/gross/messy stuff when it is. My tools need to be kept separate from the messy things, and those messy things don't need protection (and it'd be harder to load/unload them if covered like in a van anyways).
Plus, all the work vans I've seen in my area are bigger than my truck anyways so that's kinda funny.
This sounds like they are going to deliver a truck that everyone is going to want/need to upgrade at least something, and are depending on this post-production upsell to keep things going. Reminds me of the Apple tax of only bare minimum RAM and you can pay a premium to upgrade it to something usable. And for Slate this fits well with the "customer can service/upgrade everything outside of battery stuff" as this lowers their overhead, and then are making a deal with a chain to do the servicing as the only alternative (and depending on which chain that is, and if the one near you is run well, could make this wildly different experience).
Oh fuck. Where buy
They could have put a screen in it so I can hook up my phone to it!
That's like the one thing I care about in the car being able to use android auto!
Do EVs have connecting rods? The article does go into right to repair, sounds like the company is pro DIY repair so that's promising at least.
Explain yourself!
Gross. Cars are a dead end for humanity.
While I'm with you it's far too late. We've got decades if not centuries of infrastructure construction to get anywhere else. There are needs for trucks, and a barebones electric one is real good thing
If this post was on Reddit I'd write it off as a troll lol
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"No touchscreen" is a really great selling point imo
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