Jay Leno’s Garage: The $25K EV Truck You Can Repair Yourself: Meet The Slate Truck

Fantastic! But I won’t be sucked in by bozo again

 

I just watched that video. I think I've fallen in love with the Slate Pickup!

I'm wondering if I really can get at least the $3,250 worth of Colorado State incentives. I'm also curious if the Vehicle Exchange Colorado (VXC) Program could also maybe help get me as much as $6,000 to $9,000 more.

I don't know. Maybe someone should talk me out of wanting to buy one.

 

My only complaint is with the owner of the company.

 

OK; If you've got $25+K burning a hole in your pocket - why not buy a gently abused real truck 80's or older. Swap in electronic ignition and TBI or multiport fuel injection, if your feeling frisky - to make it reliable. That'll save you a ton of cash and you end up with a real truck for real work. It would be a lot safer too, if someone hits you.

Just my two cents......

 

Who is the owner, or what do you mean by owner? Jeff Bezos? Of course, I'm not sure how that would be any worse than buying a Tesla. On the other hand, there are plenty of other companies.

Thanks for the two cents! I guess in my opinion and reasoning:

1. We're not looking for a "real truck" for "real work." We just need to move people, stuff and ourselves from point A to point B. The Slate can do that, but of course so could basically anything from a motorcycle with a trailer or sidecar to a semi-truck, with our choice normally landing on a fuel-efficient sedan.
2. I don't see how an 80's or older pickup could be safer than a Slate. The engineers at Slate going for a 2026/2027 Top Safety Pick and 5-star crash rating in the Slate. The Slate will also likely be heavier than a 1980's or older pickup.
3. We would hate the fuel mileage of a 1980's or older pickup. If we're going older, it's an air-cooled VW or bust.
4. If we're going to have a second vehicle, it makes sense to be different than our gasoline-powered Avalon hybrid. The Slate is not only a pickup/SUV, but it's also an EV. Adding a 1980's pickup would be adding another vehicle to our fleet that I also have to take to a gas station.
5. Money is the main reason I wouldn't be interested in getting a Slate. I don't really have $25k burning in my pocket, and I would not be looking forward to that kind of car payment.

 

I also wouldn't buy new Tesla for that matter. Also a VW cause of the diesel scandal. Might consider used, but I have other EVs before them on the list.

It's just a shame we need some start up with deep pockets to see a stripper/affordable car of any type on the market.

 

I feel your pain. It seems that on the one hand, there should be an econo-car segment sold in the USA by legacy manufacturers. But it also seems that often it takes a deep-pocketed startup to make an affordable vehicle.

The Ford Model T was the result of Henry Ford amassing enough wealth from being chief engineer of the Edison Illuminating Company of Detroit so that he could design his own car assembly plant. The VW Beetle was the result of Adolf Hitler diverting government funding towards a "people's car."

It seems to me that when the economy is down, car manufacturers can't sell cars very well except to the rich, so it makes more sense to cater to rich customers. And when the economy is up, lower income earners tend to prefer bigger, nicer used vehicles as opposed to affordable models, which means it still makes sense to just cater to the rich.

This is why I'm pretty certain that Slate will not stay in business with their current business model. If they do sell those 150,000 preordered Slates their first year (they plan on 150,000 per year) then after that interest will dry up and people wanting a $25,000 vehicle will tend to look for used vehicles in that price range.

The only thing that might make this flip is if we end up like so many other countries where used car prices basically stay at MSRP until the car is basically a heap of scrap metal. You go into Mexico and you'll find the Toyota Yaris, VW Gol, Mazda 2, Honda City, and a host of other small, basic, cheaper cars that aren't sold in the USA because you either pay tens of thousands of pesos for a heap of scrap metal or you buy something close to MSRP (hundreds of thousands of pesos) for something that's either new or 5 or 10 years old.