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A $20k American-made electric pickup with no paint, no stereo, no screen

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Re: A $20k American-made electric pickup with no paint, no stereo, no screen

#281

Post by mthulhu »

os2warpman wrote: post #227

People say they, and many other Americans, want a cheap and simple truck. They're lying. I know you don't believe me but it's true. Automotive sales numbers are public information. Every single time a VIN is stamped into some metal, that record is public. The gradual decline in the sale of small, simple, cheap trucks is well documented. People want full-sized trucks. People say they love manual transmissions, too. Th…

When is the last time a car this cheap looked this good? Irresistible to weirdos like us.

Re: A $20k American-made electric pickup with no paint, no stereo, no screen

#282

Post by hbsbsbsndk »

neural_thing wrote: post #47
ryandrake wrote: post #38

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yea, it's pretty exciting. I'd like to see how much more they could strip out to reduce the price and still have a viable commercial product. I guess I'm living firmly in the past, but $20K still seems to be a high price for a car. Then again, I haven't bought a car new since the 90s, so I'm probably just an old fart who hasn't grokked what things cost today. I still remember the day when the base-model Corolla start…

According to this, there is only one new car model of any kind selling for under $20K in the US these days https://www.carfax.com/rankings/cheapest-cars

This article is missing at least the Mitsubishi Mirage - the 2024 model year still seems to be available for 17k in the base trim?

Re: A $20k American-made electric pickup with no paint, no stereo, no screen

#283

Post by themaninthedark »

JackC wrote: post #225

> It only seats two yet has a bed big enough to hold a sheet of plywood. Not really the point of the article, but, does it? This[0] says the bed is 60 inches long and 43 wide, and plywood is 96x48 inches. Is it like, any vehicle fits plywood if you cut it to the size of the truck or stack it on top? [0] https://www.thedrive.com/news/the-slate-truck-is-two-feet-sh...

Tailgate down, plywood lying with one edge on the bed and the other on the side?

But I agree, I would expect it to be able to fully contain a standard sheet of plywood if it made that claim.

Re: A $20k American-made electric pickup with no paint, no stereo, no screen

#284

Post by __mharrison__ »

soared wrote: post #153

Does this strategy even make sense? You can charge $20k for a car. Why wouldn’t you add options that cost you nearly nothing but some amount of buyers will opt in for a meaningful revenue increase. Charge $1k for paint. Even if 95% of people don’t do that, 5% of orders just increased their revenue by 5%. Paint doesn’t take engineering time.. just spend $500 and let some other company do it. This is why trims exist, h…

In the YT video (linked in another comment), it claims they save $350M by not building painting facilities.

Re: A $20k American-made electric pickup with no paint, no stereo, no screen

#286

Post by Beijinger »

hylaride wrote: post #254
ryandrake wrote: post #96

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> - Lack of a mobile app. Minimalist design is great, but I still want an app to manage charging and be alerted to any vehicle issues. Noooooooooo! No apps, please ! Finally a car not tethered to and dependent on your phone, and we already have our first request to app-ify it! EDIT: Ughhh, according to the video that another user posted, it looks like there's an app, and yes, "updates" go through it :( > - Lack of go…

> Yes, definitely. It being a 2 seater is kind of a deal breaker for families. What you need is not a pickup truck. Catering to families means expensive bells and whistles, like entertainment systems, etc. > Back in the day, we'd stuff 3 kids between two adults, but these days the Safety People would have a heart attack just thinking about that. Rightfully so. Back in the day we did so many things we shouldn't have,…

Is written in the article that it can fit more seats. And if you click through the pics you will see it.

Re: A $20k American-made electric pickup with no paint, no stereo, no screen

#287

Post by mikestew »

ryandrake wrote: post #38
dogline wrote: post #11

It's a $20k, street-legal, EV modding platform. Sounds like you can mount your own infotainment system. Just an electric motor, battery, and chassis, and the rest is up to you. Isn't this what we've been asking for?

Yea, it's pretty exciting. I'd like to see how much more they could strip out to reduce the price and still have a viable commercial product. I guess I'm living firmly in the past, but $20K still seems to be a high price for a car. Then again, I haven't bought a car new since the 90s, so I'm probably just an old fart who hasn't grokked what things cost today. I still remember the day when the base-model Corolla start…

I guess I'm living firmly in the past, but $20K still seems to be a high price for a car.

You're not even living in the past. Our 20 year old Scion xB cost us $20K out the door new (granted, that's with most of the paltry list of options added, $15K base). And that was a cheap car at the time, Toyota marketing to "the kids".

The last time $20K was "a high price" for a new car was probably before most HN folk were born.

Re: A $20k American-made electric pickup with no paint, no stereo, no screen

#288

Post by foxyv »

PaulHoule wrote: post #14

I like it. My wife runs a riding academy and we use a Honda Fit the way some people would use a pickup truck: we can fit 10 bales of wood shavings in the back. [1] We’re dreading when it fails because they don’t make the fit anymore and compact hatchbacks seem to be on the way out. Recent experiences have made me a bit of a Buick enthusiast and I can see driving a 2005-ish sedan except that I won’t get those sawdust…

I am going to drive my Honda Fit until the wheels fall off, then I'm going to put new wheels on and drive it some more. Best car in the world IMO.

Re: A $20k American-made electric pickup with no paint, no stereo, no screen

#289

Post by zanecodes »

euroderf wrote: post #245
hugs wrote: post #93

Earlier quoted context omitted.

on long car trips, it seems like everyone in the car (except, me, the driver) has headphones on. no one will miss the lack of rear speakers.

Sounds very twenty-first century. No shared music recognition, no sing-alongs. If passengers want to DJ, you can get one of those little FM transmitter thingies that plugs into a phone/table headphone port.

What phone still has a 3.5mm headphone jack? Sincere question, I'd like to buy one.

Re: A $20k American-made electric pickup with no paint, no stereo, no screen

#290

Post by [deleted] »

JackC wrote: post #225

> It only seats two yet has a bed big enough to hold a sheet of plywood. Not really the point of the article, but, does it? This[0] says the bed is 60 inches long and 43 wide, and plywood is 96x48 inches. Is it like, any vehicle fits plywood if you cut it to the size of the truck or stack it on top? [0] https://www.thedrive.com/news/the-slate-truck-is-two-feet-sh...

[deleted]
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