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Slate EV truck starts at $24,950

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Re: Slate EV truck starts at $24,950

#181

Post by [deleted] »

SoftTalker wrote: post #162
freedomben wrote: post #31

The color options are a much bigger deal than I think many people realize. It's been too many years since I saw the studies so I have no hope of being able to cite it, but in a marketing class in college I remember reading about how much people value picking a color they really like, that they feel matches their personality. It increases satisfaction, significantly reduces the cognitive dissonance (aka "buyers remors…

I'm not sure they are. I don't think most people give two shits about the color of a vehicle, that's why most of them today are white or silver.

[deleted]

Re: Slate EV truck starts at $24,950

#182

Post by unregistereddev »

bryanlarsen wrote: post #161
roysting wrote: post #148

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> still pretty inexpensive Can we stop being so out of touch and/or deluding ourselves to believe $35k is “pretty inexpensive” for people not living in a bubble; whether that is the Americas bubble or the tech bubble within the bubble or the urban bubble within that; let alone for a tiny two seater electric truck that has a 200 mile range. The 45th percentile, i.e., the bottom 90% have a median income of roughly $40,…

There are lots of vehicles available for $22K. On the used market. Buying new is a privilege. A $35K vehicle will reach $22K on the used market a lot faster than a $60K vehicle will.

There are new hybrids available for $30k. There are new vehicles available for $22k. There are reasonable used vehicles available for $10k.

The problem with the Slate isn't that cheaper vehicles exist. The problem with the Slate is that you can buy nicer, better equipped vehicles for the same price.

Re: Slate EV truck starts at $24,950

#183

Post by alistairSH »

roysting wrote: post #148
alistairSH wrote: post #14

Just built a "hatchback" Slate with what I guess will be common options (speakers, wheel upgrade, spare wheel carrier, and a few other odds and ends) and it came to $35k. So, still pretty inexpensive, but also getting close to some existing EV sedans that are known entities and have pretty decent interiors. So, I'm not totally sold on these, but not not sold either. Need to see one in person, I think.

> still pretty inexpensive Can we stop being so out of touch and/or deluding ourselves to believe $35k is “pretty inexpensive” for people not living in a bubble; whether that is the Americas bubble or the tech bubble within the bubble or the urban bubble within that; let alone for a tiny two seater electric truck that has a 200 mile range. The 45th percentile, i.e., the bottom 90% have a median income of roughly $40,…

A new Honda Civic is $25k, so the same as the Slate. The average new car price in the US is $50k, so double the Slate base price and still significantly more than the upgraded Slate I built. As far as I can tell, the US market has only one sub-$20k car - the base Nissan Versa.

Re: Slate EV truck starts at $24,950

#184

Post by freedomben »

volkk wrote: post #168
SoftTalker wrote: post #162

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm not sure they are. I don't think most people give two shits about the color of a vehicle, that's why most of them today are white or silver.

I think people care more than you think and it's mostly an effect of the limited options setting the tone/culture for most of society so when "exciting" colors randomly come out, nobody wants to stand out amongst the sea of silver/black/white. I bet if cars became more funky on average, people would exercise a lot more freedom in selecting wilder colors. An example of a culture of fun selection is snow sports. Colors…

Agreed. I care about the color, but not enough to wait for "special order" so I end up taking whatever is in stock at the dealership, which is always the bland colors. I love a green car, but there's almost never an option (or the green is hideous)

Re: Slate EV truck starts at $24,950

#185

Post by gwd »

pc86 wrote: post #105
gwd wrote: post #21

I like the idea, but the "About" page triggers some warning bells: "We’re not trying to make this about us. BECAUSE SLATE IS ALL ABOUT YOU." I mean, that's fine, but... I am on your "About" page, that's because I actually want to know about you. How can I trust you with $25k if all I know is "We’re designed in California and Michigan, engineered in Michigan, and assembled in the Midwest. And our team is spread across…

The general population doesn't care a lick who has invested in the company, who the C suite is, any of that. Normal people make product-buying decisions based on the product.

I mean, that's just not true. You're right that when people buy a Ford, they're not thinking that much about the CEO. But they certainly are thinking about other Fords they've owned, or their friends have owned, or things they've heard about in advertisements or the news. Ford may not be the best car out there, but it's very unlikely to have basic thinks like seals that don't work; and if somehow they do have basic issues, the company will be around to fix it. If you pre-order a Ford, you know there's a near-zero chance that you won't get what you ordered, and an effectively zero percent chance that you don't get your money back.

None of those things are true for a brand new company. Tesla was infamous for having random things wrong with their cars in the early days which the established car companies had figured out a long time ago. And there's a non-negligible chance the company will end up folding before it can give you your product, or before they can fix the product you got.

The amount of money they have, the character of their backers and their CEO, and the quality of their engineers matters significantly.

Re: Slate EV truck starts at $24,950

#186

Post by freedomben »

llm_nerd wrote: post #95
freedomben wrote: post #31

The color options are a much bigger deal than I think many people realize. It's been too many years since I saw the studies so I have no hope of being able to cite it, but in a marketing class in college I remember reading about how much people value picking a color they really like, that they feel matches their personality. It increases satisfaction, significantly reduces the cognitive dissonance (aka "buyers remors…

The four most common vehicle colours in the US are white, black, grey and silver. I believe this covers like 80%+ of vehicles. Canada is worse still (so much so that many makers basically just offer the shades of grey, sometimes with a special-order red or something for the rebels), and a few days ago I was on a walk and saw a light turn red and a dozen cars that pulled up to stop and every single one was white. Peop…

> It might actually lead to the paradox of choice where people basically feel even worse about their options.

Very good point, that will be interesting to see

Re: Slate EV truck starts at $24,950

#187

Post by bluGill »

woeirua wrote: post #131
DangitBobby wrote: post #118

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There are people who want an EV and not a hybrid, like me.

That's fine, but there are a lot of used EVs that have more features in the low-mid 20s now. You really have to want an _EV_ truck.

Considering the cost of gas wanting an EV is an economical choice.

Re: Slate EV truck starts at $24,950

#188

Post by SoftTalker »

alistairSH wrote: post #59
zamadatix wrote: post #45

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm simultaneously not interested in an electric truck & amazed the price is still reasonable if you want to turn it the truck into a hatchback instead. The range is also meh. Same conclusion: interesting, but not necessarily interested. Hope they go places though.

I see lots of tradesmen in Ford Mavericks or Transit Connects. The Slate could work well for some of them - basic truck model, with the ladder rack for long stuff (like ladders or pieces of wood). Saves them some money up front, and gas and maintenance (in theory).

Yes and no. I'd think residential plumber or HVAC service tech can easily drive more than the stated range just going from job to job during a day. They're going to want to be sure that they don't have to stop to charge between jobs; time is money for those guys, and especially if the fast charging infrastructure is not well built out in their area it could be a showstopper.

Re: Slate EV truck starts at $24,950

#189

Post by fouc »

aidenn0 wrote: post #169
alistairSH wrote: post #14

Just built a "hatchback" Slate with what I guess will be common options (speakers, wheel upgrade, spare wheel carrier, and a few other odds and ends) and it came to $35k. So, still pretty inexpensive, but also getting close to some existing EV sedans that are known entities and have pretty decent interiors. So, I'm not totally sold on these, but not not sold either. Need to see one in person, I think.

Compared to gas cars: Kia K4 hatchback is $26k with a lot more creature-comforts. Gets 34mpg, so if $6/gal gas is here to stay that's $0.17 per mile of fuel costs. My EV gets almost exactly 4miles/kW average and I pay $0.21 per kW so that's about $0.05 per mile. So $0.12 per mile saved in fuel costs implies about 80k miles for break-even. This excludes costs of servicing, which should be higher on the gas car. [edit…

I think you meant 80k not 800k, $0.12 * 80,000 = $9,600

Re: Slate EV truck starts at $24,950

#190

Post by beaviskhan »

aidenn0 wrote: post #169
alistairSH wrote: post #14

Just built a "hatchback" Slate with what I guess will be common options (speakers, wheel upgrade, spare wheel carrier, and a few other odds and ends) and it came to $35k. So, still pretty inexpensive, but also getting close to some existing EV sedans that are known entities and have pretty decent interiors. So, I'm not totally sold on these, but not not sold either. Need to see one in person, I think.

Compared to gas cars: Kia K4 hatchback is $26k with a lot more creature-comforts. Gets 34mpg, so if $6/gal gas is here to stay that's $0.17 per mile of fuel costs. My EV gets almost exactly 4miles/kW average and I pay $0.21 per kW so that's about $0.05 per mile. So $0.12 per mile saved in fuel costs implies about 80k miles for break-even. This excludes costs of servicing, which should be higher on the gas car. [edit…

I think you've got an extra zero in there somewhere

$35k - $26k = $9k

$9k / $0.12/mile savings ~= 75,000 miles breakeven

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