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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

#131

Post by bri3d »

patagonia wrote: post #74
swagasaurus-rex wrote: post #10

Very exciting! Electric vehicles have the ability to be very simple, much simpler than an ICE. Although electric can't be 100% analog, I miss the old days when a car has no software updates, no telemetry, no privacy issues, no mandatory subscription for features.

Are they making any 100% analog ICE vehicles currently? This is just a consumer products issue. Sadly.

What do you mean by "analog?" It's not possible to make an "analog" vehicle of any kind due to regulation:

* It would be impossible to pass modern car emissions standards without electronic engine control.

* Backup cameras are mandatory, so you need an electronic pixel display somewhere.

* Lane keeping is required in Europe as of 2022, so that's a suite of sensors and computer-steering as a requirement.

* AEB will be required as of 2029 in the US, so that's a full electronic braking system (some form of pressure accumulator/source, solenoids/valves) and forward looking sensors (radar, lidar, visual, etc.).

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

#132

Post by kasey_junk »

patagonia wrote: post #81
connicpu wrote: post #61

Earlier quoted context omitted.

According to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics[1], $9999 in 1995 is equivalent to $21,275.25 today, so it's a pretty spot on price for a barebones car. [1]: https://www.bls.gov/data/inflation_calculator.htm

Except, with advances in computational design and engineering, manufacturing automation, and moving to plastic for the body I would expect a reduction in price, in real terms. Not impressed.

Modern cars are almost universally safer and more fuel efficient than the older models. And in many cases faster.

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

#133

Post by toast0 »

taylodl wrote: post #43

I LOVE it! THIS is the kind of truck I'd be looking at to replace my 1998 Ford Ranger. Here is what could be potential deal-breakers: - 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. - Lack of good charge management and battery conditioning. Either that, or a cheap and easy to replace battery pack. I'd really like both! - Comparable h…

> - 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.

I get that cars have these, but my PHEV (which I don't often charge) lost its app when Ford pulled the plug as 3G was sunsetting and I don't think I'm missing anything. If there's anything wrong with the car, it can show the check engine light (or whatever it's called when there's no engine).

> - Lack of good charge management and battery conditioning.

Seems like a little early to declare this on a vaporware product? I don't think you need a screen or an app to have reasonable battery conditioning?

Anyway, I would love small trucks to return. I had a 2007 Ranger and I have a 2003 S-10, and there's nothing in the US new vehicle market that fits the small truck niche anymore. CAFE standards can't be met with a small footprint truck, so we only get large footprint trucks. But EV trucks don't have efficiency standards, so maybe we'll see the niche again. (I think you could maybe hit the CAFE standards with a single cab ranger and a hybrid drive train, but I also think automakers prefer to sell luxury trucks rather than base model trucks)

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

#134

Post by snowwrestler »

stefan_ wrote: post #66
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?

Is it? They show speakers mounted in the front as a "soundbar". Will people figure out there is a reason cars with good sound systems have them mounted all around the vehicle?

So mount speakers all around the vehicle? The idea is: customize it yourself.

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

#135

Post by cityofdelusion »

patagonia wrote: post #52

If this can’t compete head to head (no tariffs or other import restrictions) with BYD and the like, then I don’t know why one would get excited. Feels like an expensive consolation prize with tons of compromises. I want competition.

You can't really compete in a any real sense when the labor price differential is so massive and the companies and supply chains are directly subsidized. The price does not reflect the product, but all its inputs.

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

#136

Post by ryandrake »

taylodl wrote: post #113
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…

I'd want the mobile app to be an auxiliary, not a requirement for operating the truck. Keep the dashboard simple.

I'd be worried that once an app got a foothold into the product, the company would be unable to resist the urge to spread the app's tentacles across the entire vehicle, adding connectivity and telemetry and DRM, integrating it into the other car's systems, adding remote-this and wireless-that, and then inevitably the product would end up just like the turd cars we have today.

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

#138

Post by Suppafly »

subpixel wrote: post #82

With a 1000lb towing capacity and 150m range (let’s call that 120 when you don’t charge 100%) this eliminates too many use cases. It’s the anti-cybertruck but aimed at people who actually could get by with a nice trailer.

>this eliminates too many use cases

Such as? Seems like it meets a lot of use cases.

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

#140

Post by hansvm »

aaronbrethorst wrote: post #70
hansvm wrote: post #62

Isn't this sort of thing illegal as a new vehicle in US markets because of those backup camera laws?

it has a backup camera. A mandatory part of today’s safety features is a digital rear-view camera. Typically, this view pops up on a modern car’s central infotainment screen, but the Slate doesn’t 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.

I missed that, thank you.
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