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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

#141

Post by vel0city »

xnx wrote: post #114
danans wrote: post #90

From the related Ars article[1]: > Rather than relying on a built-in infotainment system, you'll use your phone plugged into a USB outlet or a dedicated tablet inside the cabin for your entertainment and navigation needs. How is a "dedicated tablet" different than an infotainment system, other than not having vehicle telematics and controls? Also, a regular tablet UX would be dangerous while driving, and typically th…

> Also, a regular tablet UX would be dangerous while driving, and typically they don't have their own mobile data connections. I think it's still possible to run the Android Auto app (with its purpose-built interface) on a regular tablet.

Android Auto for Phones has been dead for a few years. That would be the app you'd use on an Android tablet.

https://www.autoevolution.com/news/android-auto-for-phones-i...

Also, these days AA can connect to the car's systems to do range estimations for its route suggestions and suggest charging on the routes. I'd hope whatever connectivity they do here includes sharing that data with the device in the cabin.

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

#142

Post by metalman »

go the next step, and offer box and wheel/tire deleet, lots of people will have or can get wheels/tires that will fit, if they use one of the popular size combos, and many would opt for a flat deck, or custom purpose box see if it can be squeezed down to 20k, taxes in delivered with no box, they can be stacked, piggy back, just the way commercial heavy trucks are stacked for delivery.....more per load, less trips

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

#143

Post by hedgehog »

tayo42 wrote: post #91
ty6853 wrote: post #35

I love it. However I wonder about the overlap between people that need a truck and this particular truck. I have only owned trucks when I needed to go out in the middle of bumfuck nowhere with a payload, in places with poor access to electricity. If I need to go in bumfuck nowhere without payload then there is no need for the truck, and if I need a payload in the city it's just way way cheaper to have it delivered wh…

I'm living in a suburb but been thinking about a pick up Some uses are, impulse Craigslist and local furniture purchases, outdoor sports equipment, home garden projects. My sedan is trashed from ocean related stuff I'm always putting in it. I was in a rush the other day, accidently left something wet in the car all day and have a mildew smell now to deal with. Dumb stuff like that seems avoidable.

Keep a desiccant pack in the car, it'll go a long way towards avoiding damp-related issues. The reusable silica gel ones market for gun safes come in a metal can that's easy to handle & recharge in the oven at low temperature. We have muddy gear in/out of our cars constantly and this has worked for us.

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

#144

Post by x436413 »

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…

how do you haul hoss though? i would imagine you then outsource to professional hauling services? what do you do for vet visits, when it's not a farm call?

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

#145

Post by incanus77 »

I love this. We have a Fiat 500 EV that we got for $8k used that’s a fantastic city / small hauling car, and this beats it in many qualities in a way that’s still minimalist, reasonably affordable, and low maintenance (if as promised). We also have a 1986 4WD VW camper van which gets the big jobs done but is still manageable in the city. This truck is like the DIY marriage of the two.

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

#146

Post by inahga »

nkurz wrote: post #76

It took me a few articles to even find it mentioned, so I'll repeat it here in case anyone else was wondering: it's rear wheel drive only.

Darn, with removable doors and top, I thought this could be a Jeep killer. But no 4WD makes that a non-starter.

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

#147

Post by ldoughty »

danans wrote: post #90

From the related Ars article[1]: > Rather than relying on a built-in infotainment system, you'll use your phone plugged into a USB outlet or a dedicated tablet inside the cabin for your entertainment and navigation needs. How is a "dedicated tablet" different than an infotainment system, other than not having vehicle telematics and controls? Also, a regular tablet UX would be dangerous while driving, and typically th…

It's exactly what I think a lot of techies want.

Highly technical people tend to come in two varieties when it comes to electronics in their personal life:

1. Absolutely nothing smart that's not under their direct (or highly configurable) control.

2. Sure just take all my data I don't care. I'll pay subscriptions fees too.

Modern cars mostly do #2... to the point we potentially faced a subscription being required to enable seat warmers [0]. There's basically no cars on the market that do #1 anymore.

And with #2, you're bound by what the vehicle manufacturer decides. They are ending up like forced cable boxes - minimum viable product quality. They can be slow to change pages/views and finicky in touch responses... which I think are actually more dangerous... but this is our only option if this is the car we pick... and almost no one decides on a car for it's infotainment, so it's not a feature that gets much love or attention.

Additionally, technology moves too fast. My first car had a tape deck. The next one had a CD Player.. then I had to get an mp3-player-to-radio dongle, then I replaced my infotainment system with a bluetooth supporting one... and so on.. Even Android Auto (early versions) integrated directly into the infotainment system and needed potentially proprietary cables (USB-to-proprietary connector), and the systems did not look designed to be upgraded/replaced.

This model here allows you to upgrade your infotainment system every time you upgrade your phone (or dedicated tablet)... or simply by changing apps.

Also, Android Auto has mostly solved that UX issue (It's the same UX on a tablet as on an equivalent built-in infotainment system).. Though iPads probably (?) don't have a similar feature.

So I think the 'bring your own infotainment' idea is awesome.

0: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=23718101

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

#148

Post by kwindla »

Tokumei-no-hito wrote: post #129
brad0 wrote: post #41

I put down $50 to reserve one. I grew up with an old car that I tinkered with endlessly. Mostly because it was simple enough for me to get my head around! This car reminds me of that time. I'm hoping that they go with a lot of "off-the-shelf" electronics and mechanical parts. Standards are a blessing. It feels like they're going with a different business model to traditional car manufacturers. AFAIK most manufacturer…

how did you find their website? all i get are articles about the car but no links

https://www.slate.auto/en

The configurator is fun:

https://www.slate.auto/en/personalization

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

#149

Post by [deleted] »

Tokumei-no-hito wrote: post #129
brad0 wrote: post #41

I put down $50 to reserve one. I grew up with an old car that I tinkered with endlessly. Mostly because it was simple enough for me to get my head around! This car reminds me of that time. I'm hoping that they go with a lot of "off-the-shelf" electronics and mechanical parts. Standards are a blessing. It feels like they're going with a different business model to traditional car manufacturers. AFAIK most manufacturer…

how did you find their website? all i get are articles about the car but no links

[deleted]

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

#150

Post by quantified »

hedgehog wrote: post #100
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…

The Maverick apparently has poor build quality but I'm hoping Toyota comes up with a pickup using the same small footprint + bare bones + hybrid drivetrain formula.

I read that as comparing it to one of Ford's cheap cars from the 70's. Which would be a low bar to meet.
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