Slate EV truck starts at $24,950 • Hacker News Board

Re: Slate EV truck starts at $24,950

#71

Post by pc86 » Wed, Jun 24, 2026, 1:58 PM UTC

NDizzle wrote: post #62

eagerpace wrote: post #48

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Tesla made some progress with this, but it’s the dealer network. The existing manufacturers are beholden to it and $200 oil changes.

$200 oil change?! I pay $85 for a 5.7L V8 with a 7.5 quart capacity. Who is paying $200???

If you go to a BMW or Mercedes dealership with no coupons or anything it'll be about that.

It's less that the oil change costs that much and more that they don't want you to show up with a car they've never seen for an oil change when they can make more doing other work in that bay. So it's priced to keep people out rather than to draw people in.

Re: Slate EV truck starts at $24,950

#72

Post by idiotsecant » Wed, Jun 24, 2026, 1:58 PM UTC

tedggh wrote: post #49

nathan_compton wrote: post #9

One under-appreciated value of having an EV is that you don't have to buy gas. You literally do not have to buy gas. I cannot emphasize this enough: you do not buy gasoline for these cars. Not only that, but many places let you charge them for free. That is like someone giving you free gas.

You always buy fossil fuels with an EV, not directly but you do. When you stop at the plaza for a quick super charge there’s no way to tell where is the energy sourced from, it could very well be from a diesel generator a few miles down the road. The value is in all the parts found in an ICE that need servicing or replacement that you don’t have in an EV. With an EV you basically need tires and maybe brakes once ever…

Depends where in the country you live and when you charge. 8AM in the pnw? 100% renewables. 5PM in oklahoma? Not so much

Re: Slate EV truck starts at $24,950

#73

Post by neogodless » Wed, Jun 24, 2026, 1:58 PM UTC

tedggh wrote: post #16

I could not see anything related to safety besides airbags and cameras. Any crash tests available anywhere?

The Specs page has a list of safety features. Sadly it's an image and not text, so here's a direct link:

[PAGE] https://www.slate.auto/en/specs

[IMAGE] https://images.ctfassets.net/20dhmw20vttc/2wmiW5shOfgAKsd1nF...

Re: Slate EV truck starts at $24,950

#74

Post by kllrnohj » Wed, Jun 24, 2026, 1:58 PM UTC

rib3ye wrote: post #26

Saw this on Jay Leno's youtube channel: https://youtu.be/L6_9_HHLOSY Everything about modularity seems awesome, but you can see panel misalignment in several shots. Are the component tolerances really going to be that low?

I believe all of these previews are using pre-production units. Production units should be better built with better tolerances since it becomes all factory done, but that's definitely something you'd have to wait and see when it actually begins shipping.

That said, given the price point and the new-ness of the manufacturer, there's all but certainly going to be fit & finish issues.

Re: Slate EV truck starts at $24,950

#75

Post by WarmWash » Wed, Jun 24, 2026, 1:58 PM UTC

coldpie wrote: post #37

dwa3592 wrote: post #24

It's at the second to last page where it says it's an EV. I didn't know and had to scroll down. Also there is no mention of range on one charge, which I think is a miss. The range (especially for an EV) must be on the landing page. The modular design is cool though.

Good criticism. It looks like the car's EV tech is average at best; definitely not outstanding. That's probably why they don't advertise it strongly, and also probably a big factor in why it's so cheap. They list some details on the Specs page[1]. They quote 200 miles of range, which is not great especially for a small car. They list a 20-80 charge time of 30 minutes so it's probably a 400V architecture, which is bec…

It's a fine anything-other-than-5hr+-road-trip car. Which covers 99% of people's daily driving. And frankly even if this thing was gas, it looks brutal to road trip in.

A 200mi range means you can comfortably commute an hour to work each day, and then get back and "drive around town" in the evening without any worry.

Re: Slate EV truck starts at $24,950

#76

Post by tonyarkles » Wed, Jun 24, 2026, 1:59 PM UTC

jefb wrote: post #57

Can't believe it's come down to this in 2026, but if this does not beep incessantly and slam on the brakes when maneuvering around some foliage I'm all in.

You’ve hit a nerve for sure. A couple years back I was doing some field ops in rural Illinois and the rental SUV I had (Nissan?) made it almost impossible to turn around on a gravel road. Slowly backing up towards the ditch, watching carefully in the backup camera… BAM, full brake, lots of beeping, cue frustration. Every damned time.

Re: Slate EV truck starts at $24,950

#77

Post by efsavage » Wed, Jun 24, 2026, 1:59 PM UTC

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…

AFAIK there's actually only one color and you can wrap it. The wrap kits are supposed to be DIY friendly so you can change it yourself when you want a new color.

Re: Slate EV truck starts at $24,950

#78

Post by coldpie » Wed, Jun 24, 2026, 1:59 PM UTC

rjsw wrote: post #54

coldpie wrote: post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Good criticism. It looks like the car's EV tech is average at best; definitely not outstanding. That's probably why they don't advertise it strongly, and also probably a big factor in why it's so cheap. They list some details on the Specs page[1]. They quote 200 miles of range, which is not great especially for a small car. They list a 20-80 charge time of 30 minutes so it's probably a 400V architecture, which is bec…

That range is typical for European mass-market EV cars.

That's cool. This is a US market vehicle. The geography of the US is very, very different from Europe, so I don't think expectations for the European market are terribly useful for a US market vehicle. Have a play around with https://thetruesize.com and https://luminocity3d.org/WorldPopDen .

200mi is definitely acceptable in the US, but it's on the low end of the acceptable spectrum.

Re: Slate EV truck starts at $24,950

#79

Post by MisterTea » Wed, Jun 24, 2026, 2:00 PM UTC

My favorite part about this vehicle is no stupid center console touch screen. Hopefully aftermarket dash kits for a DIN radio become available and we can put proper audio and control back into our vehicles and remove the tyrannical center console screens.

Re: Slate EV truck starts at $24,950

#80

Post by gibspaulding » Wed, Jun 24, 2026, 2:00 PM UTC

Really excited to see this one step closer to release! My first car was a 1999 Mazda b2500 (a rebadged ford ranger). I’m sure I have a bit of nostalgia around it but I’ve missed the compact simplicity of that vehicle ever since. It had manual locks, crank windows, a manual transmission, and sat about 2.5 people. I distinctly remember in that truck that I could very comfortably lean over and crank down the passenger window without taking my eyes off of the road.

This feels much more like a spiritual successor to that truck than the actual new Ranger or Maverick. I’m really hoping this succeeds so that they’ll be around to replace our Dakota when it dies!