this post was submitted on 25 Apr 2025
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[–] [email protected] 1 points 2 days ago

Already tired of seeing this cool car and now I’m already seeing more “fuck car” articles and post; as well as countries wanting to limit cars on the road. Something is at foot

[–] [email protected] 13 points 4 days ago (17 children)

Am I reading this right and it only offers 1000lb towing capacity? Isn't that kind of utterly useless?

[–] [email protected] 11 points 4 days ago

Equivalent towing capacity of a Chevy Impala, so yes.

This is less of a truck and more of a truck-shaped go-kart.

[–] [email protected] 9 points 4 days ago* (last edited 4 days ago) (1 children)

I have an older Ranger. I don't do much truck stuff. The bulk cargo area is the draw, not the weight capacity. The heaviest load I carried was 800lbs of plywood, which was 15 sheets or something. I have a 4x8 trailer that can also help haul bulky household goods for moves, a motorcycle, lumber, or furniture. While the trailer is rated for 1700lbs payload and weighs 300lbs itself, I have never put more than 500lbs on it, despite filling the 4x8 floor stackef 4ft high. I made the trailer before getting the Ranger, so now they're redundant and never actually hauled together.

If you're already towing, this probably isnt the truck for you. If you aren't towing, it provides an option to tow something if you have to. The reason I chose the Ranger is because it's cheap, gets good fuel economy, and has the capacity to grab full lumber sheet goods on my commute home. While I could find a 30mpg car for the same price, I'm still in the mid 20s. Maybe I could spend 30k on a newer F150 V6 and get similar, but then it costs 10x what I paid. Bulk space and handling scratchy cargo is the main goal. I think of the Slate as being what the Ranger should've been now.

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[–] [email protected] 14 points 4 days ago* (last edited 4 days ago) (7 children)

It only seats two yet has a bed big enough to hold a sheet of plywood. It only does 150 miles on a charge, only comes in gray, and the only way to listen to music while driving is if you bring along your phone and a Bluetooth speaker.

Instead of steel or aluminum, the Slate Truck’s body panels are molded of plastic. Or, as Slate calls them, “injection molded polypropylene composite material.” The theory is that this makes them more durable and scratch-resistant, if only because the lack of paint means they’re one color all the way through.

By eliminating paint, and thus eliminating the paint shop, Slate’s manufacturing process is massively simplified. So, too, the lack of metal body parts. “We have no paint shop, we have no stamping,”

[–] [email protected] 11 points 4 days ago (2 children)

Plastic with no paint is not going to do well in places like the Southwest. But I’m sure that getting it painted or wrapped won’t be a huge deal.

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[–] [email protected] 15 points 4 days ago (2 children)

You know what... Give me an option for a bigger battery, and ensure that replacement batteries are going to be available for a while, and I'll definitely look into it.

[–] [email protected] 12 points 4 days ago (1 children)

The article says they will have a 240 mile battery upgrade available at some point, that can be done at some yet undisclosed service center (article assumes a car service chain).

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[–] [email protected] 3 points 3 days ago

But does it break when water ?

[–] [email protected] 9 points 4 days ago (5 children)

How are they going to get around the backup camera requirement? I guess it could be done through your phone but that sounds like it might be a support nightmare.

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[–] [email protected] 3 points 3 days ago (6 children)

Because a decafe old TN panel touchscreen and a lick of paint was what made cars 70k.

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[–] [email protected] 7 points 4 days ago (1 children)

Wait. Why the hell wouldn't you paint it? Does it at least have a clear coat?

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[–] [email protected] 2 points 3 days ago

Good luck, independent car manufacturers usually get bankrupted out of business directly or indirectly by a market dominated by traditional car manufacturing lobbies designed to be replete with minefields that usually go up in difficulty just before it's supposed to reach mass production. There have been plenty of innovative EV designs that have died off because of this, and it's telling how much power those lobbies have when its the one thing countries will unite against to keep Chinese competition off of their borders.

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