@cars Bring back mini trucks! My 1990 ford ranger is everything a commuter should be. People do not need fast cars they need something reliable, fast enough to get you from point A to B, and a perfect sized bed to haul almost anything in your home. Driving is still a blast BECAUSE IT IS SLOW! If you have not driven a vehicle with less than 100hp then treat yourself to the joys of your nearest shitbox.
slate.auto
came here to say this. the only thing shitty about it that i’ve found is it’s bezo’s money behind it.
jay leno’s garage did an ok video about it last week. it was only ok because leno wouldn’t stfu. the truck seems pretty cool. i just wish someone would make a full bed ev truck. i’m not in it for the style, i need a vehicle to move full sheet goods with the gate closed.
@turdburglar @mortalic Ah man not another start promising startup ruined by big corpo. At least my local machine shop will make good money honing and decking the block and head.
Starting a car company requires an insane amount of funding. You’ll never find one that’s not working with shady billionaires.
I believe the slate is an ev if you’re talking about an internal combustion engine
@Cris_Color Slate is indeed an EV. I would still consider it if they keep all the extra unwanted technology away from it. Which is their selling point anyway. Just a bare bones simple electric vehicle with nothing special going for it. Expect forward reverse. Hopefully.
Maybe they meant the blockhead drivers :D
Jeff.Bezos
Don’t lock into an ecosystem run by Amazon and expect things to work out…
You know, I mostly agree. However, this truck is the only new car coming out that isn’t connected to anything. There is no modem. Hell you have to use your phone for even shuttling firmware to it. But honestly, what billionaire would be acceptable? I can’t think of any.
Again:
You really think Amazon of all corps isn’t going to release a decent product to get people invested in a high cost ecosystem and then get all shitty about stuff?
You’re buying a car where the only parts you can buy is from Bezos, 3 years down the road shit will not be the same as release day. But people will have sunk cost into the base model by then
You’re looking for perfect, I get that, but this is the only vehicle that won’t be connected to the cloud, has a company pushing right to repair laws, is allowing customers to do their own warranty work if they want to, giving you how to guides with a repair manual, providing .stl files for 3d printing parts and still selling the vehicle for under $30k.
Look man, take the progress when it’s here before you end up with tesla robotaxies you can’t even drive, cuz that’s what happens of consumers don’t buy this truck.
Eh. It’s the Frontier Airlines of Trucks. They’d charge extra for seatbelts and airbags if they could. By the time you’ve got a barebones usable vehicle from them you’re looking at $35k and you can get a lot more for that kind of money.
Every new vehicle other than the Slate is disqualified from potential purchase because of built-in spyware/telemetry. Doesn’t matter what sort of “value” they are, when they are categorically not fit for purpose.
I mean, in fairness I’d gladly trade a lot of features and crap I don’t care about for a more affordable truck. Are there specific features you feel like it’d need to have?
I think if I were in the market for it (am broke, and want a miata if I’m not) I’d be happy with just An Truck
Yeah, I simultaneously would like more features[1], but really for the most part would like fewer features. I like my electric windows, but frankly, I could live without them easily. Same with my power locks. And many other things to save weight and make for higher efficiency.
My 2013 Elantras were right before backup cameras were mandated and I’d like that along with native dashcams and other stuff. ↩︎
Backup cameras are mandated now? Wow, I had no idea that had happened- is that in the US or elsewhere?
I don’t mind having a backup camera, I prefer to look behind me, but they definitely have their advantages, like being able to see stuff lower to the ground, and making things way easier from an accessibility standpoint
I think the only real extra feature I really like having is heated seats, but those can be added to a car for like dirt cheap
I believe they were mandated in new cars sold in the US as of 2015. My two cars are 2014 model year. heh.
I’m lucky to have heated seats on both. Don’t need that very often, but it is nice to have :)
On backup cameras - I don’t need them, but I’ve gotten to park a pickup with them a few years ago and it was easier. So not a huge quality of life issue, but nice. :)
And Telo
@mortalic I am so excited to see them succeed! I have high hopes for them.
Indeed, their q/a where they said they would be releasing .STL files for people to customize and repair is pretty great. Its going to have a repair manual!
@mortalic don’t tease me with a repair manual!