Slate Truck on Jay Leno’s Storage Places a $25K DIY Pleasant EV Pickup Again on the Desk : Automotive Addicts
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Jay Leno simply gave viewers an early take a look at one thing that sounds nearly too wise for at the moment’s EV market: the Slate Truck, a bare-bones electrical pickup prototype aiming to begin round $25K and keep underneath $30K. Inbuilt Warsaw, Indiana, the entire pitch is about chopping the bloat out of contemporary autos and bringing the entry value again right down to earth, particularly when the common new-car transaction value retains hovering across the $50K mark.
As a substitute of chasing flashy screens and complex trim walks, Slate’s crew is leaning into what they name “design for manufacturing.” The truck is constructed round a modular strategy the place each unit begins off equivalent on a simplified meeting line, then homeowners can personalize it afterward. Within the video, which means all the things from changing it into an SUV-style setup to going open-air, utilizing flat-pack kits which are designed to be put in at house. It’s a build-it-your-way concept that feels extra just like the early days of tuner tradition than a typical new-car launch.
What actually grabs our consideration is the right-to-repair angle. Slate describes the truck as “open supply,” with an strategy that encourages homeowners to deal with their very own guarantee repairs if they need, or take the truck to one in every of roughly 4,000 unbiased outlets as a substitute of being locked into costly seller service lanes. Pair that with a producing technique that ditches the normal paint store by leaning on tool-impregnated colours and wraps, and you may see how they’re making an attempt to assault the associated fee drawback from each route.
On the sensible aspect, Slate talks about two battery choices, with ranges focusing on roughly 150 miles or 230 miles, plus liquid cooling and entry to the North American Supercharger community. They’re additionally claiming the minimalist design doesn’t imply unsafe, with engineering targets aimed toward a 5-star crash ranking and beta prototypes already in testing. Essentially the most stunning quantity is the claimed demand: over 150,000 reservations, which suggests there’s an actual urge for food for a easy, inexpensive electrical pickup that doesn’t really feel like a rolling tech subscription. If Slate can truly ship the worth and preserve the possession expertise as simple because it appears right here, this could possibly be one of many extra disruptive EV concepts we’ve seen shortly.
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Darryl Taylor Dowe is a seasoned automotive skilled with a confirmed monitor file of main profitable ventures and offering strategic session throughout the automotive business. With years of hands-on expertise in each enterprise operations and market growth, Darryl has performed a key function in serving to automotive manufacturers develop and adapt in a quickly evolving panorama. His perception and management have earned him recognition as a trusted skilled, and his contributions to Automotive Addicts mirror his deep information and keenness for the enterprise aspect of the automobile world.
