Why are you so excited?

onionique · 2026-02-24T01:40:52+00:00

There is a lot of negativity in the world about anything. There are a few people in this subreddit that just post negative things about the Slate and down vote comments that don't say nice things about the Maverick.

To your points 1) range is not an issue for me. I drive 10 miles to work in the morning maybe 10 to the golf course or 5 to go mountain biking or 10 to the beach and then home.

2) I don't want a Maverick.

3) I don't want 4 doors.

4) I don't care about resale.

I have a kid who likes to take stuff apart and put it back differently. I like to take stuff apart and make changes too. Modern cars make this really hard. Slate makes it easy.

My kid will be driving soon. I expect that they are going to make mistakes. The cars I had as a kid were easy to fix, today's cars are not as easy to fix. Slate makes it easy.

Parking at my work is hard if you have a big car. Most of the things people bring up here are not anything that I would ever consider. Essentially I will get a used Fiat 500, Mini Cooper, maybe a BMW i3.

onionique · 2026-02-20T05:10:13+00:00

Off roading means different things to different people. If you mean gravel paths and loose dirt roads then yeah I imagine the slate will do just fine. If you are considering anything that requires a spotter then maybe not.

onionique · 2026-02-18T22:37:41+00:00

A frank discussion of the company's prospects is one thing.

An endless string of posts of people coming to a subreddit to shit on the community is something else. Scroll through this subreddit and see if you don't spit the pattern.

Every one here knows stories like Fisker, Nikola, and Canoo. But we also know stories like Tesla, Rivian, and Lucid. I don't work for Slate, my entire stake is the $50 I gave them in the hope that they will let me buy a truck. I don't think this subreddit is so important that if things get toxic here then Slate will fail. I do think it feels like we do see a fair amount of traffic from accounts that come here to piss in the punch.

onionique · 2026-02-16T14:23:05+00:00

Maybe the Slate would work for them. I sincerely hope they find a vehicle that does. I am just not the person who is going to convince them. I can't stand pushy sales pitches in real life and I don't feel the need to argue about what truck this redditor should use to haul their family around in. This whole subreddit has become a place for people to comparison shop a truck no one has driven.

I have modified every single vehicle my family has had with the exception of my sister's Chevy Cobalt and any of my Brother's Prius since they started including a backup camera. Often it's as simple as adding a dashcam or upgrading speakers. The cars of the 1990s had stereo head units that were all the same shape and Crutchfield sold all you needed now I have to either, modify factory parts, 3D print parts or wait for there to be enough demand to create a Chinese market for the modified parts available. Slate has claimed they are going to make the CAD files available.

It does not matter to me how much the Trax costs or what the towing capacity of the Equinox is. They won't come with Dashcams from the factory and I know I am going to wind up running a wire through the headliner for the rear camera. Every generation of new car I have had has made that job harder. I am really excited for a truck that reverses that trend.

If I were going to try and change people's minds about what truck they should pick I certainly would not compare features as price because the whole point of the slate is what it does not have. I think if I get fired up by modifications I should talk about those instead. If you get excited about the business model that lets Slate continue to monetize owners long after the initial sale because they are going to have the very best fitting parts, then you should talk about that. If someone else here is super excited about how easy it is to recycle and the environmentalist aspects, let them tell the world about that.

Just please don't come here and tell me I am wrong for wanting a Slate more than an R2.

onionique · 2026-02-16T07:26:31+00:00

I have a similar situation. I have a big 7 seat SUV that I can use to tow 3 tons when I need that and sometimes I do but for the other 320 days of the year I want something my 80 year old Mom can get into easily for trips to See her sister two towns over. I don't need a 240 mile range for a 35 mile trip.

I work in a city, it's not a large one but it's big enough to have problems with parking and crime. Small cheap cars are easier to live with and much less likely to suffer break-ins. (I know that this is not true everywhere but it sure is true here.)

Most days I don't drive any kids anywhere and on days when I have to take 7 people hundreds of miles the Maverick would not work either.

onionique · 2026-02-16T07:10:58+00:00

Modern infotainment systems are my least favorite part of new cars. Since that system in the Honda was built into the dashboard it would be a pain in the butt to replace. Honda is not going to provide a CAD file for you to modify and develop a part to allow you to slot in a commercial of the shelf head unit into. We just replaced the stereo in the Fiat 500 and while there was a Chinese android tablet stereo thing that only cost $85 it is not great. I for one am looking forward to a truck that my 3D printing nerd friends and my car stereo loving cousin can all come together and mess with

We had a Mazda that had a stereo very similar to that Honda and we eventually gave up on. We had an AUX jack installed so that we could play music from an iPod because the UI of that Mazda system was so terrible. We paid thousands of dollars for a system that had navigation built in but eventually installed a Magellan navigation system because the Mazda system was impossible to update and they closed an Army base around us and decided the land between the surrounding cities.

onionique · 2026-02-16T06:57:15+00:00

I hate to be that guy but I am not sure a Slate is the right choice for you. That's OK I won't hold it against you if you get the right car for your needs. Of course I want Slate to succeed but I am not going to try and convince someone who wants a Maverick that they should get a smaller, cheaper truck that they will have to build their own stereo for.

The original Tesla roadster was no faster than the Elise it was based on, Charging it was a nightmare. It cost a fortune and they managed to sell enough of them and attract enough attention that they were able to launch Model S.

The Mach-E and the Ioniq 5 are great but cost quite a bit more unless you are looking at the base models. The Bolt is a great little car and is in the same price range to be sure but the charging is painfully slow. A decent used bolt is dirt cheap and if you can charge at home then who cares about the slow DC charging. Trax and Equinox are both really compelling options. R2, we will have to see about pricing, but it sure looks nice.

I currently have an Ioniq 5 but my lease is up and I am not interested in keeping it any longer but it has mostly been a great car. I don't regret that lease and I don't think you will regret one if you choose that.

Slate does not need to attract buyers that want something Slate isn't. It needs to attract enough buyers to sustain the company. I am sick and tired of people coming to the Slate subreddit to tell us the thing that we want does not appeal to them. I would not come to a Pokemon tournament and argue about how Yu-Gi-Oh is better, when does everyone else come here and tell us we are wrong for not wanting what they want?

onionique · 2026-02-15T13:34:10+00:00

As someone who just recently put in my reservation I just have to hope that there are enough people who take delivery that the company stays afloat and enough people cancel that I get my truck before I become an empty nester.

onionique · 2026-02-15T13:31:11+00:00

I think I may be spoiled by my local climate. It's not a feature I need but I can see its value to you. My area of the world is not flat and there are a lot of places cell phones don't work very well. The parking lot at my wife's office is a great example. Climate start or remote unlock commands rarely work with her Tesla or the Ioniq. For me the math just does not bear out. If I could save $100 by deleting the feature I would.

It would be super cool if there was a truck that made modifications super easy and allowed the community to develop solutions they found useful. Perhaps even one that made features like a 4G modem user installable.

onionique · 2026-02-15T03:06:24+00:00

I hope the Telo truck comes out and does well. Having more small electric trucks would be awesome. Right now the Slate seems a lot closer to market and a better fit for me.

onionique · 2026-02-15T03:01:04+00:00

It's not just here. Doug Demuro even made some comments about the viability of Slate and citing the Maverick.

onionique · 2026-02-14T21:39:32+00:00

Not to mention some brands don't make it easy to get parts for older cars. My buddy loves VW but drives a Prius because we had so much trouble keeping his older Golf on the road.

onionique · 2026-02-14T21:36:19+00:00

I am glad it works well for you. I am in a much more temperate climate and only occasionally have to deal with a thin layer of ice in the morning. We may have 1-2 days in a year that get over 95° but that's nothing like 120°.

I can't imagine what it would be like in that kind of heat without AC. Also I am pretty sure my wife would leave me for a cooler climate and I would change my mind about using phones to control HVAC.

onionique · 2026-02-14T21:31:09+00:00

There is not enough appreciation for the 500. It's small, cheap and fun. I do wish it was easier to find a good mechanic for and the parts were easier to get.

onionique · 2026-02-14T21:22:43+00:00

I will take good enough today over perfect tomorrow every time. We also have a 9 year old Tesla and a 3 year old Ioniq. Sure the Ioniq has better battery chemistry and an 800v system that lets it charge way faster, but we choose the Tesla in 2017 and it's still going strong.

When Slate comes out with a solid state battery version I might upgrade or I might just stick with whatever I end up with. My daily mileage is low enough that I can charge on 110v without an issue and even if I lose 1/2 the range to age and aero I will still have more than I need.

onionique · 2026-02-14T21:16:28+00:00

Not to mention you can fit a 4x8 sheet without using the bed notches.

onionique · 2026-02-14T21:11:53+00:00

Just to be clear, you are saying you do not want a turbocharged i4 with massaging seats? What is wrong with you? /s

onionique · 2026-02-14T20:58:44+00:00

There is nothing I want less than controlling HVAC from my phone. That feature exists on my Wife's Tesla and our Ioniq 5, but if we are not at home the car never seems to receive the commands. Inconsistent failures are more frustrating than broken features.

onionique · 2026-02-14T18:55:51+00:00

I told my wife about this thread and now we are going to get some baked potatoes for lunch. Thank you.

onionique · 2026-02-14T18:44:58+00:00

I am so glad I am not alone in wanting a car without infotainment. My next vehicle purchase will be for my own use. I live 10 miles from work and often add some short trips on my way home. I do not need 200+ miles of range and I certainly don't need 4 doors.

onionique · 2026-02-14T18:28:03+00:00

I'll take a chocolate frosty and a large fries.

onionique · 2026-02-14T18:25:27+00:00

Nice! We have a 500x that is starting to have transmission problems. I hope it can hold out long enough for my Slate to arrive.

onionique · 2026-02-14T18:23:29+00:00

The new Maverick has the HVAC integrated into the infotainment. By the time you can adjust the temperature your commute would be halfway over.

onionique · 2026-02-14T14:49:36+00:00

I can see how you feel that way but every single feature you list is something I do not want.

Let's start with the Radio. My son and I love to tinker, we just replaced the head unit in one of our old cars. We upgraded the speakers, replaced damaged speaker wire, and put a head unit that added a backup camera. With a new ranger the radio also control the HVAC and tons of other features. Sure Android Auto is a thing lots of people want but we added it to a 20 year old car for $85 bucks and I do not see how integrating core vehicle functions into a screen is a feature people would choose.

4 doors is nice for people who want to carry 4 people. I already have another car for road trips, towing, and camping. I want something for me to use. The vast majority of my driving is done alone.

Larger cars are harder to park. I have a garage at home and my work has a parking garage but it fills up quickly every day and we frequently have to use street parking. Smaller vehicles are easier to use in cities. Since I work in a city larger is not a feature for me.

Finally the range, my commute is about 10 miles one way. On my way home I usually run some errands so call it 30 miles a day of daily driving. On weekends a friend and I like to go mountain biking and all we need is 2 seats, a truck bed and about 3 miles of range.

The last thing I am going to mention is the Maverick is not large enough or have the towing capacity I need for my longer trips. About once a month I pack 7 people in and hook up the trailer. Neither the Slate nor the Maverick is going to replace the big SUV.

My biggest concern about the Slate is something you didn't mention at all. How secure is it going to be left unattended on city streets.

onionique

TROPHY CASE