alt.hn

6/26/2026 at 1:46:52 AM

Why the Slate Truck Only Costs $25K

 https://www.edmunds.com/car-news/2027-slate-truck-price-explained.html

by RickJWagner

6/26/2026 at 2:48:47 AM

Many people will be pleased to have a vehicle with no communication, sensor, or surveillance systems.

It's hard to estimate how important that might be now that all other cars force them on everyone.

by dtagames

6/26/2026 at 4:17:54 AM

It’s going to be very interesting. Has Slate identified an under-served market? Will they see mainstream success?

Or is this another iPhone Mini / Framework / sports wagon where a small, passionate minority ends up disappointed and angry that their priorities are not shared by the mainstream?

I sincerely hope for the former. We need lower-cost vehicles, I like diverse product offerings, and this is a purist’s take on a small truck. But then I like small phones, (the idea of) repairable laptops, and sports wagons.

by brookst

6/26/2026 at 4:33:04 PM

Strange to put Framework in this category... They seem reasonably successful and even the company I work at is switching to them.

by monkaiju

6/26/2026 at 7:31:18 PM

The iPhone mini was reasonably successful; it shipped more units than Framework has in the life of the company (about 15m iPhone minis based on reports of if being ~4% of iPhone 12 and 13 sales, vs hard to find estimates of Framework but none over 1m).

Framework is making a go of being a niche provider, which is great. But they are currently estimated to have less than 0.1% of the laptop market.

by brookst

6/26/2026 at 4:21:56 AM

> a vehicle with no communication, sensor, or surveillance systems

Do we know that? The website seems silent on the topic, unless I've missed something.

by wiml

6/26/2026 at 5:39:21 AM

As we used to say in the car business, "it comes with a heater and paint."

In this case, not even paint, but you can buy decals and wraps.

by dtagames

6/26/2026 at 11:37:42 AM

You must be very naive to think that this app that you would need for this vehicle won’t do all that.

by qsxfthnkp2322

6/26/2026 at 4:33:37 PM

It doesn't require an app, hell if you even want a modem in it you need to pay extra.

Edit: it only needs an app for updates, which isn't notably different than taking you older pre-modem cars into the dealer for updates. Also I can't find any evidence that the base model even has a GPS built in.

by monkaiju

6/26/2026 at 6:29:15 PM

Interesting. Well hope this is what lands. Tracking all metrics and location is a bit out of control

by qsxfthnkp2322

6/26/2026 at 8:27:01 AM

It's most likely will have comms. And it will make 0 difference for most people. Having your most expensive asset NOT have basic tracking is insanity. That said I'm all in for all of this to be easily disabled even tho I struggle to find a valid reason (in actual dictatorships you are fucked multiple ways anyway and in democratic ones you are about to do crime).

by dzhiurgis

6/26/2026 at 4:36:00 PM

Gotta get a GPS for my house lol

by monkaiju

6/27/2026 at 7:28:11 AM

Smoke alarm is already a legal requirement. HomePod already sends notifications to your phone when it triggers. Mine of course had false alarms while I was abroad, so I verified using air quality monitor I got for co2 that also does particles.

by dzhiurgis

6/26/2026 at 5:53:12 AM

I’ve never been a truck person, if I hadn’t just bought a car 3 years ago, I’d be eyeing this. If it’s still around and remaining true to form when I’m ready for my next vehicle it will be a serious contender.

Working from home, I don’t drive much. If I could not have a car at all, I would. Having a no frills truck, that’s isn’t an old beater in constant need of repair and maintenance, sounds really nice.

by al_borland

6/26/2026 at 2:54:56 AM

Does it fit a standard 4x8 sheet flat with the tailgate down?

(Anyone seen detailed dimensions specs?)

by Waterluvian

6/26/2026 at 2:58:16 AM

Easily found: https://www.slate.auto/en/specs

by gnabgib

6/26/2026 at 3:15:07 AM

None of that seems to answer my question.

by Waterluvian

6/26/2026 at 3:18:44 AM

Detailed dimension specs are.. right there.

Your other question is about.. bed vibes? That's not a real spec (for any truck builder). You can put a 100x4 sheet rock in any 4'+ wide bed.. best of luck to the person behind you. Don't forget the red flag (day) or light (at night).. in north america.

by gnabgib

6/26/2026 at 6:24:57 AM

Only the bed length is listed there. It’s insufficient data to determine whether a full size sheet of plywood will fit.

by otterley

6/26/2026 at 10:01:01 AM

the bed is listed as 5 feet long, and the entire truck a bit under 6 feet wide. so I don't think you can get something thats 4x8 feet to lay flat.

by RugnirViking

6/26/2026 at 4:06:06 AM

It seems like not quite.

The width is 50 some inches but the wheel wells are there so you may need some 2x4 or something to keep plywood from flexing over them. And the length of the bed isn’t near 8 feet so you’d need the bed open and the boards strapped in.

This jalopnik article had some helpful measurements: https://www.jalopnik.com/1845231/slate-pickup-bed-fit-every-...

by cherry_tree

6/26/2026 at 2:38:05 AM

Easiest decision ever to skip the infotainment system - your phone is better at that anyway.

The Slate is like the original Nintendo Wii - swapping sophistication for fun.

by JSR_FDED

6/26/2026 at 2:54:06 AM

This truck is remining me of the Yugo. When the Yugos were announced people were thrilled about the price. Unfortunately after they were in use people understood why they were so cheap, quality suffered and they were basically disposable cars. Cheap is nice in theory but eventually you wish for something a bit better.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yugo

by WheelsAtLarge

6/26/2026 at 4:26:39 AM

I actually think it is not cheap enough. Start adding basic, standard features and the price doesn’t look as competitive against legacy manufacturers. Do those manufacturers offer an equivalently cheap EV today? Maybe, but probably not. Though they could, and if they did, Slate is probably toast.

by germinalphrase

6/26/2026 at 5:41:37 AM

It seems unlikely they'll be like the Yugo. That car was produced in a low quality factory. This is a modern product from Jeff Bezos that has fewer parts, not just cheap, poorly made parts. Yugo was Yugoslavia's only car manufacturer. Slate competes with all the other US brands so it can't just be total garbage going in. That wouldn't make sense.

by dtagames

6/26/2026 at 6:21:52 AM

Bezos is just an investor; he played little part in its design or engineering.

by otterley

6/26/2026 at 2:55:29 PM

Yes, it's a very different environment from the state-run Yugo company that was a product of socialism and never could compete successfully in the market. That's not the situation for Mr. Bezos.

by dtagames

6/26/2026 at 3:32:45 AM

I also wonder if it will develop a negative stigma as a cheap beater truck used in company fleets and such.

by bicx

6/26/2026 at 2:52:00 AM

Price is nice to see. The cab design is from before the '90s though. That's to say, not much space and rather plain.

Also, like many contemporary vehicles it still has that snubbed nose design that limits vision of low profile objects in front of the vehicle. It's a design choice, not a necessity. Wonder why given it was a blank slate design,

by mc32

6/26/2026 at 2:57:57 AM

is this vehicle actually available for purchase at $24,950?

by sidewndr46

6/26/2026 at 3:24:17 AM

Preorder shipping late 2026

by jer0me