Slate, a customizable EV pickup for $20k
Range
- Small battery range: 240km
- Big battery range: 385km
Motor
- Motor: Single motor, rear wheel drive
- Power: 150kW
- Torque: 264Nm
- 0-100km: 8s
- Top speed: 145km/h
Dimensions
- Bed length: 1.5m
- Vehicle length: 4.4m
- Vehicle height: 1.8m
- Vehicle width: 1.8m
Comparison
- 2025 Kia Niro length: 4.4m
- 2025 Ford Maverick length: 5.1m
- 1985 Toyota Pickup/Hilux length: 4.7m
Weights
- Curb weight 1634kg
- Max payload 650kg
- Max towing 454kg
Charging
- Port: NACS
- Onboard charger: 11kW
- Level 1 AC, 3.6kw, 20-100%: 11h
- Level 2 AC, 11kW, 20-100%: under 5h
- Level 3 DC, 120kW, 20-80%: under 30m
Safety
- Traction Control
- Electronic Stability Control
- Forward Collision Warning
- Automatic Emergency Braking
- 2-stage Driver/Passenger Airbags
- Full Length Side Curtain Airbags (Truck 2) (SUV 4)
- Seat Side Airbags (2)
- Backup Camera
- Pedestrian Identification
- Auto High Beam
More info
https://electrek.co/2025/04/24/slate-emerges-modular-2-seat-ev-pickup-available-under-20k-video/Open linkView original on lemmy.today516
Comments205
Aside from being backed by Bezos, this seems like Lemmy the car. Under 20K, an EV, no stupid touch screen, designed to be repaired and modded, and even crank windows.
I bet the catch, aside from Bezos, is the range or charge speed.
I don't think that it has a cell modem, either, because it sounds like it eschews a baked-in entertainment computer:
https://www.caranddriver.com/news/a64564869/2027-slate-truck-revealed/
Honestly, if you took my last year of comments complaining about privacy-infringing cars and those complaining about changes to what a truck is, this does kind of look to be addressing both. Gotta see what the actual production vehicle is like in real life, of course, but...
https://cars.usnews.com/cars-trucks/advice/mini-truckin-returns-slate-unveils-old-school-style-affordable-electric-pickup
Yeah, like the "inexpensive, no-frills utility vehicle" that pickups originally were.
I mean, I get they need to cut costs, but come on.... a damn radio wouldnt have killed them
Honestly, as long as it's easily DIY upgradable (accessible speaker mounting locations, standard DIN panels, etc) I am all for this. Most OEM audio systems are stupidly overpriced and suck complete donkey balls compared to what you can get for a few hundred bucks at Crutchfield and install in an afternoon.
For the last 20 years or so, most factory audio systems are so integrated into the rest of the electronics that they can be an absolute nightmare to upgrade unless you are a pro, which means you get the worst of both worlds: garbage audio, AND a steep upgrade path.
I agree, and everyone basically want Apple/Android CarPlay units anyway. The hard part will be getting a wiring harness installed, unless there is some space provided in the dash (putting speakers or anything else in a door is really annoying for the experienced, and too tall an order for the beginner.
The Citroen AMI doesn't have speakers either, it comes with a Bluetooth speaker instead, which you can use outside the car. It makes sense if you just think of the entertainment stuff as something that shouldn't be part of the car and can easily be upgraded/replaced down the line.
Agreed. It's a car. I have an entertainment system at home and great speakers for listening. Cars suck for actual listening quality anyways.
You spent hours in that thing and phone speakers are not made to be louder than traffic and drive noises, especially not for so long. Also a radio offers traffic and accident news from local stations. And if they cheap out on speakers I am quite sure they also don't offer USB ports to charge the phone you run in lieu of a build in system
I definitely read an article somewhere where it says that they provide USB power for the tablet/phone.
kagis
This article has it:
https://www.roadandtrack.com/news/a64580484/slate-truck-ev-pickup-truck-suv/
EDIT: I think that a better criticism is that this thing is just a prototype, still almost two years away from mass production, assuming everything goes right for them. Like, they could have any number of things go wrong (the Trump tariff situation, for one...hard to have any idea where things will be). It could be that they crash into problems trying to get mass production going. It could be that they can't hit their target price point.
Speakers are optional. I built one on their site. Speakers are available.
They shouldn't be an upgrade. Basic speakers are like 50 bucks, for an item that costs 20k, thats a drop in the bucket
This vehicle is clearly meant as an errand truck, not a roadtripper. It wasn't that long ago when base model work trucks didn't have a radio or speakers installed.
Quit getting pissy over something that doesn't even exist yet.
Didn't some Scions come with no radio? The idea being they were targeted at younger folks who were more likely to customize their stereo, so "no stereo, but all the speaker grilles and mount points for one" is a bit like the "no operating system -$211" option on a Laptop. Happy Linux user noises.
You can get them, but I kind of like the idea of just a Bluetooth third-party speaker
So it's not coming to Europe then.
Is there a requirement for big brother data tracking over there?
Cars must be able to autonomously call emergency services. You don't need a SIM for that, or for that matter have the modem switched on all the time.
I'm from the states, but what's stopping one from removing the modem or snipping the antenna?
Possibly, technical inspections. I'm not sure whether it's a requirement for cars to be street legal or just a requirement for cars to be sold on the market. The regulation only mentions that it's about type approval but it's not like modifying a car automatically nullifies its type approval.
Certainly would be hard to argue for authorities that snipping the eCall would endanger others, similar situation as with seat belts I don't think legislation is unified there.
They sell emergency car lights that you pop up on top of the car ala secret police (but yellow). They have a modem that when activated automatically notifies the road services of you being there stopped.
No but the emergency assistant system is required, and for that you need a cell modem.
100% in agreement with all your points. Simplicity and modular! Look how well the original mustang did, because you could actually get what you wanted. That has disappeared completely now
No, the catch is that it isn't real.
@ me when it's rolling off the production line.
Until then...
Yeah they said they're hoping to be producing them by 2026. So likely won't be available till 2027/28
I love this truck. I want one. It's just that it's a VC pump and dump.
Standard Range (52.7 kWh) (est.): 150 miles
seems like but manageable for most people
That's not 150 miles of actual driving range, it's more like 75-100miles of actual range.
They do say that they also offer a larger battery pack with a 240 mi range, but yeah, even so, it's not gonna be a great vehicle for long-distance highway travel compared to a current ICE vehicle. Fine for a commuter, though.
Don't buy a truck if you're just a daily commuter, that's just plain dumb. Get a BEV with much better efficiency and a tow hitch for the occasional needs.
A bacon egg vehicle?
Battery Electric Vehicle
But....it has a battery? What makes the difference?
Point me to an electric sedan I can buy for $20k and I will.
The truck form is just one of the body options for it. I mean, you can't get it in sedan form, but the website configurator thing has options for small SUV and fastback.
All are tall models with shit efficiency.
I do have a concern about that; a lot of pickup truck missions are go-and-get-it. The best lumber yard in my area just happens to be about 75 miles away. Not a problem for my S10, right on the cusp of what this thing can do.
That's 150 miles round trip, if you stop once to pee or whatever you can charge and boom, not on the cusp anymore
If you're the rare person who does 3 hours of driving without stopping then... Well, you do you
I've done that by car, motorcycle and airplane. Did two 3-hour legs on a motorcycle in the same day, out and back.
My car doesn't even go >200mi but I've driven it on multi-thousand mile trips with no problem.
I very much doubt their target market is people commuting to the office.
I want it as a commuter because it's cheap and can be used as a weekend project truck. The second part isn't necessary, but it's nice to not need to rent one.
It's 150 miles of rated range, presumably according to the EPA standard, just like every other EV is rated. The EPA standards have recently been updated to reflect more accurately.
Yes, and yet it is still so very far from reality when it comes to BEVs. It's fine when comparing cars because it's a well defined standard, but it's terrible at indicating actual range especially if you don't live in dry warm climate.
It's really not. You can't account for climate with a single number. That's why standards exist.
A lot closer to 125 miles of real driving range on my 2018 leaf, and that's an older car on older tech in not-quite-snow and on hills in the winter
well its less it doesnt have a touch screen, the touch screen is an optional purchase.
the range iirc in some overview is 2 options, one was i think 150mi, the other was 240mi
From my other link, I don't think that the touch screen is an optional purchase. I don't think that they're selling any entertainment computer to have a screen on. It says that they come standard with a smartphone mounting point or optionally with a tablet mounting point. But the car computer is bring-your-own, and not built into the car. Which...is what I've wanted, because computers age out a lot more quickly than cars do.
I assume that there'll be an OBD-II slot that one can hook up to to feed data about the car to the phone/tablet. There's software that can make use of that. Dunno if there's any other data typically exposed to car computers other than what that provides.
China is already making better cars for way less, but I guess the good thing for them is that they won't sell to the US.
No, there is no optional touch screen. The one featured in their media is a phone/iPad running the Slate app.
As long as it gets 50+ miles range reliably in winter, it's perfect as a commuter/weekend project truck. I generally look for 150 miles range for this, since winter can cut effective range in half. I don't care about charge speed since I'll just plug it in at night.
Good news, its range is 150 miles.
I mean Bezos backed Rivian too. Or Amazon did, anyway.
Supposedly, there’s a display on the instrument cluster for the backup camera.
It has a camera on the tailgate and the instrument cluster is a display.
Please keep in mind that this is after tax incentives. So let's just assume the tax incentives are zero and call it 27,000 just to be on the safe side.
Looks about right.
https://www.caranddriver.com/news/a64564869/2027-slate-truck-revealed/
Soooo $27,499?
Elon: I'm going to rule America to make people buy my shit.
Trump: I'm removing EV tax credits.
Elon: Why is nobody buying my overpriced deathtraps?
Cool but now I’m worried this is being spammed everywhere. New capitalism marketing at foot?
yea im already slightly tired of seeing this truck after the day(s) it's been promoted.
Really? This is the first place I've seen it. Then again, I use an ad blocker everywhere.
Every news website is covering it. I think I've spotted most of 10 articles around the place.
The law of well-marketed unreleased goods dictates that this vehicle is not going to meet any of the promises mentioned in the articles. I hope to be proven wrong, but just like video games: don't pre-order, wait for it to come out and be reviewed.
Yeah, the only thing I've pre-ordered in the last few years is my Steam Deck. I think it's also generally a good idea to avoid gen 1 of pretty much everything.
I've seen it several times on Lemmy, Reddit, my news feed, my bloody RSS feed....etc
And I block ads., I don't see ads, but now social media in general is just half astroturfed ads.
Whoa, now that raised an eyebrow. Doesn't look like the truck bed is ridiculously high. This checks a lot of boxes, and my crap vertebrae agree.
Definitely following this company.
It's smaller than the Hyundai Santa Cruz; my dad has one of those, and it's not very big (smaller than a Ranger).
This truck is positively tiny.
I want one.
Under $20k after federal incentives*
Yeah, this is my issue with the government incentives for EVs, especially now that they are more common and can be deducted from the sale price. Most retailers are just jacking up the price to whatever the cap for the rebate is while pretending it's still a good deal.
I hardly think $27.5k could be considered "jacking up the price" but I also don't appreciate advertising pricing that is dependent on a government incentive that may not even exist when the vehicles are actually delivered.
This is the same argument used for blaming the cost of college on government loans for education, for $$$ housing prices in cities that offer low income subsidies, for food prices due to food stamps...
Those programs do have an effect on pricing. Not 1 to 1 with the cost subsidization and even if it does there's plenty of arguments to keep programs like that around.
However I'd rather see moves made to encourage positive behaviors, like purchasing an electric vehicle, that didn't translate into a dealership subsidy.
239 miles / 150 miles for big/small battery in angry eagle units.
What if, and here me out here, what if, and that’s a crazy thought, what if cars don’t have be ridicules in size and battery capacity is actually used more efficiently rather than carrying dead weight.
But I need my land barge to potentially carry 9000 pounds and 6 people for at least 400 miles without a break, even if I can barely manage to satisfy one of those criteria once a year. Otherwise it's a miserable failure that must be mocked.
Fuckin' seriously. I've got friends who are like "I wouldn't even consider an electric car until they have 1000 miles of range and can charge in fifteen minutes," like bruh, you make two road trips a year and have four kids; even if we pretend you weren't a two car family that takes the minivan anyway when you're traveling, there's no way your kids are making it a quarter of the range you "need" without stopping.
Then you may be interested in this vehicle. It's about as long as the Kia Niro at 4.4m.
I mean, even in a 5 seater sedan, you're gonna be carrying dead weight. Are you suggesting everyone ride bikes or motorcycles instead?
Tbh, I'm super into this. Especially if the range could be extended slightly or if the truck is somewhat hackable.
But then... Bezos. Ugh.
No mention of safety in the article. Does a manufacturer of this size have to do crash tests?
Also, this sounds like the Spirit/Ryanair of cars. Everything costs extra.
For years, I drove ~10-20 minutes to and from work. Mostly stroads and freeway. I could never justify buying an extra nice car because I didn't use it that much. Same for a nice car stereo. I'd just listen to NPR and talk radio for news, traffic reports, and maybe a quirky story about some cultural oddity or eclectic artist. If I spend thousands on a sound system it goes in my house, where I live and vibe. Now I work from home, ride my bike everywhere, and a tank of gas can easily last me a month. My current car was purchased for about $20k. If my car died for some reason, I don't even know if I'd be willing to part with 20k to replace it. I appreciate that these guys are building something for ordinary people and not another faux luxury lifted minivan the size of a garbage truck.
I can see a lot of retired people buying one of these to drive to their once a week bridge tournament or bingo night.
They would be far better served with a regular car instead of a pickup
Luckily you can add a hardtop and seats (and airbags!) to the rear to make it into an SUV. Appears to be a modular design.
I would seriously consider this little thing if 1) it actually happens at that price point and 2) retains this modular design (lmao)
Though I would prefer an AWD option. I do like to take my vehicles off-road...
If you need a car just once a week you shouldn't own a car at all. Take the bus!
You are assuming everyone lives within a mile of a bus stop and has a safe road with sidewalks or bike lanes to get to that bus stop.
Indeed
The majority of people in the US don't have access to busing.
They say they're shooting for a 5 star crash rating.
I believe so if they want to be highway legal.
I want this to be successful
Where’s the bullet point for Bezos? Hard pass if that shit bag is involved in anyway.
He's a billionaire, and he's a normal billionaire at that. Investing is literally the only thing they do.
This was the standout spec that might make me consider one.
I've been looking mainly at small hatchbacks/SUVs, and they all seem to weigh in at over 1800kg. And many are over 2000kg. Excluding Aptera...
What makes that spec a priority for you?
Tires? General handling? Crash safety for others?
+1
Weight is everything. Removing it makes almost literally every aspect of a car better, and it’s usually a terrible negative for EVs.
Interesting! I must say I never considered it. My kia soul EV was heavy but handled very well. Loved that thing.
Oh yeah, its more than that. Low weight helps acceleration, braking (so safety), handling, range, wear on every component, and most of all, cost. The same sized tires will need less pressure, wear much less, and grip harder. If the car is lighter, you don't need as stiff a chassis, nor as much braking to lock the wheels, less battery, motor, which means you can take even more weight off the car... You get where I'm going.
Racecars are fast because they are light, not because they have big engines and expensive bodies. Little 1500lb cars can lap a $3 million 1500hp (and quite heavy, because of all the stuff in it) Bugatti around a track.
Heavy cars can handle OK, but the cost is big.
EVs have a very low COG due to the batteries being at the bottom of the car. This is a good thing for handling but making them lighter would be even better.
Weight affects basically everything. Less weight means less cost to buy, better range, better handling, less cost of maintenance (brakes, tires, etc), better safety, less getting stuck off-road, and so on..
Others have answered this well already 👍
.
? I don't know what that means.
I was putting that comment up to come back to see what the guy above you answered your question with.
Have you tried the "star" feature? That does exactly what you're looking for, but without useless posts.
Nope never have. I'm using boost app. What is it,
It saves the comment/post, and you can find them later by going to your profile.
Here it is in the mobile version of the web app, it's the star. Click that, and then you'll see then under your profile -> saved.
Since that is a full stop, maybe it means having to stop all that weight when braking?
In that case AWD and ABS are more important than curb weight.
Everyone seems to hate this thing based on marketing but I actually kind of liked the looks of it, sigh.
Yeah, what's wrong with it? It looks like a simple truck for around town use, and it's fairly cheap.
My only deal breaker is the lack of 4x4. I love this truck, but I will not buy a truck without 4 wheel drive.
What do you need 4x4 in a truck this small for?
Rwd is shit in the snow and other low traction environments. Also, just to take out in the woods and have fun beating it up overlanding.
Are you really going to take it into the woods with just two seats, mediocre suspension (likely, given the limited payload and towing), and limited range? Just get a Polaris side-by-side or something, they're built for that.
I get it, a cheap truck is appealing, but at this price target, it's going to make a lot of compromises. It should do fine in plowed roads (might need sandbags in the back though), so it'll probably be fine for around town use, which seems to be its target.
Yeah, lol, I probably would. Unless they do something weird, suspension and wheels can be upgraded, and they have a battery/range upgrade that can anso preclude the need for sand bags. But yeah, I probably would.
Also, a sxs needs a trailer and a truck to get to the woods, and I have nowhere to store a trailer and a sxs.
With the motors and battery being on the backend of the truck, wouldn't that give you better traction on the back wheels over the front wheels?
I'm not sure how the weight is distributed, so maybe? Maybe it needs sandbags in the front?
Either way, it sounds workable as an around town truck, even in snow, without 4WD.
Same. I would like to have a 4WD overland rig that doesn't pollute the air while I enjoy nature. Don't tell the guys over at ![email protected] this but I kinda want a Rivian R1S but with a near $100K USD price tag, It's probably never going to happen. I'll just stick with eMTBs.
I love this thing too hell and back. This is exactly what I want in a car/truck.
I struggle to understand the point of a truck that can only tow 500kg… that and such awful range. If the range were doubled this would be a great deal, but as is it’s just dead in the water.
That's because you're thinking of trucks used first and foremost for heavy duty "truck stuff." That is not the only market for trucks, at least in the US: https://www.thedrive.com/news/26907/you-dont-need-a-full-size-pickup-truck-you-need-a-cowboy-costume
It can probably tow more, usually 500 kg is like the bare minimum for American cars. Also us towing standards are a bit more strict. A car in the EU is rated to tow more than a car in the US, even if it's identical.
Even if it were 1000kg, that’s still way below what a truck would want to tow though.
Depends on the truck owner. It's not going to haul a boat, but it can probably do lumber (though the bed is kinda short and narrow), gardening stuff, and camping gear. That's basically what I'd want a truck for, plus the odd piece of furniture.
Treat it like a base Chevy S10.
$20k with some cargo for a car is pretty good. If you need a F150, then you'll have to pay for one.
I mean, are there any cars available in the US for just $20k? I'm pretty sure a base Mazda 3 was more than that when we bought ours five years ago (before the pandemic, and ours is a higher trim model). I don't think they're making the really small cars any more (like the Toyota Yaris).
Short version, I'm skeptical of this price point for even a small pickup. Great if they can do it.
Electric? Nothing under 20k that’s new. We had a Chevy Bolt on the market at 28k, but it’s discontinued now.
I meant including gas.
Looks like there's one, the Nissan Versa.
Low towing capacity and an outrageously miserable bed size. Less than five feet? The powertrain of this should have been put in a station wagon, not a "truck."
There used to be a market for small trucks which has all largely evaporated. I'm all in favour of a smaller utility truck with limited range. Something like this would be ideal for my business.
Sounds like the consumer version of the DHL StreetScooter Work (L), with those even the passenger seat is an optional extra. Trouble was that while it's the perfect vehicle for last-mile distribution routes most companies doing that kind of thing (like bakeries) don't have the finances to back up an actual car producer, and DHL didn't want to become a car producer. Taking over the company to get their hands on the trucks, yes, but bringing it to scale so they wouldn't have to subsidise it? Not their business. And German car manufactures don't want to build it because small bare-bones vehicles don't have margin, anything smaller and less fancy than an actual van doesn't make sense to them given the fixed cost of their production lines. Don't worry, though, the inventor got the rights back, production is moving to Thailand, new vehicle is in the pipeline, with the core components (chassis etc.) designed for a 50 year lifetime. I'm sure DHL will figure out how to deliver delivery vans.
availability slated for Q4 2026
I see what you did there.
Very interesting, but please give me power windows and a dumb infotainment unit that does Android Auto/CarPlay. No Internet connection. No integration with the rest of the car.
Available as optional extras
and lose the blinding headlights and automatic high beams
After seeing announcements and headlines like this for over 10 years and just about nothing available for sale I just kind of yawn Now. Good way to raise some venture capital though. does it have AI? let's do this
AI catalytic converter technology!
Is this a $20k kit car or a $20k truck that they build for you?
Both options available
Hmm, apparently so. I am going to assume if they build it for you it'll cost more. Also I found the configurator
This is my ideal build: https://www.slate.auto/share/5VXBMW
I could barely make it out, but the tires on this build here are 255/70R17, which are effectively 31" tires. Great size. I was just talking to my wife last night about how I'd absolutely DD an older Jeep Cherokee XJ, slightly lifted on 31s (I used to have a 1998 XJ just like that), but the fuel economy would be abysmal at best. This thing, however, optioned with the big battery, would cost me roughly $10 at most to charge from empty to full, which is really nice.
The lack of AWD is a bummer, but not entirely a deal-breaker. I'd absolutely rock this little thing on some of the local 4WD trails.
This is actually pretty cool and makes sense. Can’t wait to see what the 3D printer community does with this if the dash can be customized with accessories. Anyone know when a test drive would be covered?
Car dependency is a dead end for humanity regardless of what shit-boxes they manufacture.
For urban environments I 100% agree, but e-bikes and public transport can't help farmers* get their produce to market. I don't know much about this truck, but if it can fill a similar niche as the Japanese kei truck, I think it's great to provide people who actually need a pickup with an alternative to the F-150+ behemoths currently available stateside.
*Yes there are some urban farms that totally could operate via ebike/other form of micro mobility, however most farms, even small ones, are located >10 miles outside urban centers, usually in areas only accessible by roads and highways that are currently very dangerous for non-motorized transportation modes. Fixing this problem would take decades and hundreds of billions if not trillions of dollars even if the government were fully on board with the transportation network and/or land use changes necessary to allow for a true car-free society (which of course they aren't). I'm not such an idealist as to poo-poo a significant short-term improvement to the "oversized working vehicle" problem.
Agreed. Whether everyone should be driving everywhere is a completely separate problem. In the short term, people need replacements for current ICE vehicles, and an inexpensive truck that runs on electricity is fantastic while we figure out the rest of the issues.
I'm guessing eventually farmers won't need trucks, they'll need bots that fulfill that need instead.
I don't think that tractors will ever go the way of the dodo and when you have proper logistics, say a reasonably dense S-Bahn type rail network that can also handle shipping individual containers, a tractor and a trailer is all you need as you only have to haul to the next logistics hub and there's no truck load even 100 year old tractors can't tow: When you can pull a plough through soil torque isn't something you need to worry about, 20 horses at 5km/h go vroom. 20 horses! Do you know how much those eat.
It's hard to guess the future, but I imagine once we have automated farming, things like tractors will look a lot different. Right now, farmers need versatile equipment for a variety of tasks (plow, till, plant, etc), whereas an automated farm would probably prefer dedicated machines for each. The farmer would become more of a mechanic/planner than the one directly running the equipment.
I don't know how far out that is, but I imagine once we get reasonable self-driving cars, farming will be the next up.
Modern tractors already self-drive on the field, fertiliser is applied in tightly controlled doses based on aerial analysis, that future is already there. You don't plant or fertilise at the same time as you plough so it makes sense for those things being attachments, not integrated machines. The reason combine harvesters are dedicated machines is because they do so much in one go it doesn't fit into a (sensibly sized) attachment.
You could also have drones distribute that fertiliser but you can't work the soil with them, and you already have a tractor to work the soil with so you can just as well use it to apply the fertiliser. There's also tons of odd lifting and transporting jobs on farms, that's why there's forklift attachments. You'll need something with torque, low ground pressure, PTO and attachment points and well that's a tractor.
My understanding is that the current design is merely an evolution of regular human-controlled machines, and they still need to be able to operate w/ a human inside. Once you remove the human from the equation, the design space opens up quite a bit, and you optimize for different things. Since things would likely be battery powered, maybe you'd want more, smaller devices so they don't take as long to charge.
I don't know, I'm not a farmer. My point, however, is that once we trust machines to operate w/o humans in control, things are likely to change a lot.
Gotta say, this should be a huge red flag for everyone. Soil quality is declining sharply, and fertilizers simply aren't making up the difference. Switching to robots farming will almost certainly accelerate this.
Under solutions, there, is written "compost" and "animal manure". That's fertiliser. Import-dependent agriculture is a whole another topic and I didn't want to get into it, but long story short, no matter how good and natural your soil management is you can't expect to export nutrients all the time and not develop a shortage. You can pull nitrogen out of the air, that's nice, but you can't do that with phosphate and minerals in general. Good news is that good water treatment plants will pull phosphate out of the waste water.
Some of us live in spread out communities or rural areas. You don't expect all humans to live in a 2x2 ft cube in a 30 story tall building do you? Also, I guarantee not everyone else wants to live right next to other humans. I try to get as far as possible so I can do anything I want (be loud, be outside at any time, have parties etc). There is actually enough livable land on the planet for every single human to have 2 acres worth. Now, should people have children when there is already billions of us, that's another question.
According to this guy, you are the reason humans will die
What's the solution for transport around farms and factories and such then? Trucks will always be needed.
Or for people in rural areas? Its 10 miles to the grocery store for me, if there was a bike lane or something I'd love to ride an ebike when I have the time and in the summer. But certainly not in the winter, or when I'm short on time and don't have 1+ hours to bike there.
What is up with those pickup trucks anyway? Why do so many people in the U.S. (and elsewhere) buy them?
Everything that you put in the back is subjected to weather and one of first additions people buy is a cover.
Compare that to a mini bus or transporter, you can transport as much or more than with a pickup truck, protected from weather, and you can add or remove chairs, if you need to transport people.
If you have a transporter, you can also much easier furnish the inside with racks etc, to improve space use.
Like what? And is that a common use case?
Or just put down a nylon sheet, put the dirt on top, fold the nylon sheet over it and bind it down. Now it is covered under and over and will not fly around.
In most cases I guess people will just buy prepackaged earth in bags. That also doesn't fly around.
Sure, if you are one of the very few people that work in the woods or on a field, where this common use case, then alright. But that would not explain why those cars are so common.
Buy a bus with removable carpet, then you can just hose it down as well. Many buses have a small step, which separates the cabin from the back, so water will not flow into the cabin.
There are many different rear door types and sliding side doors on the side that provide ample and easy access. This isn't difficult or complicated.
That didn't convince me that pickup trucks are not a very specialized vehicle for just some uses, while transporters and mini busses are much more useful for all kinds of purposes. Be it furniture, tools, sport equipment, electronics and other sensitive equipment, and people. While also being good at hauling the occasional dirty stuff, if you just put something underneath.
Furniture is what comes to mind
Sure, you could do that, or you could use the right vehicle for the job.
Until you want a pallet of something. Would be nice if that van had a removable roof so they could just drop it in there 😉
What it comes down to is that trucks are versatile and people like them for it. If you don't see utility in having open access, then that's fine, but a lot of people do.
One thing that makes me nervous is that there are so many screws exposed. It seems like it would be really easy for thieves to just walk up with a hex key and steal your bumper or panels.... 🤔
The panels are plastic, so while this is a concern, they probably wouldn't get much for them. Bumper I'm less sure about.
A buddy of mine got his Tacoma tailgate stolen in broad daylight during a kid's football game... I hope any really valuable parts are secured...
You can already theoretically do this with the doors on a Jeep, but it hasn't exactly turned into an epidemic.
Use some Rokset on all your fasteners; the only way to break the threadlocker is with heat, and heat would also destroy the bodywork. So you could still replace damaged panels, but you couldn't steal them.
Elon now bezo. Noice
Toyota Tacoma didn’t exist in 1985. The first model year was 1995. Did you mean a 1985 toyota pickup/hilux?
Whoops! I did mean the Toyota Pickup. Thanks! https://www.iseecars.com/car/1985-toyota-pickup-dimensions
At least tell me there’s a DIN slot in the dashboard. As long as I can connect my phone via Bluetooth I’m good.
150kWatt and a top speed of 145? That's kind of insane?
Wait a minute, mph not km/h I guess.
Yeah, 145km/h might be a liiitle under powered. I drive between 120km/h to 130km/h on the US interstates.
How are you doing kph in the US?
Squinting your eyes on the smaller numbers on the speedometer. I do it all the time!
Be careful, you might get pulled over for doing kph instead of mph in the US.
No imperialist (system) is going to stop me!
So you're saying your car is able to use mph when in the US? Fancy car!
Btw, I was trying to make a joke about mph being some different kind of "fuel" that's not compatible with kph, in case that wasn't clear.
Every car I've owned has had a way to change the speedometer from freedom units to ✨ metric ✨ .
For knowing what speed I should be going, I roughly follow these numbers. (Note, these are not equivalent.)
Also, very roughly 10km ≈ 5mi.
However, most of the time I just follow the flow of traffic.
I voluntarily switched to metric like 10 years ago, so meters, celsius, grams, etc make more sense to me now.
You missed the joke.
I was making a joke as if kph and mph were physically distinct things and only one of them worked in each country.
Something like this I imagine I'd be happy with. A sedan/crossover and this. Wouldn't take it out the county. Just trips to hardware/gardening stores and moving furniture. More than enough range and speed to go to work too. Any long drive I'd probably get an Accord hybrid or something. 2 vehicle family
Same. We have two cars and three kids. One needs to be comfortable for longer trips, camping, etc, and the other just needs to go to work and back. This would be perfect for the second, and double as a furniture, garden stuff , dump, etc hauler around town.
I personally hate trucks, but this is in the price range and could be handy.
I've heard this song before. Lordstown Motors, for example.
If they can get some trucks rolling out the door, I'll get interested real quick.
Absolute dream. Please build it!!
If pickups and other monstrosities were limited to people that can prove they need it, or even just to professionals, we wouldn't need the stupid paradoxical concept of an EV pickup. Like "oh my flame thrower that I use to light birthday candles runs on biofuel, so we're good"
What's wrong with an EV pickup? Pickups are incredibly useful, and if it's an EV, it could also be a commuter. I don't need a truck very often, so I tend to rent when I need one, because they're so terrible on fuel. But if it's an EV, there's a chance it's reasonably efficient, so I could use it as my commuter and occasional dump/furniture store/hardware store/nursury run vehicle.
This isn't going to attract those dudes who like to lift their trucks and piss off everyone on the road, this is too small for those egos. This is going to appeal to people who need a truck for local use, like small business owners and DIY types.
How many people actually need them though? You are one individual making your case, there are millions on the roads.
I once moved a small fridge in my Honda civic
Millions of 2 passenger trucks that can barely tow an empty trailer? This isn't something your average "truck enthusiast" will want, this only really appeals to people who will actually use it.
I actually think for once, you guys do it
Here ya go, plenty of freedom units.
0-60mph is mostly deprecated these days in favor of 0-62mph, which just so happens to be the same as 0-100km/h --- what a coincidence!
They specified 1 significant figure --- at that level it's the same.
It’s not a truck to me if the bed can’t fit a sheet of plywood.
EDIT: which you will see it cannot if you look at the dimensions listed. Plywood is 48”x96”
It can fit a sheet of plywood.
https://www.theverge.com/electric-cars/655527/slate-electric-truck-price-paint-radio-bezos
Look closer and read the dimensions. The Verge say “it can hold a sheet of plywood” in text but if you look at the dimensions, there isn’t 48” of space between the wheel wells, so it has to be propped up on them seesawing back and forth. And there is not 96” of length to support it, even with the tailgate down. At best you could limp home with one sheet rocking around, sticking out behind you. Forget transporting a stack.
It’s yet another urban toy truck that’s not equipped for actual utility.
Doesn't that guy know?! He's not getting any actual utility from this truck! 😱
I might be impressed by a truck that could haul a cooler, an empty plastic barrel, and a crate at once. But the lack of any tie-downs for those straps makes my point well for me. Thanks.
You can get it equipped with tie bars, or hooks that attach to the linear mounts lining the inside
That's it right here boys and girls. The only defining factor for utility: Can it fit a sheet of plywood. God help you if you just prop it up - you gotta limp it home if you do that! Needs to sit flat in the bed!
Everything else is a fucking toy.
Exactly. Thank you.
Ahh, I see. That is a shame. The Verge should have pointed that out
You could maybe interest me in a compact pickup truck that has a bed designed to hold plywood flat on a sort of shelf around the perimeter at the height of the top of the wheel wells, maybe with some kind of support that can span the space between the wheel wells, leaving space beneath for studs. But with a 5 foot bed...yeah remember the Geo Tracker?
Yeah, that's disappointing, and the maximum payload/tow capacity significantly under a ton is also a bummer. I may still need to rent a truck if I get this, but it could handle a lot of my local hauling needs.