The Ford vehicle doesn’t seem like it will be nearly as simple as the Slate. That and Ford’s recent reversal of the Lightning program makes me less likely to consider that option if it materializes.
Wasn’t a big part of the problem with the Lightning the fact that it was hugely expensive? Ford appeared to be trying to make it the be-all and end-all of EVs, and that contributed to a big price tag.
All EVs are inherently simple in the basics. Reliability and durability is a whole 'nother matter!
Yeah, but Ford is cramming unnecessary crap into theirs already.
No thanks.
Then they’re really trying to compete with Tesla, not Slate. Bad decision, IMHO. And I bet that with all those doodads, even the basic model will end up being much pricier than Slate, despite current marketing claims.
Ehh, I’d say the Lightning was their competitor to Tesla - a big, feature laden truck with a price tag to match. The Fathom is going for the lower end of the market, but Ford is definitely putting as many do-dads on it as they can manage. That’s different from the Slate, which starts with the basics you need to legally put a vehicle on the road, and you can option it up as you like.
That makes sense, though. Ford has picked a bigger customer base as a market. That may not be everybody’s cup of tea, especially in this thread, but it’s not like they’re doing something unwise.
At least in the US, where customers have consistently said yes to the doodads and the no-frills market is not that large. YMMV elsewhere of course
I agree it is going to end up much more expensive than the $28,350 base price. Aside from delivery fees, I’ve seen things where there is a “base” car, but that car is not actually available to buy. The only ones you can buy have one of several mandatory option packages that start at $2500, or whatever.
Contrary, I think it is much easier for Ford to add accessories than Slate. Ford can put in the infotainment system from the Maverick and are only paying the unit cost for the hardware (and any software licenses). Up front development costs have already been paid for by other models, and ongoing are spread across multiple car lines.
Similar with the BlueCruise stuff. Build all of the cars with any extra hardware needed, and even if you don’t get the additional $2500 to activate it at the first sale, maybe you get $50/month later, or the next owner pays $500/year, or whatever. Mandated backup cameras and forward collision warning already mean some of the cameras and radar were going to be installed anyway.
And it seems like Ford is going to challenge them quite directly in the lower-cost EV Truck market:
A bit pricier, but with better features, and they say they’ll start selling them earlier, too. So could this suck up a significant portion of the market that Slate is counting on?
Obviously Ford is more likely to be around to support the vehicle than a startup like Slate. So that would be a consideration.
Ford also has the benefit of a dealer network, so test drives will be a thing. That’s the biggest head-scratcher of the Slate; how many people do they think will pay for a vehicle they’ve never even been able to sit in?
Plus, Ford probably won’t restrict themselves to only selling in the US.
I’m kind of semi- in the market for a smaller vehicle, and if I fit either one of these trucks, I’d give serious consideration to buying one. But there’s no way I’m buying one if I haven’t confirmed that I fit in it decently.
I wonder if Slate could offer something like short-term month-to-month leases early on so people could try them out, but not have to commit to a major purchase?
The first production run is probably going to be small, just by virtue of them being a new company. And they’ve probably gotten enough hype by now to completely sell that first production run to that small proportion of folks who are willing to buy sight-unseen.
At least some of those first-run buyers will be professional auto reviewers, and others will provide their amateur reviews. If those reviews are good, that should enable a larger second production run that also sells out. And if it does well, then I’d expect to start seeing dealerships (either their own, or partnered with some other company), with test drives and the rest, for the third and subsequent runs.
That Fathom is not really a truck. It’s a 4 door sedan with a wheelbarrow on the back, what, maybe 5’? How about get rid of the second set of seats and put a 7 or 8’ bed on the thing? I’d gladly settle for a jump seat set up with a 6’ bed. Like my Tacoma that worked as a truck and hauled my dog in the back seat.
A whole lot of people who buy pickups today never really use them as load-hauling vehicles. They don’t care much about a short bed.
That’s the truck I’d want, too, but unless you go back to 1994 or something, they don’t exist anymore. Just like SUVs are just minivans with long noses or wagons with high roofs, we now have trucks that are sedans with the trunk lid removed (Maverick, Santa Cruz), SUVs with an open cargo area (almost every four door model), and even some that are minivans (Ridgeline).
As much as a 4 foot bed seems silly, clearly it was what everyone else wants, because Ford can’t build enough Mavericks. The Subura Baja just came out a few years too early, but was a harbinger of what would come.
As I said upthread, what I’d like to see is a Slate with a 7 foot bed. Maybe it would do as well as other cars people asked for, like the Supra, and sell 5000/year.
At least for ICE vehicles, the “sedan without trunk lid” is entirely about CAFE regs w a nod to the fashion that trucks are in, cars are out.
It’ll be interesting to see how that plays out in EVs, where the CAFE stuff is simply inapplicable.
It took me a moment to register that ICE, in that post, meant “internal combustion engine”.
I thought about that possibility & almost fixed it. Oops.