Similar to Framework, the upcoming Slate EV is modular and customizable. It will have no infotainment system and will cost between 20k and 30k. I can’t say much on how private the car or the company is myself, but there’s a few discussions about it on the subreddit and this forum (I don’t think either forums are officially operated by Slate).
It’s planned to be released late 2026 to 2027.
Initial production will start in late summer 2026, and low volume deliveries will begin in late Q4 2026. Reservation holders will be invited to place their orders in 2026 based on when you reserved and what region you live in. Higher volume production will ramp up in the first half of 2027. Everything is on track, and we’re working hard to hit those milestones.[1]
That’s interesting although a lot of parts of cars are controlled by computers and are networked these days not just the infotainment system, so remains to be seen how “dumb” it really is. But cool idea. Refreshing after the whole locking features behind a subscription situation cars are in nowadays.
New cars sold in the UK must have telemetry features such as a cellular SOS button. Any vehicle built in volume cannot be private by design. The website claims it has ‘Remote Keyless Entry,’ which sounds like a proprietary connectivity feature.
It doesn’t look like it will meet EU or UK pedestrian safety standards. Small modular utility vehicles are a well established idea. It is essentially an electric Land Rover of the style that was discontinued due to tightening regulations.
Jabanese Kei cars are fantastic. Any innovation to make motor vehicles smaller is welcome but it reduces collision protection. I would prefer everyone drove a smaller cheaper car myself.
Yeah cars have ballooned in price and unnecessary features over the years. We should really go back to cheaper and simpler cars (not barring safety features of course).
Monte Carlo, Buick Regal, Oldsmobile Cutlass and Chevy Caprice.
So much of the old carbureted GM car, van and truck parts were cheap, set up was super simple and easy to fix.
With minor tweaks engines and transmissions were interchangeable.
Back in the 70’s through the mid 80’s, a GM distributor was and all in one unit and very reliable. Ford has wires all over the place with a separate coil.
GM alternators were a one or two wire setup. Ford, again, wires everywhere with a separate voltage regulator.
Let’s not forget about the Chryslers back in then. You has to carry around a spare ballast resistor! Lol
President Donald J. Trump is resetting the CAFE standards which incentivised companies to make larger utility vehicles to bypass emissions standards. The Mini was originally a British car so it won’t be affected but we should see more smaller trucks in the future.
I swear I read a newspaper article about how India was making cars affordable by manufacturing them only with wheels & seat belts. Stuff like air conditioning and interior lights etc was an add-on.
Haha, I thought SLNT was doing some side product.
But hey, looks cool!
Let’s see if they do ship actual cars tho.
Often, those companies do have ideas but do not go all the way and deliver the promise tho. Just looking at the huge EV companies popping left and right is a good indicator.
Also, if they can create a sustainable business, let’s hope that they can stay alive long enough when your care has an issue and needs spare parts.
I liked the idea of a basic car that is just a car so I looked into this Slate truck. I got as far as reading that Amazon was a big investor in the project and didn’t bother to read any further. A privacy dead end imo
That’s highly speculative. As someone who has worked for VCs, there is simply a fiscal duty but no legal requirement that Bezos has any hand in the design or development. He owns a giant logistics company so…if we’re throwing around baseless theories, I would guess he’s looking for a company that can build up a fleet of cheap EVs for green deliveries and could give a crap about mining or selling car location data. If you look at their website, there is both a B2C and Fleet option for businesses.
If the cars become a huge B2C success and he makes even more money then he gets even richer.
My hopes are that with the DIY buyer in mind and simple design, any radio would be simple to find and disable. Once you do it for one model and share it on the internet, you do it for all.
Plus, with the fact that their distributed maintenance model works with independent mechanics, you will likely avoid running into issues where a machanic will refuse to service a tampered vehicle from concern you could just go to another certified mechanic, plus they likely just won’t care.
The only concern. Would be if they figure out a crafty way to make the radio tamper proof but I just don’t get that vibe. I’m gonna reserve one and I’m excited by the prospects here.
Only bummer is its US only but I think this is a temporary state as they are making a super lean design and manufacturing process. It takes a bunch of time especially to hit the price point they want to hit and be profitable.
Indeed, just my opinion and entirely without evidence. I would say, however, that a giant logistics company who, given the option, wouldn’t want to know where each and every one of their vehicles is at all times is even more far fetched. They could, of course, fit any device they want to each vehicle after purchase so it’s still only my skeptical mind joining dots that may never be joined when the car is released to the public.
I really had a sense of optimism for a simple basic product when I heard about this vehicle and just got spooked when I saw Amazon mentioned. You are right though, I shouldn’t let my imagination run away before seeking some facts.
Happens to all of us. In the age of enshittification you’re just keeping your guard up but sometimes that can cause us to imagine problems that could be that may not be. Remain skeptical of companies first and group paranoia second.
I mean it still is a simple basic product, but even the most simplest of vehicles being sold in a modern market have new safety and tech requirements that didn’t exist with older cars. Its not even with intentions to embed spyware, could you imagine enough people being willing to buy a vehicle that didn’t have a backup camera even if that met modern safety requirements? The market for the car you’re picturing is very small and the company wouldn’t survive long or release the first car.
The only way for that car to happen would be for an entirely open model to be created and a slow pipeline of communities and companies build off that design until it is street legal. There is a little hopeto be had here. There is a guy who is building some early open vehicle designs using the frame of old Japanese Kei truck, but that is going to initially be a non street legal race truck as the halo product. I link his site but the good stuff is on their YouTube channel. Any ways that project might eventually evolve into something consumer focused but it’s a slow development as it’s one guys money, two employees, and a bunch of volunteers. But it’s something and that guy can market and hopefully will draw social good investors and other support.
In the mean time, with the goals of this car being incredibly cheap and easy to work on and customize, I have high hopes that if there is any over the air updates, location, or other phoning home, that you will be able to disable it without breaking much else since electronics are so few in this vehicle. Maybe it will be on its own fuse as it was in older pre-infotainment vehicles. I can also imagine people plugging in and adapting existing open GPS and telematic control units to hand that data over to mechanics and track it yourself.
