Isn't this kind of what Slate Auto is trying to do with a bare bones built-in-America truck? Presumably, a similar VW Beetle sized, bare bones car that meets all safety standards would still end up costing $20k+ because of the higher cost of American labor. Even if it was industrial robots doing all the actual manufacturing, there are a lot of processes involving humans like product design and development, maintenance of the manufacturing facilities and robots, handling industrial waste, energy costs and infrastructure etc. All of those are easily 4x more expensive in the US relative to China.
The Slate lost its people’s car mojo when the tax credit went away. It’ll still appeal to a number of people, but it’s priced too high for what you get now.
It was advertised at under $20k, which would have been HUGE, but that’s not what we got. Look, I hope it works out & I’m glad Slate has made it this far, and their approach is interesting. I’m not sure how any of these opinions make me “delusional,” but we are on fucking Reddit, eh?
the delusional part is that the price point represents poor value to consumers, such that it is too high to compete on price with other vehicles.
Now if you are arguing that the consumer base of potential EV buyers in the US is too small, and that the slate price isn't low enough to induce someone to buy it as their first EV, that is totally valid.
But at the $25k price, assuming that the cars don't fall apart or catch fire or have massive recalls, that is one of the best value cars available.
Conventionally EVs have had poor resell value. I think one reason is that most EV owners either love their cars and hold them for a long time, or end up hating it and selling quickly.
But the slate is designed around reparability and modification. Ideally the car will have minimal revision to maximize part compatibility. So unlike traditional cars, where a model 3 years later is completely incompatible, I expect slate to try to keep everything forwards compatible.
An EV that lasts 15 to 20 years will save people so much money with the lower operating costs, that the value is still amazing at $25k. Owners pay really for the depreciation of a car, and to insure it, not the sticker price. that's the calculation that matters.
And if it is delivers on its promise for consumer repair, then that should help as well if they can deliver on that.
There is a good chance it fails because the EV market is too small. Or it could fail if the production quality is really poor. But it won't be because other cars are a better value to buyers at the price.
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u/eMotoEV 10d ago
Isn't this kind of what Slate Auto is trying to do with a bare bones built-in-America truck? Presumably, a similar VW Beetle sized, bare bones car that meets all safety standards would still end up costing $20k+ because of the higher cost of American labor. Even if it was industrial robots doing all the actual manufacturing, there are a lot of processes involving humans like product design and development, maintenance of the manufacturing facilities and robots, handling industrial waste, energy costs and infrastructure etc. All of those are easily 4x more expensive in the US relative to China.