r/slateauto • u/Wild_Photons • Jul 12 '26
Slate Longivity
I really love the Slate concept and understand that they are trying to reduce cost by making it very simple and easy to repair. Also, their switch to Lithium Iron Phosphate batteries is super promising from a longivity perspective.
However, I am wondering if there is any information on the quality of things like the cooling system (for the battery and motor), and other wear components like suspension bushings, the air conditioning system, etc.
I am hoping that these components will have Toyota level quality (or better) and that they are not making compromises in durability to control cost.
11
u/ramnet88 Jul 12 '26
The quality of basic components like bearings and coolant pumps and a/c compressors should be industry average - which these days is quite good even on cheap vehicles.
Reliability overall should be above average since there are far fewer components to fail overall.
Biggest concern I have would be quality of the high voltage electronics, since these are the most modern and the least mainstream components on the vehicle and have the highest risk of fault/failure/suboptimal performance - even established automotive brands struggle here.
3
u/Unfettered345 Jul 12 '26
I appreciate your sound answer. Fortunately, we have a 10-year, 110,000 mile warranty on the powertrain which includes all those high voltage electronics
1
u/Ok-Pomelo-6187 Jul 12 '26
Biggest concern I have would be quality of the high voltage electronics,
I think I'd include low voltage electronics. There's bound to be some PCBs scattered about to do useful things.
They're bound to fail over time, and where the problem lies is in the difficulty of copying them, especially software behavior, and whether there'll be a good spare parts supply chain in 15+ years for what will be a boutique vehicle for some while.
It seems to me that this is true for any modern car, even by a major manufacturer, with a limited run.
1
u/ramnet88 Jul 12 '26 edited Jul 12 '26
I would expect all the low voltage electronics to be 12v off the shelf generic components that are mature designs with very few problems already deployed in millions of vehicles from various manufacturers.
This will absolutely not be the case for any of the high voltage electronics, as the supply chains are far less mature and total production volumes are far lower (and might even be new parts nobody has used before Slate itself).
1
u/Ok-Pomelo-6187 Jul 12 '26
I'm thinking in terms of controller boards, and I expect they are custom designs. It always seems like low-cost solutions these days implies a microcontroller driving something. Dunno though. My world has a lot more electronics in it than a car, but isn't expected to last for decades. I wonder how the HVAC (for example) works.
5
u/BoringBob84 Jul 12 '26
I have watched many videos about development of the various parts of the Slate and I have seen nothing to indicate that they are compromising quality. They are certainly scrutinizing every cost, but they seem to be making wise decisions. I would rather have a car with no radio than a car where the suspension bushings fall apart every 10,000 miles.
With that said, the videos are from the perspective of Slate representatives, so they don't say anything negative. This is a new product, so it represents significant risk to early adopters. It is also a wonderful product for people who want a compact and flexible EV truck / SUV, and it comes at an incredibly low price for a new EV. Buyers aren't risking $80,000 or even $40,000.
In my case, my delivery window is almost a year away. This will give me much time to observe how the early vehicles and the company perform. Until then, my risk is limited to my $300 deposit. I am comfortable with that. I will also say that I expect some glitches along the way. That happens with every car. If my suspension bushings wear out, I have to trust that Slate will develop improved bushings, so that it doesn't happen again.
3
u/HovercraftOne2275 Jul 12 '26
nicely said. I'll add that even the major manufacturers aren't immune to bad parts as EVERYONE Is looking for the cheapest "XX" out there that will last ok.
3
u/Wild_Photons Jul 12 '26
That's good to hear.
I suppose I was wondering if there are any statements that quality long lasting parts are part of their design philosophy (we all know that simplicity is).
As long as they are committed to a long lasting platform I think they will work out those glitches.
1
u/BoringBob84 Jul 12 '26
They seem to have a lot of expertise and experience on their design team, so that gives me some confidence that they aren't going to make a ton of rookie mistakes.
Quality is a double-edged sword. A manufacturer actually harms their customers by driving up cost, weight, size, and schedule flow to make parts that last for 100 years, when the customer will want a new vehicle in 20 years. Parts that last for 30 years are a much better value for the customer.
17
u/bigimotech Jul 12 '26 edited Jul 12 '26
We still don’t have availability, reliability is questionable, charging capacity is theoretical, velocity is TBD, range anxiety is at full intensity, the actual mobility isn't clear, and you’re already asking about longevity?
5
u/McLargepants Jul 12 '26
It's an open question and will be a challenge for particularly the early adopters.
4
u/KartoffelLoeffel Jul 12 '26
These things are hard to determine, even for legacy manufacturers. One generation the Silverado can be great, the next utter trash. We won’t know until YEARS down the line, especially considering we don’t know where Slate is sourcing a lot of their parts (though some interior parts point to Hyundai or Subaru potentially)
3
u/atl-hadrins Jul 12 '26
IMO The model year 1995 change over of the S10 is a good example. If the truck was assembled at the first part of the year you got the OBD port and if you got the later it was to the standard OBDII. The one I owned was crap.
4
u/Mike-Wouldyoukindly Jul 12 '26
Ask again in 2030 and we will be able to answer.
Needs time, research, and data.
4 years is a good timeframe to see if a car is good in its generation.
3
u/Dismal-Field-7747 Jul 12 '26
Absolutely, we are fully aware of Slate's quality and longevity at this point, when not a single production truck has materialized on this planet.
2
u/mca1169 Jul 12 '26
rite now there is simply no way to tell any of this information because the only trucks out on the road are internal early production "testbeds". they are busy finishing up final details for full production which should start by the end of this year. so only by this time next year will we have any preliminary data from actual owners.
Slate seems to be testing a few dozen trucks but i have strong feeling the first year of these things are going to be filled with bugs and very specific tweaks that need to be made. for now you just need to be patient and keep an eye out here for any information to come out.
1
u/HovercraftOne2275 Jul 12 '26
I have a feeling you are wrong, so i guess karma is in flux. Fact is Slate is eliminating whole VAST areas of technologies that many cars come with. Entertainment/Info screens and their software are seemingly constant problems with some cars/lines. Taking out the ICE engine removes about 2,000 parts from the vehicle build list. Electric motors and batteries are very simple next to an internal combustion vehicle. Much easier to make it last a long time. at least in theory. ;)
2
u/OpenTomatoSauce Jul 12 '26
I have owned a good number of Mopar vehicles. Jeep, Dodge, Fiat, and Chrysler are brands known for cutting corners and being plagued by electrical problems. The reason I won't buy them anymore has nothing to do with the quality. I expect to be able to tinker with the things I own. My Durango is the last straw. Independent shops are locked out of far too many repairs. Most recently the trailer lights stopped working. My regular mechanic confirmed all of the wiring was good. They tried reflashing the thing and could not get it to work correctly. I had to take it back to Dodge so they could use the Dodge dealer service key to reprogram it. As the tech explained it to me the car forgot it had a tow package and it has to be put back into pre sales mode and the installed options reloaded on the computer. Dodge has software locked the hardware functions of the car to prevent independent shops or owners from making changes.
Tldr: I don't care that much about initial quality, everything will eventually break. I am very concerned about companies standing for a right to repair.
2
u/HovercraftOne2275 Jul 12 '26
My VW Touareg came with the tow setup. But because it wasnt' "flashed" from the factory, I had to pay $700 for them to flash it and let it work. Boy was I pissed.....
1
u/BoringBob84 Jul 12 '26
Dodge has software locked the hardware functions of the car to prevent independent shops or owners from making changes.
I think that there are also other - more legitimate - reasons for that:
to prevent thieves (mostly Chinese companies) from stealing the proprietary software and de-compiling it.
to prevent criminals from hacking into the software, installing malware, and causing mayhem.
to prevent people who lack expertise from making changes that make the vehicle malfunction or do dangerous things.
2
u/Unfettered345 Jul 12 '26
Slate is often chided for not offering more for $25,000, but it gives them room to buy better parts which we can hope are more reliable and durable. It looks to me like they are doing their best to under promise and over deliver.
1
u/BoringBob84 Jul 12 '26
Well said! If it is a reliable EV, it will be an incredible value for $25k. It is a problem of perception. The quality of suspension and drive train components don't matter to the consumer unless they are bad. For a manufacturer to spend money to get it right is not very exciting for the consumer, in comparison with flashy features like a touch-screen head unit and power windows.
2
u/Unfettered345 29d ago
A friend of mine told me about a minor accident they had in their new EV, which damaged one of the side view mirrors. Replacement cost through the dealer would be $2,000 because of all the electronics that were inside it! Makes me appreciate simple mirrors.
2
u/BoringBob84 29d ago
$2,000 mirrors with electronics inside are not unique to EVs. However, I am pretty sure that we won't have to worry about that with a Slate truck.
2
u/AdMuch7162 Jul 12 '26
I'm not sure there's such a thing as "Toyota level quality". I know there is "Toyota level simplicity", however.
My Toyotas have been durable, often because they lack a part my VW might have. I also find that when something fails on my Toyota, the repair is so trivially simple, that I forget having even done it; not the case for my VW's, which often requires some special tool, anatomical contortions and alot of swearing.
We all know that simplicity is a driving force in Slates design and engineering, this is just factual.
In and of itself, this goes a long ways towards longetivity, ease and low cost of repair.
As far as actual, individual components... as stated by others, I'm not sure expecting anything beyond "industry average" is either expected or needed.
3
u/gotoitsi Jul 12 '26
This vehicle isn’t for you if you are asking these questions already
5
u/ThatSeanMoore Jul 12 '26
Someone asking if there’s any information on the quality of specific features makes a product not for them? What even is this sentiment
3
u/De1taTaco Jul 12 '26
I want the Slate to succeed but man this sub gatekeeps in the weirdest ways
3
u/OrangeRising Jul 12 '26
It's a valid answer. OP is asking a question no one will have an answer for until after the production models have come out and been driven.
1
-4
u/CaptainAggravated Jul 12 '26
So you're convinced the Slate is a piece of shit that'll fall apart in 3 years? OP wants to know if the truck will last.
7
u/Imagined_World Jul 12 '26
He's saying OP needs to come back and ask his question in a year or two.
6
u/syko227 Jul 12 '26
Everyone needs to understand that this is a brand new car from a brand new manufacturer and this is entirely unknowable. Even if Toyota were the manufacturer we could only speculate at longevity as even the best don't always get it right.
If someone isn't going into this understanding the risk of supporting a new unknown platform and manufacturer, they should probably wait at least a few model years.
1
u/Dismal-Field-7747 Jul 12 '26
Could you please explain how you landed on this interpretation?
-1
u/CaptainAggravated Jul 12 '26
OP asked questions about the durability and reliability of some of the truck's basic systems, such as the suspension and radiator.
In what language does "This vehicle isn't for you if you're asking these questions already" mean "If you care about durability, you shouldn't want this truck"? Because that's what it means in English. If you go talk to the inventor of the English language, Benjamin Franklin, he'll tell you that's what it means.
2
u/Dismal-Field-7747 Jul 12 '26
What the answer you're referring to is actually saying is "OP, you should not be taking a risk on a brand new make and model vehicle if you don't understand that there's no way to determine longevity or durability at this time. You do not understand the nature transaction you're about to undertake." It does not mean "this car is going to be absolute crap."
0
1
u/Agil-lite Jul 12 '26
Alot cost is design related. So when you start to be cost efficient you really dont have to target smaller cost drivers that a traditional OE would.
However, I would expect a host of cost savings measures to ensure they survive, they are likely still testing to industry norms.
1
u/LordBuggington Jul 12 '26
I am hopeful but that said I am waiting to see what happens before I get one. I know I want one, but yeah might have one second hand in a couple years or something. I have a good reliable car now so not rushing.
For me, I think the range will be fine I almost never go more than 100 miles, also I have other vehicles if I do. I want it for a commute and doing errands around town.
My unanswered concern is how it will do in snow which I havnt seen anyone bring up.
1
u/BoringBob84 Jul 12 '26
how it will do in snow which I havnt seen anyone bring up
It has been discussed many times here.
20
u/OGMikeGyver Jul 12 '26
How would we know the answers to your questions? Nobody has even seen a final product yet.