The new Slate Truck It is the first model of a startup that has received much attention to the investors who have opted for it, among which it would be Jeff Bezos, founder of Amazon; And it is appropriate, because it is a project that goes in a direction completely contrary to that of its great rival, Elon Musk and Tesla.
Slate Truck first attracts attention to his departure price of less than $ 20,000; That would already be sufficient reason to take into account this truck, even if it is not the type of vehicle we would prefer. The market has been waiting for an electric vehicle for batteries that is really cheap, and this can be the first one that is really considered as such.
But the really interesting Slate Truck comes when we look at the way the company has achieved that price: eliminating everything that is not absolutely necessary. That means that, for example, inside the truck we will find little technology, and It doesn’t even have a touch screen on the dashboard.
Indeed, we have spoken a lot about the end of the tactile cars screens, but this is the first time that a manufacturer really bets to remove them at all. All controls available to the driver are physicalincluding the air conditioner and controls related to car functions.
If we want a screen in the Slate Truck, we will have to put it on our part, with our own smartphone that can fulfill browser functions with apps such as Google Maps, for example. And if we want the same experience as in a Tesla, we just have to set up a tablet. Slate at least offers a mobile support and a USB port to load it while we use it, in addition to an official app that will offer access to car functions and search for load points.
Slate Truck Interior
The free android
The result is an incredibly minimalist interior that has no distractions; The only indicator that it is a modern vehicle is in the instrument box, which is digital. For not having, the Slate Truck has no electric windows, and we will have to up and down the windows in a traditional waywith a crank as it was done before.
Now, it is possible that this extreme minimalism is too much for the average driver; But that is where the other Slate fortress lies, its customization capacity. The truck is highly configurable, with More than 100 official accessoriesto the point that it is possible to turn it into a different type of vehicle.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mxmd3snekca
For example, one of the options allows us convert the Slate Truck into an electric SUVchanging the load box for a closed cabin with rear seats. The company states that the process can even be DIY (do it yourself), although it has not explained how.
Technical, Slate Truck has a 201 horses that only provides traction to the rear wheels, with a 52.7 kWh battery that allows an autonomy of only 240 kilometers; However, like almost everything in this vehicle, it can be changed to a larger battery with an autonomy of 386 kilometers.
There are still many aspects of Slate Truck to clarify, and others that still arouse doubts. For example, the price of $ 20,000 is possible only thanks to the aid of the US government, which may disappear when the intentions of President Donald Trump are met. It is also a mystery If Slate Truck will arrive in Spain and the rest of the world, taking into account that it presumes to be manufactured entirely in the United States.
