Article Link! The Great American EV Fire Sale Is About to Begin

Fast forward to 2036. The last guy in the neighborhood to not own an EV still repeating the same bullshit from ten years ago.
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Racer88 said:

View: https://x.com/HappyMotorhead/status/2076403798394687569?s=20
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We all love that sound of an engine winding out but nobody under 55 gives a shit.

You know why people loved those huge land yachts from the 50’s and 60s? They were big, heavy and quiet. And had all sorts of gadgets and gizmos. That was a selling point. Comfort and luxury. It still is.

Classic cars, hot rods, muscle cars…. in 20 years you wont be able to give them away. Because the old guys who adore them and have the money to buy the cars they lusted after when they were young and in many cases could not afford will all be dead.

In the near future, high school kids with the motivation and aptitude will be modifying their EVs. Cars and motorcycles. They will never know what gasoline smells like.

For those who performance is their thing? This Formula X is estimated to cost 50 grand. The same price as a gas burning econobox today. Ferrari and Porsche are pissing their pants.


Or this… YANGWANG U9 Xtreme
 
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Bongo Lewi said:
Classic cars, hot rods, muscle cars…. in 20 years you wont be able to give them away. Because the old guys who adore them and have the money to buy the cars they lusted after when they were young and in many cases could not afford will all be dead.
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So you think Mecum and Barrett Jackson will be out of business? Ha... I don't think so.
 
Racer88 said:
So you think Mecum and Barrett Jackson will be out of business? Ha... I don't think so.
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Depends on how agile they are. I’d like to believe they are smart people and see the writing on the wall.

There will always be trade in collectibles. My prediction is that the number of collectors of today’s classic cars will substantially decrease. Nobody will be driving them. They become - actually already are - museum pieces. Some of the less refined or amateur rebuilds or restorations are already Sunday drivers. For old guys. Who as I said will be dead soon. I painfully admit that I am in that demographic. As are many of us here. If I have a pulse for another 25-30 years, I’ll be shocked and delighted at the same time.

I get that it’s sad that a couple decades from now nobody will give a shit about Ford Mustangs, Corvette’s, the Rolling Stones, or how hot Bo Derek or Michelle Pfeiffer was. But that’s reality. I’ll take a further leap and suggest that gunpowder-based ammo and firearms will seem like muskets to the rifles and handguns of 20-plus years from now. Relegated to antique gun collectors. Like exhaust fumes, the memory of the pungent small of gunpowder burning also dies with us. Moore's law also applies to weapons.

And the world will keep on turning.
 
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Bongo Lewi said:
Depends on how agile they are. I’d like to believe they are smart people and see the writing on the wall.

There will always be trade in collectibles. My prediction is that the number of collectors of today’s classic cars will substantially decrease. Nobody will be driving them. They become - actually already are - museum pieces. Some of the less refined or amateur rebuilds or restorations are already Sunday drivers. For old guys. Who as I said will be dead soon. I painfully admit that I am in that demographic. As are many of us here. If I have a pulse for another 25-30 years, I’ll be shocked and delighted at the same time.

I get that it’s sad that a couple decades from now nobody will give a shit about Ford Mustangs, Corvette’s, the Rolling Stones, or how hot Bo Derek or Michelle Pfeiffer was. But that’s reality. I’ll take a further leap and suggest that gunpowder-based ammo and firearms will seem like muskets to the rifles and handguns of 20-plus years from now. Relegated to antique gun collectors. Like exhaust fumes, the memory of the pungent small of gunpowder burning also dies with us. Moore's law also applies to weapons.

And the world will keep on turning.
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The "classic" cars of the future will be cars like my 2004 Subaru STI. Or any of the current muscle cars like the SRT series from Dodge. So, the 30 year olds today will be bidding up that kind of car in 20 years. You wouldn't believe how much I got for the 2004 STI in 2013 with NO ENGINE and 192,000 miles on it.
 
I had an uncle. He owned a Model T. I have a photo (below) of it being driven in the very early 60's.
After that, it sat in his garage for decades untouched. As kids, we used to play in it and pretend to drive.
He kept saying it will be worth a lot of money one day. Whenever that day was, probably in the early 70's, it came and went and he still hung on to it.
Then, as BL says, all the people of the generation that related to the Model T were gone, or at least too old to want to mess with cars anymore.

He finally sold it when he had to sell the house and move into an apartment in his 80's. He's gone now. Never did learn what he got for it.

The front wheels are unpainted because he had termites ruin the originals and had to get repro wheels. I say repro, there might have still been some NOS still around back in those days.

No safety anything back in those days. Safety was between the ears.
Brakes only on the rear wheels. No electric starter, you had to hand crank it and know how to do it correctly to keep from getting hurt.
Windshield was ordinary glass.
Of course, no seat belts. No air bags, no anti-lock brakes. Not even a radio.
Two levers on the steering column. One was throttle, one was spark advance. Brake and clutch pedals on the floor.

You want to thin the stupid people from the herd? Give a Model T to every kid when he gets his license. Darwin will take care of the rest.

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Racer88 said:
A week or two ago, I read a review of that truck... it was NOT good. The reviewer was not impressed with the interior build quality, as I recall. A lot of other criticisms, too.
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I have read a few of those myself.
Remember that these reviewers are looking at prototype trucks not the final product.
I will withhold judgement until the production line trucks are in the wild and reviewed by owners and industry peeps.

Slate has gone the extra mile to bring this truck in at the price point promised upon introduction. Minus the Federal $7500 incentive.
They have also listened to feedback from customers on the battery pack and changed the chemistry to increase range and still maintain the price point.

As with all new vehicle introductions, there will be teething pains. I worked for a car dealership and noticed that when a new car was introduced, the first production year had the most issues, the second year, much less, and by the third year the quality stabilized. And this was from both Ford and GM. You can't expect a startup to not have at least some of the same issues.
 
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no4mk1t said:
I have read a few of those myself.
Remember that these reviewers are looking at prototype trucks not the final product.
I will withhold judgement until the production line trucks are in the wild and reviewed by owners and industry peeps.

Slate has gone the extra mile to bring this truck in at the price point promised upon introduction. Minus the Federal $7500 incentive.
They have also listened to feedback from customers on the battery pack and changed the chemistry to increase range and still maintain the price point.

As with all new vehicle introductions, there will be teething pains. I worked for a car dealership and noticed that when a new car was introduced, the first production year had the most issues, the second year, much less, and by the third year the quality stabilized. And this was from both Ford and GM. You can't expect a startup to not have at least some of the same issues.
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My prediction: It will go out of business within 5 years.
 
I just watched an in-depth interview with Rod Copes. Rod is Slate employee #1 and is on the BOD. But he is not a suit and tie corner office guy, he's definitely hands on and involved. More of a COO if you had to pin a label on him.

Rod's resume includes Harley Davidson, Royal Enfield, and Rivian. He goes into detail about what he learned at each company and not repeating their mistakes.

The interview was much more detailed than the typical sales fluff interview. The host asked hard questions and Rod gave him hard, detailed answers. Most corporate suits are disconnected and tone deaf to their customer base, chasing bottom line profits at all costs. Rod definitely does not give that vibe.

And when asked about why they didn't enter the market with a 4-door truck, he honestly answered that Slate is going for radical simplicity and they couldn't hit the target price with a 4-door, and that everyone else has pretty much quit making two door pick-ups, so they decided to fill the niche and scratch the itch, generate revenue, expand later. But he hinted that a 4-door might be offered at some point in the future, but for now, they are focused on doing one thing very well. If the Slate truck succeeds, then you might see an expanded lineup.


View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EpisRfFU9uE
 
History is littered with idiots (critics) who got it wrong. Self-appointed experts, journalists and luddites. Or they were pandering to naysaying nabobs of the time. Slate may live or die but the concept will live on. Gas powered car and truck makers are fucked. Slate and whatever follows it is the future of affordable transportation. And they know it. Like Henry Ford's assembly line, Slate's concept will become the new normal and those who adopt it will kill off all the competition and reset the price of basic transportation for consumers. Long overdue.

The new Model T is the EV.
 
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I think Slate has a 50/50 chance at survival.
If they stay the course and focus on one goal, they might make it. Scratch the itch and fill the niche. Don't try and grow until the Slate truck has stable sales.

As previously observed, year 1 production is likely to have teething pains, as expected. If Slate aggressively addresses the issues, and year 2 has fewer issues, customer confidence will improve. By year 3 the issues should be resolved and sales should stabilize.

Plus, they have Bezos backing them. He will likely write at least one more big check to see if they sink or swim before pulling the plug. Say 5-7 years.
 
no4mk1t said:
I think Slate has a 50/50 chance at survival.
If they stay the course and focus on one goal, they might make it. Scratch the itch and fill the niche. Don't try and grow until the Slate truck has stable sales.

As previously observed, year 1 production is likely to have teething pains, as expected. If Slate aggressively addresses the issues, and year 2 has fewer issues, customer confidence will improve. By year 3 the issues should be resolved and sales should stabilize.

Plus, they have Bezos backing them. He will likely write at least one more big check to see if they sink or swim before pulling the plug. Say 5-7 years.
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If Slate even comes close to surviving, their model will be copied. And improved upon. The Ford CEO admitted they don't have a clue how to build EVs. As in we have to start over. All the other major players are in that same boat. They can't compete once new players start springing up.

If I owned stock in big carmakers, I'd sell it. And be preparing to make money shorting them. Easy money.

Yahoo was literally assassinated by two guys who everyone thought was nuts.
The founder of FedEx was told his logistics theory - routing all freight thru a central hub was ridiculous.

Take your pick of others... Netflix, Starbucks, Dyson, Uber. A great many people said these were all stupid fucking ideas. That's why they aren't rich. More importantly, that's why they are always wrong. It has nothing to do with being smart. it has to to with being invested emotionally in what they know. So they reject any thing new or different. Human nature.

I had a boss many years ago that used to say the only person who likes change is a baby with a dirty diaper.

If I were a car company boss and had senior people saying EVs are a fad and we need to stick to our knitting, I would fire their ass on the spot. That thinking is the kiss of death for any large company. It's hard enough to be agile when you are big. Luddites in the ranks will put you out of business.

Government moving at a glacial pace is usually a good thing. In business it's a sign you are about to get your lunch eaten.
 
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Racer88 said:
My prediction: It will go out of business within 5 years.
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...after a Dumpocrap president removes the 100% tariff on Chinese automobiles... :eek:

Chinese MG, anyone?

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In case you were wondering... That would be the first digit in your VIN.

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NavyVette said:
AND, it's FUGLY AF
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It reminds me of a mid 80's Ford Ranger. Very squared off and not very imaginative styling wise. But the goal was not to build a fashion statement or go for styling points, the goal was to build a bare bones truck with a targeted price that almost anyone can afford. Styling took a back seat.

The "Blank Slate" version is very plain Jane. The wraps are where it gets dolled up. Then it looks much more presentable.
 
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