Slate pickup: Toyota, are you listening?

[RayRay27]

Slate Confirms a $24,950 Base Price, Making Its Electric Truck the Cheapest in America - The Fast Lane Truck

The Slate truck arrives later this year, with the single-cab "Blank Slate" configuration starting things off at $24,950.

tfltruck.com

 

[Corbet]

Without at least AWD it’s completely off my radar. Marianne saw it on social media and suggested we buy one until I pointed out only in RWD. But I hope they sell in appropriate markets.

 

[mcgaskins]

Well I guess I should let the cat out of the bag...

I am thrilled to announce I have joined the talented team at Slate Auto as Director of Treasury! If you know me, you know how much I love cars and trucks, and Slate is changing the game by making… | Matt Gaskins | 125 comments

I am thrilled to announce I have joined the talented team at Slate Auto as Director of Treasury! If you know me, you know how much I love cars and trucks, and Slate is changing the game by making ownership more accessible and fun with endless configurations and an affordable price. Thank you...

www.linkedin.com

 

[Hulk]

Well I guess I should let the cat out of the bag...

I am thrilled to announce I have joined the talented team at Slate Auto as Director of Treasury! If you know me, you know how much I love cars and trucks, and Slate is changing the game by making… | Matt Gaskins | 125 comments

I am thrilled to announce I have joined the talented team at Slate Auto as Director of Treasury! If you know me, you know how much I love cars and trucks, and Slate is changing the game by making ownership more accessible and fun with endless configurations and an affordable price. Thank you...

www.linkedin.com

This is unsurprising. Keep us in the loop, Matt!

 

[J1000]

I think the Slate proves how difficult the regulatory structure makes it to actually build a small vehicle. This thing is as physically small as they can make it, with wind up windows and it still weighs 4,000lbs! The 1985 SR5 posted earlier weighs 2,700lbs. A 2026 F-150 is only 300lbs heavier than the Slate with a 6.5ft bed.

And even with wind up windows it still has driver assists like ADAS and stability/traction control, ABS, etc that are all required on new vehicles sold in the USA. So it's got a full suite of sensors and electronics don't worry about that.

Based on how the weight seems to scale with modern cars, if Slate made it AWD and 6ft bed it would probably be approaching Rivian size.

And let's be real it's got independent suspension all the way around with about 4 inches of travel. The renderings of a 4x4 Slate with big tires and a lift is a pipe dream.

All that to say that the Slate is pretty dang cool and I'm amazed how fast it went from a rendering to a real product. Compare that to the Aptera which is still in perpetual development.

 

[Hulk]

Another company making a low cost truck.
REO Trucks

 

[Corbet]

Another company making a low cost truck.
REO Trucks

Looks like a lot of smoke and mirrors at this point. Reserve yours now with nearly zero info on the final product. I'd love to see it happen just not holding my breath at all for this one to be real.

 

[OilHammer]

Toyota's always been conservative, pretty much the textbook of dull and reliable transportation. It is the owners who take a blank canvas and build and use them in interesting ways.

1 yr later, we have the GR GT, the Corolla GR and the gonzo GR Yaris. Yep. Dull. https://toyotagazooracing.com/gr/grgt/wp/

 

[Hulk]

1 yr later, we have the GR GT, the Corolla GR and the gonzo GR Yaris. Yep. Dull. https://toyotagazooracing.com/gr/grgt/wp/

Are any of these going to be for sale in the U.S.? Asking for a friend.

 

[OilHammer]

Corolla GR yes. Yaris no. GR GT and GT3- we’ll see but I bet so. They want to take sales from corvette and Porsche.

Do some research on the Corolla if you are interested. First year had some rear diff issues if I recall. They changed the torque split and made some structure bigger. Know knows but I suspect the first year with aftermarket diff cooler might be the hot ticket for more rear bias.