S L A T E !!!

CHECK THIS THING OUT!!!

This is the brand new Truck called "SLATE" from a brand new company called SLATE

It's not very beautiful, but it has such a strong and heavy utilitarian boxy quirkiness about it, that it's instantly rendered cool! It has so much cool, that it becomes beautiful in the sense of greatly diminished defect. If SLATE AUTO is able to actually pull this off, far exceeding YUGO quality, and it's reliable, durable and affordable, then it'll become a serious smash-hit, and these things will blast off in massive swarms from the manufacturer.

Slate says:

Radically Customizable and Affordable, Beautifully Simplified: The Slate Truck Redefines Personalized Transportation

• Slate serves the consumer good. Slate is a new American company founded on a disruptive business model of simplifying the manufacturing process and removing unnecessary content to reduce cost and increase reliability.
  • “The definition of what’s affordable is broken,” said Slate CEO ChrisBarman.“ Slate exists to put the power back in the hands of customers who have been ignored by the auto industry. Slate is a radical truck platform so customizable that it can transform from a 2- seat pickup to a 5-seat SUV.”
• The Slate Truck is a beautifully simplified EV 2-seat pickup, produced in a single configuration from the factory. Approachable and timeless. Steel wheels outside. Crank windows and HVAC knobs inside. Large Frunk along with a spacious cargo area with 1400-lb. payload.
• Unlimited personalization, powered by DIY. Slate vehicles are about accessible personalization. Select from over 100 accessories, available individually or bundled, to make a Blank Slate yours – at time of purchase or as your needs change over time.
• The truck can be anything – even an SUV. The flat-pack accessory SUV Kit turns the truck into a 5- seat SUV, with a roll cage, airbags, rear seat. Do it yourself or have it done for you.
• Designed to be wrapped. By you or a pro. Three levels of vehicle wrapping make personalization far more aRordable. Wrap, unwrap, rewrap for diRerent, inventive looks.
• Bring your own tech. Rather than learn a new interface, use the one you love. Slate introduces the universal phone mount and USB power. Add a dedicated tablet if you want to.
• An EV for everyone. 52.7-kWh battery pack, 150 kW, rear-wheel drive, range target of 150 miles.* An accessory 84.3-kWh pack has a target of 240 miles.* Using the NACS port, charge overnight for your commute on a household outlet, or fast-charge to 80% at 120-kW in under 30 minutes.
• Top occupant safety. Designed to achieve the highest safety ratings. Active Emergency Braking, Forward Collision Warning, and up to 8 airbags.
• Transparent pricing. Expected price of under $20,000 after federal incentives, making it among the most aRordable new vehicles.*
• Made in America. Slate will manufacture the truck at a reindustrialized factory in the U.S., alongside a Customer Experience Center.
• Direct-to-consumer sales and a nationwide service network. Order your truck online, take delivery near your home, and find service locations in your neighborhood.
• Refundable vehicle reservations open now at $50. Visit slate.auto to secure yours.

*Slate Truck is currently in preproduction; vehicle specifications and pricing are subject to change. Projected range estimates are based upon an approximation of the EPA test cycle and are not oBicial EPA estimated range values. Review IRS website to determine eligibility for potential incentives. Target pricing excludes taxes and fees.

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Specifications

Vehicle specifications are subject to change. Projected range estimates are based upon internal testing and an approximation of the EPA test cycle.

Dimensions

Length

174.6 in.

Wheelbase

108.9 in.

Width (w/o mirrors)

70.6 in.

Height

69.3 in.

Interior volume, pickup/SUV

55.0 ft³ / 80.5 ft³

Cargo volume, frunk/bed/SUV behind seats

7.0 ft³ / 37.0 ft³ / 34.0 ft³

Weights, etc.

Curb weight

3602 lb.

Max payload

1433 lb.

Max towing

1000 lb.

Power, propulsion

Motor, drive wheels

Single motor, RWD

Pack size

52.7 kWh (std.), 84.3 kWh (accessory)

Power

150 kW (201 hp)

Torque

264 Nm (195 lb-ft)

0-60 mph, est.

8.0 sec.

Top speed

90 mph

Charging, range

Onboard charger

11kW

Level 1 AC, 3.6kW, 20-100%

11 hr.

Level 2 AC, 11kW, 20-100%

Under 5 hr.

Level 3 DC, 120kW, 20-80%

Under 30 min.

Charging

NACS

Range, standard/accessory (est.)

150 mi., 240 mi.

Combined city/highway (est.)

96 MPGe

Chassis

Front suspension

MacPherson strut

Rear suspension

De Dion axle, coil spring

Wheel, tire

17” x 7” steel wheel, 29.5” 245/65R17 tire

Bed

Bed width btw. wheel wells

42.9 in.

Bed width min./max.

50.0 in./54.9 in.

Bed length/tailgate down

60.0 in./81.6 in.

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BEHOLD THE VW ID.GTI !!!

Here it is, finally, a hopeful replacement for the ICE Golf GTI, the 2023 VW ID GTI "concept", an EV (hold onto your butts...).

NOW, lets see if VW is expert enough, with their manufacturing prowess to be able to get this fabulously wonderful CONCEPTUAL design to production, without destroying the sveltely cool proportions and styling. VW has historically produced some of the greatest automobiles ever, the Beetle, the Buss, the Type 3, the Golf, and I'll NEVER believe that they can't do it again. Previously, for whatever reason of incompetence, VW just wouldn't step up to their own level of automotive glory and success, as they have seriously botched many of their new products. Nothing that they currently have in production is anywhere near as awesome as most of their offerings before 1990. They're finally showing some glimpse of desire, starting with their ID Buzz, which is almost as cool as the concept.

Part of VW's problem of living up to the high expectations set by their Beetle, is among many things, the following hallmarks of the VW Type-1, the Beetle:

1. The Beetle is Simple, Beautiful and a very Practical design.
2. The Beetle is relatively reliable.
3. The Beetle is Fun and Exciting (see 6).
4. The Beetle is Economical and relatively affordable.
5. The Beetle is DIY serviceable. The Beetle could be maintained and repaired in your own garage!
6. The Beetle is Mod-able to-no-end!!!
Last but not least, this one feature of mod-ability, is where VW (and most auto manufactures) fail, spectacularly! With only a few accessories, modifications and a little work, anyone could have a personalized Beetle to suit their tastes and desires. Their Beetle could be their own creation in wonderful fashion. It's to VW's shame that not only did they destroy this ideal, but they actively brought legal action against any and all 3rd party producers of anything VW. VW went after clubs, repair shops, and everybody that had any association with them. They all but completely alienated their once huge and loyal fan base, creating a lot of animosity and hatred all along the way (all while the VW executives lived in gluttony and debauchery). If it wasn't for Tesla waking up the automobile world to the complete failures of legacy-automobile, VW and the rest of legacy-auto would still be wallowing in their own personal, manufacturing, committee, and sales-&-marketing vomit and vile (some of legacy-auto may never get out of their own muck).

Update, 20240408:

Report is that VW will not bring this ID GTI to the U.S. looking like this awesome concept, but will instead fatten it up to hideous proportions. Very sad, but figures. Legacy auto has never been able to take their increadible concepts to production without beating them with ugly sticks (except in very rare cases, such as with the Soltice).

Give it up for the VW ID GTI "concept", designed by Andreas Mindt

Renault 5 EV ..."concept".

"Concepts" are probably the most blindly disappointing bait-&-switch practice maintained by the world's auto-manufactures. Blindly, because most people have no idea what's going on and pay little attention to them. Concepts are usually the coolest most svelte designs ever, straight from the pencils of the designer, unadulterated by weak committees, board-room ignorant investors, short-sighted engineers, and poo-slinging, destructive marketing apes.

Having said that, this 2021 Renault 5 EV concept is incredibly awesome looking. If it actually ends up in production, looking like the concept, it will be overwhelming successful, or at least, a beautiful welcome to the current bland eye-sores everywhere on the streets. However, if Renault brings this beautiful concept to the U.S., with the meager and pitiful 134 HP (100 kW) electric motor. with 248 mile range, I'm gonna guess it will fail. Most electric cars are coming out with offerings around 200 HP, so that's the expectation. Coming out with something that just barely meets what everyone is used to in an ICE car, is going to be a let-down. Further, if Renault offers some sort of performance package, with a slightly more powerful electric motor (a 160 kW Alpine variant) and its not really powerful (à-la the modern Fiat 500 Abarth edition, which was/is an unfortunately anemic, lackluster, pile-of-garbage), then Heaven help them.

In any regard, this thing is beautifully awesome!!! Here's to the Renault 5 EV, designed by Gilles Vidal!!!

THE POWER OF A GRAPHIC

I've always been intrigued with the 1975 Ford Gran Torino used in the TV series, Stasky & Hutch, "Zebra 3" (fan-based nick name for Starky's car). The Ford Torino is a plain awkward looking land-yacht, nothing to really get your undivided attention or desire, so it's amazing that such an ugly car could be transformed into something so cool with a simple stripe.

Visiting my grandparents in Denver CO in the '70s, I started seeing several 1974-1976 Gran Torinos with all sorts of graphics, decals and stripped paint jobs. Even the police department there had many Gran Torinos with various interesting graphics on them.

Graphics and stripes overcame the ungainly hideous shape and contours of the Torino. There are many other examples of this, but the "Zebra-3", is one of the best.

HOLY SANDY BEACHES & HAPPINESS, IT'S THE EXPENSIVE MEYERS MANX 2.0 EV!

DREAMS COME TRUE AND MIRACLES HAPPEN! Meyers Manx is reinventing the Manx Dune-Buggy! ...and it's a 100% electric BEAST!

The original Bruce Meyers geniusly created Meyers Manx dune buggy, has been re-designed by Freeman Thomas (now the CEO of Meyers Manx). Beginning in 2023, with 50 Beta vehicles, the electric Manx 2.0 will hit-the-pavement! I've always liked the Manx Dune-Buggy and have for the last few years been slowly and quietly building a parts collection of things for a Meyers Manx Dune Buggy build. I've been heavily researching and working, with my Electrical Engineer son, towards building an electric Manx. It has been done before, with limited success and sketchy aesthetics, so I've been following previous builds, what Michael Bream has been doing at his EV West company, and closely watching PlayTech's adventures with their Tesla Powered Dune-Buggy.

SO, I was beyond excited when Meyers Manx released information about their new, up-and-coming MEYERS MANX 2.0 EV! THIS THING SERIOUSLY ROCKS. It looks like the original Bruce Meyers created Old-Red Manx, but it's now basically a beach, sand, and road rocket! You won't have any problems getting up-to-speed and merging onto the freeway, here.

The new Manx 2.0 will be 8 inches wider, 12 inches longer, and only about 200 pounds heavier than the original Meyers Manx! My 100% restored '66 Beetle weighs almost the same as the Manx 2.0, at a reported weight of only 1650lbs! This beautiful thing, in it's 40kWh configuration, has a range of 300 miles, and will produce from dual electric motors, 202hp at 240 lb-ft torque!!! ...0-60 in 4.5 seconds!!!!!!!!!!!

Check out the re-imaged Meyers Manx 2.0 beach-rocket (original page for the Concept): https://meyersmanx.com/pages/manx-2-0-ev

UPDATE 20230812:

New site for the Meyers Manx 2.0 EV Concept: https://ev.meyersmanx.com/

UPDATE 20230817:

Tentative pricing has been revealed:

We're pleased to announce that the Meyers Manx 2.0 Electric Vehicle will be available from $74,000. The limited Launch Edition, offering exclusivity and the first taste of the Manx 2.0 experience, is priced at $125,000. -Freeman Thomas    ;;;O.O;;;    Good feelings gone.

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Specs for the new Manx 2.0 EV! Bruce Meyer's 1964 Old-Red, and my 1966 & 2008 Beetles for comparison

SEVERAL MEYERS MANX & BEETLE DIMENSIONS
VEHICLE	LENGTH	WIDTH	HEIGHT	WHEEL-BASE	TRACK FRONT	TRACK REAR	MOTOR	POWER HP	TORQUE LB/FT	FUEL	RANGE MILES	WEIGHT LBS
MANX 2.0 - 20 kWh	123.5	70.3	53.3	82.0	??.?	??.?	20kWh Electric	???	???	BATTERY LG lithium-ion Pouch 3 packs	150	1500
MANX 2.0 - 40 kWh	123.5	70.3	53.3	82.0	??.?	??.?	40kWh Electric	202 0-60=4.5 seconds	240	BATTERY LG lithium-ion Pouch 6 packs	300	1650
'64 OLD RED	112.0	62.0	57.0	80.0	51.3	est:51.3	1973 (Type 181) 1600, 96.7cuin, 1.5L	46 @ 4000rpm	72 (98NM) @ 2800rpm	Gasoline 12.5 gallons	200-300	1420
1966 Beetle	160.2	60.6	59.1	94.5	51.4	51.2	1300, 1285cc 78.4cuin 1.3L	50 @ 4600rpm	69 (94 NM) @ 2600rpm	Gasoline 12.5 gal	200-300	1665
2008 New Beetle	161.1	67.9	59.1	98.8	59.0	59.0	2.5L 5cyl	150 @ 5000rpm	170 @ 3750rpm	Gasoline 14.5 gal	290-406 (city/hwy)	3248

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Elon Musk and Tesla's Compact...

Haven't made a post in while because there has not been much to be excited about, automotive wise, in the last few years. ...and I've been patiently waiting for Tesla to announce progress on their "Compact" EV.
At the 2018 Tesla annual shareholder meeting, Elon Musk made a brief mention of the possibly of a Compact Tesla, in the range of $25k. A sketch was released, and a couple of other remarks about it occurred over the following years. In 2020 at the Tesla Battery Day event, Musk, again, mentions a Compact car, and says we could see it in 2023. However, then in 2022, Musk says Tesla is NOT working on a Compact! 2023 is now quickly approaching, and there's no more news about a compact Tesla. Sad, because their official sketch is cool looking. :'(
Here's the official sketch released from Tesla, persunebly drawn by Franz von Holzhausen, Tesla's increadible designer. Very nice lines and shape to this thing.

Honda's "e", a "production concept"...

It's been a while since posting. Reason being because there is a big movement amongst the manufactures and their small affordable cars (they are ALL ditching their small cars) and almost nothing related is going on in the world, good-design wise, that is worthy of desire, money or talking about. Even the Teslas, as awesome as they are, are not the best looking (and they are BIG). The $250,000 Tesla Roadster is great looking, but we are interested in functional, durable, and beautiful designs the masses can obtain and enjoy. While Lamborghinis, Ferraris and Bugattis are some of the most beautiful cars on the planet, most people will never own and enjoy one. Beauty and great design can and should be for all. If people and societies die without beauty and great design, then it is of upmost importance and the paramount of responsibility that the top goals of all manufactures should be beauty and great design.

 The Honda e is making big headlines in the Battery Electric Vehicle (BEV) world, right now. Honda is calling it a "production ready concept" whatever than means. I suppose it's supposed to mean that Honda is not going to bait-and-switch us with a fabulous concept and a really ugly production model. However, Honda is still using that word "production". They are the ones doing it, which means they want the liberty to bastardise the beauty of the "production concept" and then when the masses complain about the lack of beauty from concept-to-production, Honda will simply point out "production...". Sigh.

 Tangent rant: The manufacturers need to get it through their salesmanship-&-marketing thick skulls that nobody cares that they can create a really cool looking concept! WHO CARES!? They have the highest paid, most skilled, talented and trained artists and designers on Earth! Of course they can create and churn out the most beautiful concepts, day-in-day-out. Big deal. They are manufactures, not CGsociety.org. What everybody expects from manufacturers are responsibility and stewardship! We expect that they will produce fabulously beautiful and great designed PRODUCTIONS, for us to spend our hard earned money and desire on. /end-rant.

 Back to the Honda e: Its an amazing looking car (production-concept)! The gestalt for this little B-segment grocery-getter is practically perfect. THIS is what small cars should be looking like, that someone in charge at the manufacturer, has a spine and cares about making a small car worthy of desire and money. NOW, lets see what makes it to productions.
source: AutoBlog.com, electrek.co, FullyChargedShow.co.uk.

The Honda e "CONCEPT-PRODUCTION":

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The Honda Urban EV "PROTOTYPE":

I like the square-ish tail lights of the Honda Urban EV "Prototype" much MUCH better.

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