100% agreed. It's autobesity. I feel like I'm taking crazy pills when I see people who think the new Ariya looks good. These things all just look bloated, lumpy, and sluggish.
I don't think the new Bolt (EUV) is as bad as a lot of new vehicles, mostly because the hood isn't as insanely over the top, but it's still a lot lumpier and chunkier than the regular old Bolt EV.
How American of them
Even the Ranger is pretty big. A BEV Maverick would be cool, though.
I feel like the Slate is more like an old school ute than a Telo. Telo is kind of its own weird new category.
I just wish that factory workers wouldn't be so impacted by the failures of the executives who wanted to make their own money by milking reputations and product lines without investing in the future. Like, if Stellantis had to shut down, it would be well deserved, but it would suck for the normal people at the bottom.
At this point they intentionally aren't selling EVs in the US
🎻 it's the world's smallest violin playing just for him
"CEO admits that he sucks at his job"
That isn't completely true. Some of the EV prices will lower without the federal rebate (like BMW just did). A bunch of states still have their own rebates/credits, and CO just said they'll increase theirs.
4WD comes up a lot, too.
Idk, I don't see them producing enough quantity in the next few years to run into demand issues. And, like you said, I could see them announcing a 4 door SlateUV that would compete with the R2.
The author doesn't need to buy a Slate, and I don't care that it isn't perfect for everyone. It should have some configurations that are perfect for some people. I'm glad they're trying something sifferent.
Going through the author's complaints:
No carpet/spartan interior. -> This is perfect for me to clean out crud from hiking or winter roads.
People won't want to customize. -> Ok, pay the dealer or a shop, but let others save some money. Jeeps have a cult following.
2 doors. -> The avg riders per car trip is like 1.5. He acts like demand is the only driver, like the chicken tax and CAFE standards aren't driving up vehicle sizes.
Using rough numbers: for the larger battery pack at 84 vs 53 kWh, at $140ish/kWh, means an extra $4.5k.
The side crash protection should be solved by banning the roaming walls of death on the front of giant lifted pickups, not forcing an arms race until everything looks like an MRAP.