The podcast is talking about an electric truck that has official pricing and is starting orders. The main reason it’s mentioned is to help people understand what it will cost and when they can buy it. The exact truck model name isn’t clear from the excerpt.
In this context, “reliability” means whether the charging stations actually work when you show up. If chargers are often broken, you can end up waiting a long time.
Tesla is mentioned because its charging network has been around for a long time. The host is comparing Tesla’s approach to charging with earlier public networks that had fewer chargers.
DC fast charging is the “quick” way to charge an EV at public stations. Instead of using the car’s slower charging hardware, the station delivers power in a way that lets the car charge faster.
Electrify America is a company that runs public fast-charging stations for EVs. The host is saying that early on, some locations had too few chargers, so people could end up waiting.
“Charging experience” means how easy it is to actually charge your EV in real life. It includes whether stations have enough working chargers so you’re not stuck waiting.
Brand
ion network
The “ION network” is a set of public EV charging stations. The host is saying newer ION sites tend to have more charging spots, so you’re less likely to show up and find everything taken or broken.
Walmart is mentioned because some EV chargers are being added at retail stores. The host’s point is that these newer locations often have enough charging spots to reduce waiting.
“Stalls” are the separate spots at a charging station where you can plug in. More stalls usually means more cars can charge at the same time, so fewer people have to wait.
The Dodge Charger is a large car made by Dodge. It’s usually built for power and sporty driving. It may come up in a discussion about how easy it is to keep the car running day to day.
“Charger anxiety” means being nervous that you won’t be able to charge your EV when you need to. People worry about finding a charger, whether it’ll work, or whether it’ll be available.
A “kilowatt hour” (kWh) is a measure of how much energy you’re getting. When charging is priced in kWh, you pay based on how much electricity your EV pulls into the battery.
The Ford F-150 Lightning is an electric pickup truck. It uses a battery instead of gasoline, but it’s still meant to do typical truck jobs like hauling and towing. The podcast mentions it in relation to how far it can go before you need to charge.
“10 percent” means the battery is at about 10% charge left. It’s a realistic situation because you may need to find a charger quickly when you’re that low.
Some chargers charge you by how long you’re plugged in, like “a dollar a minute.” That can be confusing because the charging speed often slows down as the battery gets fuller.
They’re talking about how EV navigation picks charging stops for you. Their advice is to think about how much the charging will cost, not just where the car tells you to go.
EV route planning helps you pick the best route, including where you’ll stop to charge. It can choose cheaper chargers, even if they’re a bit farther away.
In-car pricing refers to showing the expected charging cost directly inside the vehicle’s navigation/infotainment system. The idea is to pull up-to-date rates from charging networks so drivers can compare options without relying on separate apps.
This is an electric pickup truck called the Slate truck 24 950. The host is saying it’s designed to be cheaper to buy and easier to live with, mainly because it has a smaller battery and can still charge fairly quickly.
“LFP” is a type of battery chemistry. It’s known for being pretty stable and safe, and it’s often used in EVs that want good everyday charging behavior.
Rear-wheel drive means the power goes to the back wheels. It can be simpler and cheaper than all-wheel drive, but it may not grip as well as AWD on snow or wet roads.
“120 kilowatt charging” is how fast the truck can charge on a fast charger. Faster charging usually means you spend less time at the station, though the speed can slow down as the battery fills up.
Term
acs port
The “port” is the plug on the truck for charging. Different EVs use different plug types, so this affects what charging stations you can use.
This is the claim about how quickly the truck can charge—about 30 minutes to get to around 80% battery. Actual time can be different depending on the charger and battery temperature.
Term
pre-orders open now
A pre-order is when you reserve the car before it’s delivered. It’s basically a way to get in line for the first production runs.
Concept
take the cream off the top of the coffee
It means they’ll sell the easiest-to-sell, most appealing versions first. Later they’ll probably have to deal with the harder-to-sell, cheaper options.
Concept
vehicle dynamics and testing for safety standpoint
Vehicle dynamics is how a car behaves—handling, stability, braking feel, and how it responds to steering inputs. When people talk about safety testing alongside customization, they’re usually referring to how changes (like body panels, seating, or mounting points) could affect crash performance and stability during tests.
Customization means you can change parts of the vehicle to fit your preferences. The tricky part is that changing things can also change how the car performs in safety tests.
“Square back” just means the rear end is more upright and boxy. That can change how the car looks and sometimes how it fits cargo and how efficiently it moves through the air.
Airbags are safety cushions that pop out during a crash to help protect your body. Where they’re mounted and how they deploy is important for them to work correctly.
Regen is when the EV slows down and also charges the battery. Instead of wasting energy as heat, the car turns some of that energy back into electricity.
One-pedal driving means you can slow down mostly by lifting your foot off the accelerator. The car uses its electric system to slow down and recharge the battery at the same time.
The Tesla Model S is one of Tesla’s main electric cars. The hosts are using it as an example of how a company can start expensive and then lower the price later.
A “base model” is the cheapest version of a car. You get the essentials first, and then you can add extra features later if you want them.
Car
Lucid
Lucid is a company that makes electric cars. The point being made is that they started with expensive models and then lowered prices, similar to Tesla.
The host is talking about hobbyists making custom accessories using 3D printers. If lots of people buy the truck, more custom parts will likely show up.
On a pickup truck, the “bed” is the cargo area. A “five foot bed” means the truck’s cargo area is about five feet long, which changes what you can carry.
The Renault Wind is a small car made by Renault. It’s designed to be compact and has a convertible-like setup. The podcast mentions it because it’s very small and the door design/layout is unusual.
It’s the metal hitch opening on the back of a vehicle. You can plug in different attachments—like a bike rack or a towing hitch—without needing a custom mount each time.
Payload is how much weight you can put in the truck bed (and how much people can be in the vehicle) before you hit the vehicle’s limit. It’s different from how much it can tow behind it.
The Tesla Cybertruck is an electric pickup truck. Instead of using gasoline, it runs on a battery and an electric motor. It’s known for its unusual shape and is often compared to other trucks by size and cost.
This means there are different kinds of buyers who want the same vehicle for different reasons. The speaker is saying the truck could attract people for more than one main motivation.
A “fleet” is a bunch of vehicles a business uses for work. When the host says fleet demand, they mean businesses buying EVs in volume and caring a lot about cost and practicality.
Zevo is mentioned as something someone is thinking about buying. The discussion focuses on how much it costs per year and how it fits into a budget. The exact type of Zevo vehicle isn’t clear from the excerpt.
Concept
hardcore towing hardcore hauling
The host is saying that EVs may be good for most business driving needs, unless the job regularly involves very heavy towing or hauling. In other words, some work demands more than typical driving.
Level 2 chargers are EV chargers that plug into a stronger power setup than a normal wall outlet. They charge your EV faster and are common at workplaces and public parking lots.
The Chevrolet Bolt is an electric car that’s designed to be affordable and practical. When people say “Bolt” in a fleet context, they mean using lots of these EVs for everyday driving.
“Bolt-on” means parts are attached with bolts instead of being permanently joined. If a car’s panels are bolt-on, it can make small repairs quicker and potentially cheaper after a bump.
This is the company reducing how many people work there to save money. For an EV company, fewer employees can mean slower progress on software updates and production.
A chief operating officer is a top manager who helps run the company day to day. Removing that role can mean the company is reorganizing how it operates.
Concept
software standpoint
EVs run a lot of important functions through software, not just hardware. The host is saying Lucid has had trouble getting the software to where it needs to be.
EVs don’t just run on electricity—they also depend on computer software. If that software has problems, the car can feel less reliable or less smooth to use until updates fix it.
They’re talking about how new car companies may need ongoing financial support for years before they make enough money from sales. If sales stay too low, the funding can run out.
The Lucid Air is an electric car (a sedan) made to be efficient and nice to drive. Here, the host says it feels better to drive than a Tesla Model S and that they like the cabin.
Car
Fisker
Fisker is an electric-car brand. The host is saying that when things go wrong, owners may have to rely on each other (like online communities) to figure out repairs and fixes.
Concept
confidence is a big thing when you're buying a car
The host is talking about buyer confidence—whether you feel safe buying the car long-term. It’s about whether there will be places that can fix it and help you if problems show up.
“Base spec” is the cheapest version of a car model. Here, Rivian stopped selling that lowest version and changed what the entry-level truck/SUV includes.
R1T is Rivian’s all-electric pickup. Here, they’re changing the “starting” version so the cheapest configuration doesn’t come with the same powertrain/range as before.
“Dual motor” means the EV has two electric motors working together, usually one for the front and one for the rear. In this segment, Rivian stopped including that setup on the cheapest version.
For EVs, “range” is how far the car says it can drive on one full charge. The segment compares the old entry setup’s range to the new entry point’s range.
“Differentiated” means the company wants the different versions to feel meaningfully different from each other. The host thinks Rivian should avoid making the cheapest version too similar to the more expensive one.
The Tesla Model 3 is an electric car that looks like a regular sedan. It uses a battery instead of gasoline. The podcast mentions it because people often talk about whether a lower-priced version is actually available or affordable for most people.
“First drive events” are controlled media/early customer experiences where journalists and influencers test a new vehicle before it’s widely available. They’re often used to gather feedback on real-world behavior—like off-road capability—while the automaker can still adjust messaging and sometimes software settings.
Jake Molinowski is a Rivian engineer/executive responsible for how the R2 drives and handles. That includes making sure it feels stable and predictable when you’re turning, braking, or driving off-road.
Here, “electric braking” means the truck can slow the wheels using its electric motors and computer control. That lets it react very fast when the road is slippery or bumpy, helping the tires keep grip.
This means the truck’s computer decides how much “push” (power) each wheel gets. If one wheel is slipping, it can reduce that wheel’s power and send more to the wheels that have grip.
“Maximum traction” means getting the tires to grip as hard as possible. On dirt or gravel, the truck tries to prevent wheel spin so it can keep moving steadily.
They’re talking about making the truck drive nicely on regular roads while still being able to handle dirt and rough trails. That’s hard because the best setup for one usually isn’t the best setup for the other.
Air suspension is a suspension system that uses air-filled bags instead of metal springs. It can raise or lower the car and help it ride better over bumps.
Some cars use the brakes to help the car stay stable while turning. If the car is starting to rotate the wrong way, the system can lightly brake specific wheels to help it follow the turn.
When you turn, the car can either rotate too much or stay balanced. “Reducing rotation” means the car is being kept from turning more than it should, so it feels more controlled.
The Wrangler is a tough SUV made for off-road driving. It’s often sold in different versions, and the podcast is comparing one version to another. The point is usually what capability and features you get for the money.
Concept
price class
“Price class” just means the budget tier the vehicle is competing in. The host is saying the car makes trade-offs that make sense for what people pay for in that range.
The host is talking about Genesis’ new EV truck called the GV90. They mention it’s launching in September and that it’s meant to be a lower-cost option in the EV truck space.
They mention the Ioniq Nine as another EV option people might be thinking about. The discussion is basically comparing different upcoming EVs and who’s launching what first.
It means the car is built from reusable building blocks. By using the same key parts (like battery and motor designs) across different models, companies can make cars cheaper and easier to adapt.
A battery pack is the EV’s main battery assembly. It’s made up of lots of smaller battery cells, and standardizing it can help automakers build different EVs more efficiently.
An electric motor is what actually drives the wheels using electricity from the battery. Standardizing motor designs can make it cheaper and easier for the company to build different EVs.
This is about how an EV’s electrical system is set up. A higher-voltage design (like 800 volts) can help the car charge faster and deliver power more efficiently, especially with the right charging equipment.
The Ford F-150 is a popular pickup truck. It’s built for everyday driving but can also handle towing and hauling. It comes up in EV conversations because there’s an electric version people compare against it.
LIVE
Hello and welcome to the batteries included podcast Friday June 26th episode 145 if you keep in count today
The slate truck has official pricing and opening orders lucid cuts a big chunk of employees again
Rivian killing off its cheapest R1 and a lot more
I'm your host Martin Lee from the EV news daily podcast joining us today is the luminous
Mr. Tom Malogany host of YouTube state of charge and the premier if you charging news site EV charging stations calm
Delighted to have Dave Connor with us today from YouTube's out of spec Dave looking very chilled out and we have Dominic
Yoni longtime EV journalist and host of YouTube's drive electric with Dominic
Let's get into it. The batteries included podcast is sponsored by EV charging stations calm
If you drive an electric vehicle or you're planning to this site is packed with comprehensive charger reviews
Detailed DC fast charging graphs and the latest news from all of the fast charging networks
You'll find real-world testing easy to understand comparison and deep dives into how different
Electric vehicles actually charge
Before you buy an EV charger or plan your next road trip
Make sure to bookmark EV charging stations calm and make smarter charging decisions
All right, I feel like I should welcome anyone from this side of the pond to a sweltering Western Europe and a heat dome
Which has caused big temperatures here 34 degrees Celsius here today. That's what 95 Fahrenheit
There may be people watching that go
That's nothing. Yeah, you have air conditioning. So we weren't built for the heat
We were built for mild our housing stock wasn't built for heat
It was built to keep heat in like it's cold here
But France and Spain if you're if you're watching or listening to us there, I know you've had 40 44 degrees
That's what 110 Fahrenheit plus and so
Yeah, you have you have
Mis sympathies if you're struggling with with the heat merit many of our American viewers will be thinking
Go get some air con like I'm sure Dave who are you in your Florida bolt hole at the moment? Yes
Yeah
coming at you from out of spec south here in
at the RV site and
It's actually not too bad out this morning. Maybe 88 something show off you show off
and
Yeah, no everything is good where it's it's been a lot of change in our lives, but
We're ready to I'm ready to talk some slate. I think that thing is pretty interesting, but officially Tom
I don't think I've talked to you, but you know, we've retired Kathy pulled the trigger. I pulled the trigger and
We're moving out of Connecticut as a matter of fact today
We're gonna drive down to Collier County and file
Full-time residency in the state of Florida. So I can't wait for no state income taxes. It's gonna be good
Good for you. Yeah, I saw that you did some posts. I think I like them and might have said congratulations
I'm not sure on your social media posts, but congratulations. That's awesome
You know, the Northeast is losing, you know, you which is unfortunate
It was we were always just an hour away
But hey, you know with with with road trips that we both like to do, you know, we're still pretty close
Oh, yeah, absolutely. I'm looking forward to having a nice bedroom in New Jersey at your house. So don't you worry
All right, let's get into it then actually before we dig into the news
Let's dig into the post bags and really lovely notes we got over the last week or so
Battery bargain submissions keep them coming in. It's a spin-off show
We do where we find you some brilliant EVs to drive tell us your budget and what you want
But first of all last week we talked about compact trucks near the end of the show
The Honda Acti came up as a cool truck to convert to electric and one of our viewers a big fan of tiny Japanese trucks
Send us an email and a photo saying hi guys love the show
Listening to the podcast while at the gym here in Raleigh and heard Kyle mentioned the Acti's in North Carolina
I see them all the time and spotted this gem on my way home. Keep up the good work
Says Ron Ron, you should know by now. This isn't good and it's certainly not work
But I will take the compliment Ron. We love it. That's such a cool truck. Yeah. Thanks for that, Ron
And also I've got an email
Al writes a big fan long-time listener. Sorry Al
Can you talk about the need to have an option in route planning apps and built-in car software called redundant charging stops?
And he explains in other words only route me to charges that have more than one brand in
A similar location the last thing I want to do is go to a charging stop and the charge doesn't work
And I'm stranded with no other options. I do this when I plan my own stops. Why not give me the option to do it in car
What do you think? Uh, well, I think charges and cars should all just just work
For a start, but I'm a crazy optimist
I'm not sure that a lot of people would sign up for that. I think that's quite a specialist use case
But if it's easy to build then let's build it
Just out in Bartlett
Illinois
Yeah, you know my my thoughts on that Martin would be I don't necessarily look when I'm doing longer route for
Multiple brands at the same location as much as I do multiple units
You know if if there's an electrify America site for instance
That's one of their older sites that has four chargers or an ev go site that has two, you know
I might avoid that stop, but if it's one of the newer ev go or electrify America sites
Let's say that have ten chargers. I'm not worried about it. I know I'm gonna be able to get get one, you know
And and and plug in, you know, even if at worst case got a weight short period of time
So I don't know if I necessarily need to have
You know and a supercharger next to
An ion station, you know to make me feel comfortable to go there and in any event, you know the whole charger
Reliability thing. I think we're gonna start to put behind us
Worrying about get arriving to a site and plugging. It's still here. Don't get me wrong
But the first generation of these sites outside of tesla
All right, we always have to put tesla in its own box because they just got it from day one
But the many of the sites that started with dc fast charging
789 years ago. I had one charger two
Maybe three, you know when electrify america first started putting chargers in 10 years ago
They had four I think in many of their locations
That's just not enough if a couple of them are broken and four or five people pull up to charge
You could be waiting more than an hour to be able to plug in
But that that gen one
Electric vehicle charging experience. We're putting it behind us
We've got these sites opening up like the ion network like walmart where they're for the most part
10 is the minimum amount of stalls that you'll get eight sometimes but for most of them
Eight to ten is the minimum and they work in addition to tesla
Continuing to open up more and more sites with even more chargers
Whereas maybe years ago eight was their kind of standard eight stalls now. It's it's
15 or 16 20 so
I get what uh, was it al I forget from yeah, yeah
I get what al's saying al's probably been
You know somebody that has been burned before
But I don't think this is an issue that we really need to work into the software because this problem
Is a problem of the past it's still lingering but very soon
You won't have to worry about that. Hey, you know tom
I was thinking about this and and I appreciate al's point
But I I worry that we don't really have this issue as far as the charger anxiety
As much anymore, but one of the things that would be really cool is cost comparison
I mean if I can pay
42 cents a kilowatt hour versus 52 cents a kilowatt hour within a three or four mile radius
Send me to the one that's cheaper if reliability is gone and some of that functionality may exist already depending on the app
You're using but having the the ability to now shop and cost compare. I think is a good thing
I agree and we have to technology can do it now, you know this, you know
So, you know that that should definitely be something that gets
Factored in because the price can be greatly different. That's the thing, you know, some of the big networks
It's relatively consistent
There's time of use where during the day you're going to pay a lot more and site by site it's going to change
But once you start getting out of the electrify america ion as ev goes teslas and into some of the
smaller networks
You can or even the independently owned charge point chargers now of a sudden
You can be crazy expensive. I actually and this is a perfect time for me to mention this
I was going to make a video this week. I drove the lightning down to
10 percent
I went to a charger in new jersey at max on hunday
Which is listed as the most expensive charger in the country
For public charging. So, um, the the the prices get this it's 25 dollars per kilowatt hour
per kilowatt hour and
End a dollar a minute while you're charging
So I drove the lightning down to like nothing
And I was gonna act like I was in my video like it like a electric vehicle newbie that hey
I just got this electric truck charging so cheap. I love it. So, yeah, you know every now and then I got a charge on the road
Let me plug in here. I was going to go next door. There was a uh
Shake shack next door get something to eat right come out later and look at the screen
It was going to cost me about 3500 dollars to charge my lightning
And I was going to pay it
I was going to pay it as as just a cost of doing the video and then make this the springboard to
explaining charging and for people to understand how important it is
Before you route yourself to a charger to understand how expensive it is. So I did I pull up
And uh, it's it's available. I go I plug in I swipe my card. It's processing processing and then it comes up on the screen. Um, you know, uh
I forget what it said like like my credit card wasn't accepted
It wasn't valid to make a loan for sure if they have it turned off to the public only
The dealership can go in and swipe the card. So I don't know why it's listed as that price
I think they were charging that price a while ago
And they did it just so nobody would use it so they could use it as their private charger. They probably got public funds
To install it and part of the the um rules are when you get public funds to install it
You have to have it open to the public. So they said, okay, we'll open it to the public
We'll just charge $25 a kilowatt hour
Nobody will use it because the price for electricity around here is about 22 cents per kilowatt hour
So it was more than a hundred times what they pay in any event
My video it flopped, but now I'm at the charger. I'm at two percent state of charge
I'm like, oh shit
Where'd I go, you know, you know
So I found another place to to charge a little bit till I can get home
But I thought that would have been a fun video and you know, um, of course the thumbnail would have said
I paid $3,500 to charge my eb. Hopefully that would have might have popped but
Anyway, the point is the dave's point
You can pay a lot more if you don't know where if you if you don't plug in in the right location
Right down the road you could pay half sometimes if you just drove a mile farther
So so there should be that dave worked into the uh, the route planning where you know, it says like, okay
Well, you know how google does it with the maps take this route
It'll cost you $3 and 32 cents take this route and it's free, but it's 10 miles farther
That the the route planning for the ebbs could do that, you know use these chargers pay
This to go to this route. Yeah, it's a little bit quicker, but you pay less
It's like, you know where this has come front and center with me and we can move on here
But you know with my diesel truck that i'm pulling the rv with i'm really cost-conscious right now about it
So gas buddy for ebbs, right? I've been using gas buddy. I saved a dollar
A dollar ten a gallon
um the other day because I I I filled up in south carolina as opposed to going into georgia
Yeah, so there's little things like that. But anyway, it's no no, I agree. I agree and that that should be
I mean gas buddy like they have the infrastructure already
They have all the like would be easy. I think for them to be able to do something like this
But anyway, I don't want to use a gas buddy. Yeah
I like to see that built-in pricing built into the yes on on in-car, you know systems like yeah, 100 great
Yeah, it's all online in theory
It's just be an api that you connect to someone and because it changes through the day obviously
A lot of networks do dynamic pricing. So it's all available. So yeah, all right. Okay. Let's get into it, right?
Slates confirm 24 950 for their blank slate truck
Uh, I got it now that I saw the price and they did a really good reveal
We probably can't show the all the videos and stuff because uh, we'd get dinged on copyright
But the set that they built just had a massive
Price above it. Oh you go. It's there. It's there. I haven't seen this video that if you're watching us on youtube
It was it was that was the set that they used for
Oh the launch videos
When I saw it and I saw the truck and it's a thing now and they were allowed to drive it
so Roman at tfl
Marquez mkbhd
And others drove the truck
Not full driving impressions
Now it's real gotta be honest. I'm a bit excited about this slate truck 24 950
I got some details and I hand it over to the gang. So lfp battery pack
So charge that to 100 and fill your boots, which you'll want to it's not massive
It's 65 gross and 63 kilowatt hours net usable
So you'll want to be charging it to full anyway to get the maximum range out of it. No big pack anymore
That's the battery rear wheel drive. That's the drivetrain 205 miles
181 horsepower. I think all of the reviews I saw
Everyone said yeah, it's peppy. It you know eight seconds north of 60 it it goes
Payload
1550 pounds max towing 2000 pounds an acs port obviously 120 kilowatt charging
I'm not going to blame out the water. I think it's all good enough 80 charge in 30 minutes pre-orders open now
Um, and if you haven't reserved you can pay 300 dollars to get on the list
Deliveries fourth quarter this year. Dave. I've got to come straight to you. What it's getting more real
How are you feeling about the slate truck? Yeah, I mean listen
I think the original price point and some of the promise of all-wheel drive and a little bit longer range
I think it was supposed to be less than 24 90 950 extremely spartan
um
I think it it'll be really interesting. Look, there's a lot of risks when you go with a
A new company from an ev standpoint, but there's definitely going to be
I mean at 25 grand
How much can you lose they're probably going to be way more demand for this at least initially
To you know kind of take the cream off the top of the coffee
And I think they'll probably sell a ton of them, you know, some of the things as far as the ability to
Um make this your own
I think it would be very interesting especially from a vehicle dynamics and testing for safety standpoint
Some of the things that you may be able to change. I don't know how that would impact, you know
The safety ratings so you see all these different changes that go on there, but the concept itself
Is of customization is something that is very intriguing and very interesting to me
So I I 300 bucks. I may throw my name in the hat
I I I kind of missed it yesterday with my it was my 37th wedding anniversary
I was focused more on that yesterday than the than this I probably shouldn't have been but in any event
I don't know. I'm intrigued by it. I had a lot of friends reach out saying hey, Dave was out of spec at this event
And we we didn't get a chance to to go to it, but yeah, you will loads of coverage
I'm sure of this so that suv back
There's also a fast back and a more square back as well
The airbags come built in to the whole unit that bolts on
And those rear bench kind of seats in the back as well
So let's have to do the airbags and the safety and whatnot and they they have obviously got a screen inside
It's very spartan as you say
There is a screen behind the steering wheel because of different regulations and laws the us has a law in reversing
Uh, and so you need to you know have a screen, but you would want in an EV anyway because of
state of charge and
Regen and and but there's no settings really. It's one pedal driving and it's on you know, there's no sport mode or what not
Dom and I you've been flicking around the configurator and you want to talk us through some of the things that you've noticed on this
Kind of live in in real time as it were. Don, what do you what's been standing out as you've been looking at the the website?
Well, let's see. So pre-order is open today
300 bucks. So if you want to surrender if you already put down your
$50 for the reservation that counts against this. So it's only 250 bucks if you have a reservation already or I mean, yeah
Uh, so it's interesting. I'm just looking I was looking around the site a bit today and just trying to see like, you know
how much would it cost to
Or build one here we go to you know, put one together and because $25,000 like that's the dream
But that's like the very beginning. No, no one
No one's going to buy the base one. Basically, aren't they?
This is the question I was going to ask all three of you like
Aren't they like is it 25k for a second or third vehicle in your driveway?
Or maybe one for your kids if you're a really generous parent, you know, if they're learning to drive or whatever or a pool car at work or
Like I don't know. Okay carry on like I think the 25k wind down window spec is
Interesting you'd probably want to at least get the mobile phone holder which they bill you for
Because that's going to be your route planning and stuff like that
Everything is so uh, but yeah, you're really quick to enter
Martin said will they yes they will Martin people will buy the base the base model. Um, I think
Um, and I think with uh on the come they'll say look just so I can afford right now
Um, I'll add stuff as I can get money, but I want one of these right now
I'll live with it and I'll decide what options I want to get
You know what add-ons I'll save some money. I'll buy the fender flares. I'll save some money. I'll buy the next thing
Um, but yeah, I do think they will go out the door at the base price
And I definitely think fleets will buy them at the base price. So yeah, I I think that 24, you know
$25,000 truck will sell
Hey, you know tom one of the things I really like about the strategy that the senior management's coming out with
Is it if you remember tesla?
They brought out the model s and it was a really expensive vehicle, right?
And then they came down in price lucid brought out the really expensive one then came down in price
These guys are coming out with the basey base model and you'll be able to build it up
And the fact that you also have the ability to customize it in your back pocket
It's like so you get the base one now for 25 grand. You can make it your own later
I kind of think that that that's a smarter way to do it
Yeah, it's uh, I there's bound to be a third party
Marketplace that crops up around this vehicle if the vehicle is popular
There is bound to be a bunch of hobbyists and 3d printers and whatnot
There's going to be a there's going to be a third party marketplace around this vehicle
But to go officially to slate do you want to get the add-ons and stuff?
That's the big thing that they're going with which is
Like if you drive this for six months and think, uh, you know, I really do want those extra
Cup holders or like this extra thing. It's all changeable
Or I really want this accessory for the bed or I'm doing more time
The bare bones of it literally which is the five foot bed
Two seats up front cloth seats and a really big front as well because you know, it's a truck
So you want some lockable storage the bare bones of it. I think they're really good
decent size battery
Enough range enough charging
It's not designed to win anything any kind of top trumps card game of evs
Apart from the cost, which is it's going to win every time. Anyway, don't carry on. Sorry
Uh, well, I'm so I'm just going through this, uh, the the builder the builds
Software or whatever. So this is kind of like what I had configured earlier for myself. It's like a black
basic thing with a
But the whole thing in the trunk or and the back bed so you can put like a
Like kayak on top of that, you know, if you want to that's pretty sick spec. That's a pretty sick spec
You've got I mean
Yeah, I was trying not to spend a whole lot of money
But man and there's a lot a lot of things that I put on my build
They didn't really show up because they're not priced yet. So it's kind of hard to say exactly
You know, how much it will end up being in the long run, you know, once it's finished right now
I think it's at 26. Maybe I can see it here
Uh, 26 something. Let's see my design summary. Here we go. Yeah, 26 to 44
But I have a bunch of things that you know, they don't have pricing for yet. So I
Think it's probably closer to, you know, 32 or, you know, in the low 30s. So I've got the what is priced
Talk to you three. What is priced?
So these these wraps so this is a big thing
This is what I can really see people, you know, spending because it comes in great, which is fine
But well, if you're like a store something you're gonna you're gonna get your own specialized wrap
like if you're like a
Like an auto parts chain
there's
there's probably
A market for like 60 70 000 car park
You know store
Trucks each one each release each of these, uh, you know auto parts stores have
two to four delivery trucks and there's
Uh, that's in the top four brands of auto parts store in in the u.s. There's about 25,000 in the stores
So there's there's a bunch of built-in business right there
I mean because I use that as an example just because I worked at one for a while
Delivering auto parts way way back in the day
And uh, you know, they just slap the wrap on this is like the one of the cheapest vehicles
You can buy even regardless of electric or you know, even like, uh, I think the centers are now even like over 20 000
So it's it's like the I think it's the fourth cheapest
I heard someone say it was a fourth cheapest vehicle available in the u.s. Right now
So that puts it really in line for like
That kind of business or or there's lots of similar businesses
You know, I was I was worried about are they gonna be able to get enough sales, but
I think even if commercial sales if they really kind of look at this package
Like I'm more excited now that I was previously
But uh, yeah, I think if
So what's the wrap because everyone's gonna wrap it. So what's the wrap cost? Okay?
500 bucks
That's cheap because wrap
Well, that's for the basic wrap and then you get part wraps
You can just wrap part of it and and save even more or you could spend a lot more
They have like signature designs here on the screen. So
They have some like go up to like 800 dollars, you know, 890 dollars or 790
They're yeah, that's not a lot. Oh, yeah. Yeah, that's still I love this one
This is almost more fun than like the Porsche website for customers. I know
They love there. Oh, yeah
The poor man's Porsche
So there's things like that or you can just add like decals, you know decals
To them
As well, there's small like lighting changes or like the inside I think I put in mind
There's a bigger console in the middle
So you have like an armrest and that's you know, cost extra like everything costs extra
I don't think there's a electric electric door or electric window option anymore
I I think this I kind of think it's only the crank. So this that I've seen so far
Uh, but yeah, I think
If you get the wrap they throw in a free rotary phone as well
Yeah, that's cool
I love the crank handles on the windows
I feel like we live in an AI world now the there's there's a place for crank handles
in in the
Uh, uh, autofocus. I presume is autofocus. I don't even know what channel it's on. It must be autofocus
mkbhd or marquez brownlee if you've seen any of his review videos first of all
Go and watch the slate one because he always comes
out from the bushes outside his office
and
If you ever seen on youtube any of the zach gallifanakis between two ferns
series
Uh, he does that his version of that so you still find some greenery to come out from behind
So go watch the star whole thing. It's brilliant at one point
He just reaches over and touches the other side of the truck and he's like this just calls back to like a
A former era of vehicles where
Trucks were smaller like he goes what truck now
Can I just reach across and touch the other the other like literally wind the other door up?
It's it's that small
But he said that's great because that harks back to an era when vehicles just weren't so fat and oversized
So I like the crank handle thing
Yeah, I mean
So I've been looking through all these accessories and things and I just think if someone's going to buy this thing
I'm they want to keep it straight to their budget
But man, I figure looking through these these accessories at all
I think they're going to find something that they're going to say
Oh, I I guess I kind of need that, you know, and it's not really that much a lot of the things
Aren't that much, you know, but they're I think they said they have on the on the press release
Let me see if I can pull that up real quick
They have over 200 accessories on the slate marketplace
80% of them are under $500
So it's it includes refract stereos to say zip off seat covers so you can get nicer seat covers
light covers
Over 100 wrap colors at launch and they have a custom color thing is I think it's like $1500. That's the series money
One but I don't really see the point of doing it, you know, there's so many colors already
To get some in-between shade and you know, I don't see it really get the point of that. That's yeah 1600 bucks
Yeah, I mean, that's almost what regularly wraps now if I wanted to get over. Yeah, you know a car wrapped
I would that's a minimum I would expect to pay more like $3,000 for you know for a good quality wrap, but they've made this like
They've engineered designed this truck
To be wrapped so there's no weird compound compound curves anywhere a lot of stuff is flattened out
The places are like around the door handles. They you know specifically
You know made that so it could be you know wrapped easily to keep that cost low
Basically, yeah, and they'll be experts. They'll just be doing this
They'll be doing hundreds of these a week by their own, you know, their own people at their own facility and you just get really good at doing it
Like 499 a deal
Um, right. What else did you add to your spec?
Go on
Do they actually do the wrapped on I haven't really ever figured that part out
Actually, if they're doing the wrap or they're going to send you the wrap and you do it yourself
I think yeah, it says bull vehicle wraps. Here we go
Bull vehicle wraps cost under $500. That's just I wouldn't do my own wrap
I would want it. I want if I'm wrapping a car. I want it perfect. I don't know. I'm not doing that myself
True get it wrapped professionally and affordably in hours not days
So that means that's under $500 for the wrap, but then you're going to have to take it somebody who's going to charge you
Okay, some money. I don't know how much you know, but I would expect a thousand dollars
so
Yeah, the wrap shops probably aren't really thrilled about you showing up with your own wrap here
Just put this on for me. They want to sell you the vinyl and everything, you know
Yeah, I'll make I'll charge you for the for the labor then, you know, yeah, I mean
Maybe maybe it won't cost more. I don't know that'll be interesting to find out
There's a business there. If someone's smart they would start
A business that just wraps slates
So they would advertise like if you if you could somehow get a database or whatever
If people have bought slate trucks with a wrap
Um
Then just like I'll come to you. your driveway. I do tons of these a week
I know exactly what I'm doing and it's going to cost like 200 dollars because I get three done in a day
Like that's a business. That's a good shout
Yeah
Yeah, yeah, so and what else did you add to your truck by the way in your dream spec or your sensible?
your sensible
I had I put a full black wrap on it. I was
I
There was a trailer receiver
I didn't let a hitch just the receiver part because I like the idea of being able to put like a
Like a special kind of bike bicycle
Mount on the back or sometimes they have like bed extenders you can plug into the hitch receiver
So that's another way of carrying kayaks or long pieces of lumber or what have you, you know
Very handy. It's only a 2000 pound maximum towing capacity. So that's not great
so, um
You know, better they just extend they extend the bed and and use it because it's got like a
1550 pounds of payload
That's pretty substantial for a small vehicle. That's like
Almost as much as a cybertruck, right?
I think it's like 400 pounds five with the cybertruck carries, you know, you know guys as I'm thinking about this
I think there's um
And then we can jump to the next topic
But I think there's two demand vectors for this vehicle, which could be interesting first. It's an attainable
Um, affordable brand new EV
That's something that's new and unique like remember when cybertruck came out, right?
And a lot of people were stretching to get that there's a lot of money. This is not a lot of money
okay, and so and
To to think that wow, I can get the really base one and then at any point in time when I can afford it
Maybe a year from now I can do any of these customizations down the road
I think that is going to create
Beyond just the you know, the auto chains or the that are um, you know, auto parts stores from a
Distribution standpoint that fleet type demand a lot of people are just going to say well
I can get this thing and you've got that wow factor
Then there's the other demand factor
Which is the guy who can afford
three cybertrucks
And a model whatever, you know, and he's like I'm going spartan because it's kind of cool to have something
You know like so basic and unique and and a talking point that I want to get one of these things so
I don't know. We'll see we'll see what the market does but one thing's for sure
um economics mean a lot and cheap is good, especially in a market like this where you know prices of feel well
Maybe feel's coming down
At least in the last last week or so, but you know, we were um, just just recently
I was talking to a gentleman that runs. I think I told you this Dominic the other day
Runs the ymca up in northern northeast Tennessee and he runs he they they um, they feed 250,000 children every year
And and he's he's looking at getting like a bright drop or something like that
He's spending $50,000 a year in fuel
And so he's trying to
Electrify his fleet of three or four different, you know meal delivery vehicles in northeast, Tennessee
So you think about all these different companies that are out there that have the potential to save on energy
Like 22 cents a kilowatt hour right in new jersey as opposed to you know
Anyway, I will we'll see I think this thing could fly
Any any business that needs to do anything with a vehicle that apart from hardcore towing hardcore hauling
Hardcore, you know, you've got a really large bed for something or whatever
I think any business that has the need for a reasonably practical actually a really practical vehicle
Uh, he's got two seats up front, you know, it's always going to be a driver
Maybe driver and someone else
Like they should have one of these because just have it in your lot in your part in your car park
Just just there as a pool vehicle be so useful and it's no money
I think I saw I don't know on some tech blog like apple this year or next year or whatever
Is about tim cook leaving and the new apple boss has got to launch the folding iphone
It was going to be I didn't read it like 1500 or $2,000 or something for the first folding fold out and I'm like
That's crazy for a phone. Here's a vehicle for 25, but no one's going to pay 25 because no one
Just writes a check for 25 because you just finance it or
Whatever amortize it over three years if you're a business so no one's walking in with 25 grand in cash
Like monthly that's so sensible for a business. It really is. How about municipalities?
You know
Municipalities have so many vehicles that they use for like they're building inspectors
Right that drive all day long and drive 15 miles, you know
meter the meter people
That ride there
You know little cars up and down the main roads and and tag people for over two meters
You know
Think about number one the cost of the vehicle so little they wouldn't have to get almost any of the options in it because
They don't need any of the options
They don't need even the the center screen, you know like for navigation or anything because they're just driving around town
and
The initial cost of the vehicle is going to be less than the overall
Running costs are going to be nothing, you know, I mean, they just have to install a bank of level two chargers
outside the municipal complex where they park the vehicles and
This would be a great way to uh save us taxpayers on our municipal budget
Right and it's small enough to be nippy and yeah
Tell the house he has a fleet of Chevy bolts
Further further like municipal, you know meter maze and all that kind of stuff
And just like, you know, there's a lot of employees. They just
Have have Chevy bolts and you see them all over the town. This would be even cheaper
Yeah, it's a lap of the city. Tallahassee's deck along the doors and you're done
Yeah, well if you're going to order a hundred of them, you just get a wrap design by Spina designer
To do you a you know the Tallahassee full wraps are your own color and also I wonder what's going to happen with insurance
We've got a really interesting thing happening here in the uk
We get a lot of chinese cars because
We're right-hand drives a lot of chinese cars go to australia, which is right-hand drive
And we didn't follow the european union since brexit with all the big tariffs
And so we get a lot of chinese cars and increasingly insurers won't insure them. So
If i'm picking up a depal or a changan or a
Jku or a moda you might find an insurer that will but you might find some insurers that say look
We don't have enough insurance data on those yet. So we just won't even give you a quote
It's an it's an increasing problem. I had it with my mg. Which is maybe about s a i c
It was more expensive to insure than a poll star because a poll star. It's just a vulva with a different badge
We do a poll star too is um, that's nuts. I wonder about slates
if if genuinely like all the bits are bolt-on bits
And someone dings your rear quarter or someone rear ends your web and you and it's it's
It's it just cheaper to unscrew it. Yeah go on the slate website
Uh next day me that front wing and it arrived because it's got you can see the bolts where it's holding it on
It's not a beautiful
You know fit and finish we just give tesla hell about you know panel gaps
If it's a case of like right in my garage i'll take that off put the new front
Panel on and i'm done like does that bring insurance costs down?
For big fleets things like that. It's all all to be decided, but i'm excited by this
That's a good point. Yeah, they have the plastic panels. So maybe yeah, there's no repainting
That's a lot cheaper right just get and if you got the slate gray one
Then just send me the new panel like someone's dinged it in a car park idiot, right?
Don't even go through insurance. Just say to them like that's going to cost you 80 dollars on the website
You just you know 180 dollars does get me a new one and like i'd keep that away from my insurance company
Yeah, fine. Here's some money like sorry. I made a mistake. So all right
Uh, okay, that might be slate. Uh, I can't wait to read the comments this week about slate
Yeah, I was just want to say I was really uh
Uh, what's what's the word is skeptical of there's you know success really considering that you know the
Ford maverick the not the Ford maverick, but the new Ford pickup truck is coming out at just $5,000 more
You know $30,000 comes with a radio
They both have air conditioning by the way should mention the slate does come with air conditioning. That's great
Uh, so but I was you know skeptical about how well they could do with that in the marketplace
But after you know because they're also like a new vehicle are these guys going to put together a vehicle that feels like solid
And you know and good while driving it and so like you mentioned
mkh
hd
drove it and the tracy from the guy from the utopian the website he also had a very nice
Yeah, he's got a great video actually. He's we're checking that out
And it is it looks like
They may like a pretty decent, you know fine handling vehicles. It's not like boomy or anything side. It seems to be
You know for the pre-production they were driving pre-production trucks, but it kind of
For me what I heard
Bode bode well for the future for the I think the I was thinking maybe they would so they have 180,000 pre-orders
and I was thinking maybe they'd be lucky if they got a quarter of those but
I really kind of
I don't know. This is all this all the videos I've been seeing and just reading about it and looking at them
I think it could be really a compelling kind of vehicle
Or a lot of people actually, you know
And so I'm thinking maybe
They might do better than I expect. I know it's we'll have to wait and see
You know what the initial reviews and how well they hold up after you know a bit of
wear and tear. I'm expecting they they're using
You know not state of the art
Components so hopefully it's stuff that stuff. That's you know tried and tested
I guess we don't really know exactly what motors are using or anything like that
but uh, yeah
It should be really interesting to watch this unfold at least and
Watch, uh, I don't know Tom or
Kyle or I don't know Dave if you're interested in a little run-around pickup truck for funds
Yeah, I think you're ordering one as soon as this podcast is over
You're in love. Yeah, I
You're going for it
So I I think I like to sit in one before I actually put the money money down, you know
I I looked at the video and I'm like so I'm like 62 and I saw you know
A tall guy get in on the passenger side and I couldn't tell how you know really comfortable he was
But uh, I like the idea and I like the price point and it would probably work for me
I like the idea of having a little maybe pickup truck
So maybe once I get back to the States, that's uh, what I'll do. I don't know
Okay, all right. Let's move on let's move on from an affordable utility play to a premium luxury space
We have another update from lucid this week under the direction of a new ceo silvio napoli
The company is now cutting 18 percent of their workforce in the us 1500 jobs
That's full-time roles contractors and production workers as well. This is not great news
We talked at length about imad de lala the former senior vp of engineering and software
Leaving immediate notice a week or so ago. That's never never good big reduction in workforce
Recently at 12 percent was in in february
They've eliminated roles like chief operating officer and they've taken out a second production shift at the cast of ground a facility
I felt like we're flogging a dead horse there here
But Dave as we've got you on this week, of course, you're a former lucid owner
So they've got some real challenges to overcome as a former owner
How do you feel about the sort of the tough times they're going through at lucid? Yeah, I mean, I think there's great people working over there
um
Some of the smartest minds some of the best engineers and they've put out an incredibly good product
Been challenged over the years from a software standpoint. It's sad to see them having to do this
But it's a reality check, right? You know at the end of the day. It's it's dollars and cents
I wonder I have no idea where the
you know, what what what is really happening, but
The funding from the Saudis
um
If that weren't there would this company be here today
Um, is that something that is maybe a threat that if they lose that?
um, I continue to hear
From a lot of viewers about challenges. They've had with
Software in their cars even in the gravities
As a matter of fact, I had one guy reach out to me the other day who had one bought back by the company
Um, I think they're getting better with the software, but
It's a premium product. You expect a lot out of it. It's an amazing driving experience
um, I think it's it's um
Hopefully what this is is a reset
You know everything coming up. Maybe they have to scale it back and then they can rebuild with with some new
Leadership at the top, but yeah, it's never good to see something like this happening guys
Um, and I wish them nothing but the best. I think they're a great product
um, and and I and it's it's to me. This is an american company with a lot of pride
and um, not just at the engineer level, but everything you do with from communication and and
The outreach to the client to to the users and the owners and and and people are just very proud of lucid the brand and
While I loved my vehicle, um, you know boy
You can pick up some really good values on these vehicles
And use market right now because they've just completely tanked in value
but
Great cars sad to see this happening
Hopefully they'll get through it and turn it around and bring out some of the less expensive vehicles and follow that path of
What tesla did we'll see
Yeah
yeah
Tom anything to add. I know we took a lot tom recently about anything to add on this new story
Yeah, I mean, you know, I think dave pretty much I echo pretty much everything dave said
Uh, they're great cars. The they drive fantastically
Every time I get into one of the lucid vehicles like for an extended loan or whatever
I'm like, I really should buy one of these that's how impressed I am with them
And you guys know we get to drive everything they drive
fantastically
So far issues has been a nagging problem
That that has really hurt the brand and I mean guys they've sold
I think they're at like 38,000 now vehicles
And the air launched in late 2021
You know, it's mid 2026 now
And we're talking about less than 40,000 vehicles worldwide
And they sell vehicles in eight different countries. I know
Very few vehicles
outside of the us
but still
When you when you add that up, you know what it cost to run a car company
What it cost to continue rnd to build the next platform the next vehicle
And you're and you've sold 38,000 cars in in in four and a half years
Um, you know that that that endless flow of money wherever it's coming from is eventually gonna
If not dry up the people that are writing those checks are gonna say
You know, what one of these numbers going to pick up and uh, you know, it's it's unfortunate because like I said, I mean
I think they built the best
For you know outside of maybe what Porsche has done
Uh, you know, the best engineered electric vehicles you could buy, you know, I would take
You know an air over a model s and I know that's not what everybody might feel but I've driven both extensively
Um, and I think that the air drives better than model s
Uh, but uh, and I like the interior. driver's cockpit and everything, you know
But the software is a big problem. You can't compare the
um
Air software to model s software tesla's, you know, a hundred times better, but you know, it's it's unfortunate
It's unfortunate. Hopefully as um, they've said that they pull out of this. Maybe this is a
Good thing that they needed to cut back
Uh, they got to get the mids to uh to market cosmos and uh, and uh the other two vehicles
Uh, you know, I had it me and kyle had the opportunity one of the two of the
Very few pool of people to actually see the cosmos and I think it's a good looking vehicle if it drives like the other vehicles
They've got a winner as long as the software
Um is is locked in so yeah, um, I wish them the best. I hope they pull through this. It doesn't look good
Yeah
And confidence is a big thing when you're buying a car. So ask any fiska. Oh no the struggling with
Yeah
Being part of a facebook community to try and work out problems and the the owners of those fiskers
You know, they are coming together to help each other out, but sure most people don't want to do it
Yeah, but there's only a couple thousand of those at least with even though I said only 40 000
That's a good pool of vehicles if by chance the worst happens to lucid
There will definitely be
Like legitimate repair and
Shops to fix these because there's enough of them to make a serious business case out of it. You know, it's not
like the
Fisker where there's not a couple hundred of them out there. You know, it's like how much how much money are we going to put into this?
But yeah, so anyway, hopefully that's not the case
Hopefully this is just a point where you know a kind of a low point in their history and they're going to pull out of it
But as I said, yeah, it doesn't look good. All right. Let's let's talk a little bit about rivian. They've discontinued their
base spec
so
they are making
an adjustment to their r1 t and r1 s
the they've removed dual motor standard
That paired the entry level battery pack with a dual motor powertrain
270 miles of range the baseline jumps by about 7000 dollars to get into one now
Uh, 321 miles dual motor configuration the new entry point. Um, I think that's you know, I think r1s
Are not the future of rivian. Uh, interesting to note that they're doing that. Um
Don, what did you think about this? Is it is a is a smart move?
I mean, I thought it was a smart move. I think uh, I'm
I like very much like the idea nothing to have their the r2 out there the more affordable model. I think it's
I think it's smart to keep them differentiated
so keep your premium products premium and you know part of that is
part of that is like the
besides the price
The add what would you say it had 270 miles of range?
That's that's not a premium experience
You know that even for those prices we need over 300 or 300 uh miles at least if you know in the premium
sector
sector
So I think it's a smart move. I hopefully they'll you know, they'll keep on
Keep it as a flagship vehicle and make adjustments to maybe
Replace components and things as up add features, etc
You know as they go along the line, they have a lot going on right now
So they're putting out the r2 to build in the factory to build more of them plus the r3
That's still under development now and then rj mentioned in an interview the day they have r4 and r5
Coming this they don't really have any
You know really hard for that yet
But you know, they're already thinking about those next products
Which by the way, they're supposed to be even more affordable than r3. So that's kind of interesting that they're going that far down market
um
Yeah, but uh, yeah, so if they keep the I hopefully they'll just keep the
I don't know. I think they're special vehicles. They are ones because that's how the company started and I think it's
It's just part of the you know
You have to build heritage for a new company like this
And I think keeping the their original vehicles around and keeping them up to date and keeping them premium and flagship
Is is the way to go here and uh, yeah and
cutting out
You know making that because if you don't want to buy an r2 and
And you know max spec it out so it's even more
Than the cheapest r1, you know, so you want to have some space between those price points
Uh, so last week it was kyle and scott on the podcast
I was away
It was a bit of a week of traveling for me because I was hosting an e-mobility kind of event conference industry thing
Um, but the keynote speaker on the first morning opening the whole festival
Was rj scarridge flew over to london for that and some investor meetings as well
So my first 20 minutes of the morning was interviewing rj on stage
um
You know that he didn't say anything that made headlines
I would say uh, let me let me run you through the questions. I asked him guys where I've got my notes
But I had uh, so I said r2 is now coming off the line as of last week. They've been delivering to customers for one week
Um, uh, did you feel like we've finally done it very professional answer on this?
He sort of just paid lip service to yet wonderful and we hope the customers love it
Um, I said that the 45 000 one won't come for you know a while. What's the balance that you need for your margins?
Uh, what do you want to see in terms of performance versus base spec?
Uh, he wouldn't be drawn on it
Because I wouldn't say like oh like I want half the people to like buy the base or something that would be an interesting nugget
Uh, unsurprisingly, he's too much of a pro. He wouldn't put a number on it
So he was like, ah, you know base specs are important
And you know, we always he mentioned tesla like are they were talked about the 35 000 model 3 and they did it but
Like no, he said most people are going to do an upgrade. So that was his take. Uh, what else did I ask? Um
I asked about one concrete example from the r2 program that shows they've learned something from r1 and he talks about like the
Uh, just taking out wiring and stuff like that and designing a vehicle in uh, you know more modular form
And software defined vehicles. I asked about the volkswagen
move
Uh, these none of these are gotchas by the way. I didn't want to get him and be like ha ha headline. Uh, I was there to like
Support the story that he was telling. Um, I asked him about the pros and cons of working with a big german
Powerhouse like volkswagen, you know, they're a nimble startup volkswagen has been around a long time with processes and things like that. Um
He was pretty forthcoming on that
You know, he just said that if we if we wake up one day, I want to do something
We just you know, we have we get it done
Uh, and I think reading between the lines that probably if you work for a massive organizational volkswagen
You can't do that
You probably got to put a meeting and all the people in the room want to get
You know, have their say or protect their backs or you know, not make a mistake because that's culture
So he was pretty forthcoming on that and yeah, a few other things. I asked him, uh, he was proud of the motors they've designed
I talked about the do we loan
To open up georgia. He was so I think one of the things that's interesting about these kind of events guys is
What people are like what they don't see so I'll tell you two stories. First of all
He was on stage at 9 a.m
Uh, they opened the doors to like the trade not the traders
But all the people on the stands like the stilanta stand and all the promo people at 7 30. He was there at 7 45
Just walked up. Hello
I'm rj shook my hand. It's like you're an hour and 15 minutes early. He had one person with him who like one handler
Uh, I was like
I'm here. I know I'm early. I just sit and in here and wait like he wasn't a diva anyway
You're like, oh, I'm gonna turn up five minutes before
He just just like was chilled and then watching him
What just watching him like the mooch around there's lots of people there who he knew and was like shaking hands
Hey, I don't seem to well
He looked so relaxed
Like he did not that they were weak into customer deliveries. He just looked so happy about r2
talking about how they're
Like they've sold so many problems. They had with r1 with r2. Oh, that was nice. It was it
He just seemed like a genuinely lovely person
Who wasn't
Like clock watching so that wasn't my two stories like he just seemed so chilled so relaxed
Genuinely genuinely happy about all the things they've done with r2
But
You know when someone's not just faking it or game faced on he's like no no the things we've done like he was super excited
Look the little thing we learned about this and it just saves us loads of money and time
Uh, which is cool. It's really nice to see
Anyway, yeah, I I have the same impression of him martin
I've been in rj's presence many times
including just a couple weeks ago at r2 first drive and uh
You know, he's just chill, you know, and uh, you know, you get the impression of what he's saying is genuine
He's not holding back. He's not
Guarded with what he says to an extent. I mean you have to be
Somewhat guarded your ceo of a big company like this
But he just seems like a down-to-earth chill guy and that brings me back to the very first time
I met him when rivian first had their coming out party
Um at the la auto show
Oh, I don't know. What was that 19 2019?
Um, and I got invited to it. It was a small event outside of the show
Up on the side of a mount net like this, um
Resort thing that you can rent out. I can not resort
But just building you to rent out and I showed up really early. I was there with alex for me for electric
We got there really early
Um because he wanted to shoot some like a video before people showed up and this guy's walking around
And I didn't know who rj was at the time and just casually walked up to him started talking to him and um
And and he's like yeah, i'm ceo the company and uh, you know
So alex is over there setting up his cameras and everything I talked to him for like 45 minutes
Just two guys just hanging out and talking. He was so chill and everything now
I know the rj of 2019 is probably different than the rj of 2026 a lot has happened in his life
He's a lot wealthier now than he was back then but um, well at least on paper, but uh
He was that he hasn't changed
Like what you could tell that's him. Which is you're really refreshing, you know
Yeah, that's why people buy into the brand
But uh, yeah, I'll talk in rivian tom
You've been releasing some of your rivian content. Uh some of your off-road
Footage so gun watch
Uh gun watch tom's videos on that the off-road portion. We we heard from kyle who was pretty impressed
And I think things went you know went well with you taking this thing off-road as well the r2
Yeah, yeah, so I put out a video this week
Basically, uh for a couple of reasons number one to show people what the r2 is doing off-road
But number two, I thought it would be kind of cool to give people a behind the scenes look at
These first drive events, you know, so I I basically recorded we did two type of driving
We drove off-road for you know a couple of hours and then we drove on-road for uh, you know
Maybe an hour or two
But the off-road
portion that every all the journalists had
Somebody from rivian and sme in the vehicle. I had jake molinowski who's the vp of vehicle dynamics for r2
And they're there to answer any questions
So I recorded the whole thing and basically said look we're gonna have a conversation these whole
You know two hours or whatever and and um
And I want to ask you about the truck and I want you to just tell us about it too
You know without even if there's questions that I I don't think of so I recorded the whole thing
And I said I can't put this into my first drive video because it would just make it too long. I'm not kyle
I can't do four hour videos
I don't know. I don't I can't keep people's attention that long. Okay. I admit it. Kyle can so so I said, you know
I'm gonna carve this out and just make it the uh r2 off-road video and it in itself was over a half an hour
I think so that's basically what it was and give people a little peek into the whole drive
So I had the cameras running the whole time different angles the front angle me the center screen that showed the cameras
Where you can see the wheels as I'm driving by rocks and stuff trying to pick the right lane
So I don't cut the rocks and the whole time jake's talking about the vehicle talking about you know how there's you know
No physical lockers, but instead they use uh kind of the electric braking
Which is instantaneous even faster than r1 because they have more compute power
And it immediately routes torque to the wheels with maximum traction
And that really helps in like ruts and loose gravel and so forth
And then I talked to him a little bit about on-road about the fact that you know
Most owners aren't going to do this, you know, even though the vehicle has to be able to do it
Most r2 owners. Let's face it are not driving up a mountain in utah
They're just not at worst. They're driving to a campsite, you know a quarter mile through the like dirt
You know, of course
There's going to be some owners that live in certain areas that do more off-roading
But the vast majority of them are going to be more concerned about on-road
driving characteristics
So how do you balance that, you know, because it's kind of a push and a pull, you know, and uh
You know, he he kind of explains how they they you know, they had to make sure it
Was very compliant on-road but very capable off-road and do it affordably like without having a
Air suspension like r1 has, you know, so um
Uh, I think they nailed a good balance, you know on I was even more
I won't say even more. I was very impressed with the on-road handling
Um, and how the you know, the brakes apply
They'll the the brakes will be automatically applied to the inside wheels in a corner
Um, and that reduces rotation
And the vehicle felt extremely nimble the tires were definitely the weak spot on
pavement the uh, Pirelli scorpion tires that they gave I mean, they were
You know, they were they were given in as I was really trying to carve up the the long winding roads
But I comparing it to my r1 s
It it really felt a lot a lot better on-road driving experience
To me, uh, but off-road it was very capable. Look, this isn't a Jeep Rubicon
It's it's a 45 000 vehicle that they had to make compromises to this isn't the ultimate off-roader
It's not as capable as r1 off-road
But I think it's more than capable for what people would expect out of a vehicle in this price class
Great. All right
Go watch the video. I'm sure you're subscribed already to state of charge, right before we go
Uh, we've got time for this one. This looks really interesting. Dave, you're gonna you're gonna buy this one
This is the new gv90 from genesis. Uh, it's gonna launch in september a hundred k vehicle
And uh, I mean you guys are both retired now. So you got time to go car shopping. Yeah, this won't just be
We're we're exactly we're retired now. I'm not buying a 100000 dollar 90000 dollar genesis
I can tell you that right now. Okay. All right. Okay. Well, let me tell you
Kyle doesn't give you the out-of-spec american express card
Yeah, well, that's the whole different topic. What? Okay
Well, okay, so to get kyle to buy this then and then make some content around it the gv90
It's not just the kia rev9 or an Ioniq nine with the genesis badge on this is the first one on humbay's new ev platform the em
platform next generation
Corpilla of their new modular architecture
Standalizing components even further like battery packs and electric motors
To cut manufacturing costs boost flexibility and and things like that. Well, they said they've improved the driving range by 50 percent
And genesis is a brand that might not be top of mind for many people
But I think it's very cool that they're leading with the genesis brand to go with this em
Uh new new new platform. So yeah, very high end. They've talked about the coach doors being on the coach doors being off
Is it there's going to be two versions? We're not quite sure
Um, but yeah, this looks well, look this looks great very excited to see
What they do with this because e gmp platform from the the koreans really introduced 800 volt architectures to the masses
Uh, genesis isn't a cheap vehicle. Um, but it'll be interesting to see what they do, you know, they they do they do with this
Um, so yeah, that comes september
Shame you won't be buying one day on a budget now. You see now you're retired on a budget now
You're buying a slate not a genesis. Listen, Dave 2.0. Um, I'd like to drive somebody else's car for you know, like
Tom, let me borrow your cars. No, listen, we'll see what happens. Um,
There's there's there's always a possibility, you know, but I think right now
Probably not I think, you know, I think the whole spin-off show that we we love to have you on battery bargains where we
Give our our own opinions and they are only opinions
But uh, you know, all of you all of our experience. It's such a sweet spot for you because you've owned everything
And yeah, you've driven everything and it's such a nice that you can pass that on
I I enjoy that that show as well and I will be a regular on that
Just because I feel like we can really help people that maybe don't understand a lot of the vehicles that are out there
I mean, you know, as I was thinking about that
um
You know sort of the price points of where things are at from a pre-owned standpoint
I I don't know. I think it might be kind of interesting next week to to maybe
What what's happening with pre-owned and and where where have where have the vehicles come down?
Have they bounced, you know, like have they come down so far that they've started to bounce or are they still in a free fall?
And I just don't have the pulse on that
But you know, you think about the f-150 lightnings and time I know you've had one and we've that's an amazing vehicle, right?
And and so what what can you buy?
For $30,000, you know, is it you're going to get that $25,000 customized customized customized and all of a sudden
There's like, wait a minute, you know, what could I get? So I think as we start to see the the pre-owned
Crashing down and the new vehicles coming into the market
You got to look at what vehicle is right for you and that's why the battery bargains
Episodes I think are so valuable
And I need to get you know, you need to really think about all the different vehicles that are out there
And and then bring that to the show. So yeah, I appreciate being asked to come on that
That that show I think Tom we had a good time with it the other day
And Andrew did a great job by the way. Good find out. He's great. Yeah. He's really
And he's the king of finding used vehicles
Yeah, he's the best at it. Trust me. He does it like for his forever now
And like when I need to find a used vehicle, I'll reach out to Andrew. The guy is awesome with getting like throughout the country
um
Good deals and he's he's kind of like what he's done for a while. So yeah, it's really good. Yeah
He's actually writing for me now for my website. Yeah, he's doing a monthly column on the best lease deals in the country
Yeah, we started the show Tom. It was really funny. I said, I didn't actually watch last week's show
I wasn't on it and I said, but I heard you did a really good job. So don't let me down
Okay, don't let me down. I mean he was he was very good. He really was he is well
I know we got to go we're kind of up against it here
But one last thing I want to quickly add
Dave mentioned the lightning and use lightning pressures. So for reached out to me just a couple days ago
I don't know if you guys remember you probably do. I do an annual fort f-150 barbecue here at my house
In your driveway. Yeah. Yeah. So and the fort canceled the lightning like a month after I did last year's
So I was like, wow like and ford sponsors this they pay for the food and everything
But I host it either at my house or last year
I post I hosted it at a farm like a mile from my house because we thought there'd be too many people there
So reach out to me again. They're like, okay
Fourth annual we're doing it again this summer and I was like, yeah, I thought maybe you wouldn't be doing it
I thought you wouldn't be and they're like, no, no, we're still fully involved supporting lightning lightning community
You know, it's uh, you know, uh, we have budget to do this
So if you want to host another party, uh, let's do it. So we're aiming for early september
I'm saying this if there's any lightning view owners out there
Um, I don't have a set date yet, but we are going to have the fourth annual
Tomolognes data charge f-150 lightning barbecue hosted by ford. Um, probably at my house again
So, uh, we'll see but I would just want to let you guys know that hopefully we'll have a even bigger one this year
I love the fact they're not abandoning it. That's great. That's so good. Yeah, that's so good
That's so good on what would be even better is if they pay for my airfare to come over and then I can finally come and
Do stuff with tom in person that would be if you're watching this ford. It's you know, I only have a fly business. It'll be very cheap
Um
I'm joking of course. I'm always at the back of the plane like like this. I'm I am somewhat of a cheap date now
That is our show. I'm gonna head off back out into the heat
Don't laugh at me. This is this is new for us. You know, like when you go
When you go on holiday and you take a flight not one of the expensive flights
But they take you to the gate and you've got the the the runway
No, the kind of holidays that I go on where they park you the other end of the runway
And you get the the shuttle bus and they open the door to the airplane
And and the heat hits you it's like that here at the minute
Like I've done it a couple times Morocco and Africa and Vegas when it was 40 and uh, and you go
Like you walk out the door again. Don't laugh at us europeans. We're suffering
Yeah
I
Martin it's good. You said that mark my my full-time writer on eb charging stations dot com mark cane
Just messaged me this morning. He's in poland
Oh, okay. He said this weekend. They're saying 41c on saturday and sunday
Plus that's around 106 107. I think like that is like arizona heat here. You know what I mean?
So that all right, so yeah, it's you guys are getting baked the right now. Yeah
I moved to southwest florida to get away from the heat
All right on that note. Thank you so much for watching. We can't wait to the comments this week
Especially about the slate truck. Are you in are you in for this or not? We want to know
24 all are you waiting for monthly offers? Are you waiting for a used one?
Let us know if you like the show give us a thumbs up and subscribe to the channel
So you never miss what we do and then the weekly shows and we can get davon and battery bargains
We want to find you the best deals we possibly can he's got a wealth of experience. Please check out that that midweek show as well
Thanks for joining us and we'll see you again very soon. Hey dom say ciao
ciao
About this episode
Slate’s $24,950 “blank slate” EV truck sparks debate: hosts weigh its bare-bones setup, 120 kW charging, and how low running costs could appeal to fleets and municipalities. They also dig into the real-world charging math—users want route-planning that avoids dead chargers and lets you compare nearby prices, especially after hearing about $25/kWh public rates. Wraps and accessories may turn the base truck into a customizable platform, while the conversation pivots to Lucid and Rivian updates.
