No touch screens, no telemetry, no cellular modems, no wifi, no apps, no subscriptions, no infotainment.

  • Soapbox@lemmy.zipEnglish
    131·
    6 days ago

    One of the most appealing things about Slate motors is that they seem to lack all the telemetry bullshit.

    The least appealing thing about them is that Jeff Bezos is a primary investor.

    • sobchak@programming.devEnglish
      4·
      5 days ago

      I’m skeptical they’ll actually come with no telemetry or other forms of anti-features. The investors, like Bezos, will likely push for it. They have a new CEO, who comes from Amazon. There is a federal mandate for all US vehicles to come with driver monitoring technology starting in 2027.

      • Soapbox@lemmy.zipEnglish
        1·
        5 days ago

        Yeah, I am skeptical about it too. We will have to wait and see I guess.

        I’m also wondering how they are going to deal with the requirement for all new cars after 2018 to have a backup camera/screen. Maybe it will just go through the tiny little screen behind the steering wheel?

        Edit: I just looked it up. Seems the backup camera will go through the instrument panel screen.

  • Grandwolf319@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
    311·
    6 days ago

    On a broader note, this is a failure of capitalism in which products can never be perfected.

    There are sooo many technologies that we fully figured out years ago but they can’t just make it optimal and move on.

    This is why we have washing machines using internet for whatever reason.

  • trackball_fetish@lemmy.wtfEnglish
    9·
    5 days ago

    Honda-san I beg of you, revist your classic designs and drop an electric motor in to them. You will become more rich

    • Delphia@lemmy.worldEnglish
      2·
      5 days ago

      Bonus points if you can make it so that all the aftermarket suspension parts that already exist for those classic designs still fit. Ultra-bonus points if the body is externally identical so aero and body mods still fit.

      • RattlerSix@lemmy.worldEnglish
        292·
        7 days ago

        Slate has stated that they will not have a cellular or other type of connection. It does need some type of connection to do software updates, and that will be from your phone using their app to the truck via USB.

        They’ve also stated they won’t track your driving data. You can opt in to share data about the truck’s health through the app for servicing purposes, but that’s all. They’ve also promised not to sell any kind of data to third parties.

        That could always change, but I’m on the wait list for one and there are people on the slate forums who are serious about privacy and are watching this and seem pretty happy for now.

          • vagrancyand@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
            32·
            5 days ago

            That’s better than ICE cars having to go to the dealer to update their software, which is the current industry standard.

              • vagrancyand@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
                32·
                5 days ago

                Given they stopped making them before smart phones were a thing I imagine not, but that’s also why your SiriusXM no longer works if you’re not a brokie and got a level 3 trim.

                There’s a reason I said ‘current industry standard,’ things from almost the last century barely qualify as vehicles by modern standards, and your car couldn’t pass a safety inspect for sale in almost any country today.

                • starman2112@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
                  41·
                  5 days ago

                  Think I’d be driving a car that’s old enough to smoke if I wasn’t a brokie?

                  I was more poking fun at the idea of a car needing software updates in general. It’s like a toaster or a television needing an update. It’s a machine that should be able to perform its functions entirely offline

        • CaptainSpaceman@lemmy.worldEnglish
          61·
          6 days ago

          Slate is the 2nd best choice rn.

          First best is buying an older car for cheap and spending some money to repair/upgrade

    • Godnroc@lemmy.worldEnglish
      141·
      7 days ago

      I’m quite excited for the Slate to be released. Electric truck, optional SUV conversion, decent price, minimum frills, customize it yourself if that’s your thing. That sounds so much better than wheeled tank with built-in privacy concerns.

      • lightnsfw@reddthat.comEnglish
        6·
        6 days ago

        I just wish there was a version with a full size bed. Not that any of the other light truck options are any better in that regard.

    • Iced Raktajino@startrek.websiteOPEnglish
      12·
      7 days ago

      Yeah, I’ve been watching that. It is supposed to start fulfilling orders this year (last I read anyway), but it’ll be at least next year before I can probably look into one. And even then, I’d want to let some other/braver people test them out for reliability and repair-ability.

    • oce 🐆@jlai.luEnglish
      91·
      7 days ago

      Cars also need to be smaller for the sustainable transition. We need to disconnect ego from car. Consider it’s spending about 95% of its life parked.

      • DaGreenGobbo@feddit.ukEnglish
        5·
        5 days ago

        Smaller cars or busses. Or trains. Or trams. Or electric bikes. Or push bikes.

        Basically there’s lots of options that don’t make it look like you’re going to war.

    • SaveTheTuaHawk@lemmy.caEnglish
      61·
      6 days ago

      And it’s only $20,000…$25000…$30000. soon I’ll have one parked next to my Aptera, and Tesla Roadster.

      • OR3X@lemmy.worldEnglish
        2·
        5 days ago

        This exactly. Slate sounds nice until you realize they’re asking $30K for a vehicle with manual locks/windows, no fucking radio, and 150 miles of range.

    • boonhetEnglish
      3·
      6 days ago

      I don’t like the idea of not having a decent screen for Carplay but I think the upside of this one compared to many other vehicles is that it won’t depreciate as badly. No infotainment to go out of date, etc.

  • SethDove@lemmy.worldEnglish
    2·
    5 days ago

    The Smart ForTwo EV was just what you asked for. It did have a cellular modem. But you could just unplug it very easily.

    • noodles@slrpnk.netEnglish
      111·
      7 days ago

      The bolt has buttons and no real smart features but it also has an infotainment tablet. It also still has gps and Wi-Fi and whatever else as options, so I don’t particularly trust it not to be tracking everything. It’s certainly miles better than most of the competition but it’s still a modern car.

      • Makeitstop@lemmy.worldEnglish
        9·
        7 days ago

        As I understand it, one of the other advantages of the bolt is that it’s fairly easy to disconnect. There’s a dedicated fuse you can pull which will disable the telemetry as well as the microphone and a lot of the related infotainment system functions like gps. Or for those who want more of those functions, you can open the panel behind the screen, unplug the antenna, and replace it with with a terminator so that it thinks it’s intact but has no signal.

        Of course, it will still try to send data home through your phone if you let it. Apparently it can do that through android auto and carplay if they are connected via bluetooth but not over USB.

      • Zikeji@programming.devEnglish
        6·
        7 days ago

        There are guides to disabling OnStar effectively which should assuage those concerns. Well, for the 23 and older models. Not sure about the new stuff.

        A quick terminator on the cellular antenna makes it receive no cell signal - the other features that don’t rely on cellular all continue working.

    • Bytemeister@lemmy.worldEnglish
      3·
      5 days ago

      Heated seats are a must if you drive anywhere that gets cold. Saves you a lot of miles. Backup cams are mandated on cars in the US now, and if you’re gonna have a screen, you should probably include some navigation so the car can pre-condition the battery before you get to a charger.

      Well, if you’re gonna do those (pretty necessary IMHO) QoL concessions, you might as well give the user the option to integrate it with their phone, so they don’t have to wonder if the car got enough charge, or if some asshole yanked out the plug. If you’re reporting that info to the phone, you can include some controls to start/stop charging or set certian charging targets for certain charging stations. If you’re including controls, you might as well piggyback some basic lock, unlock, pop trunk features to the phone, and if you’re already letting the phone unlock the car, you can pretty easily include proximity unlocking. Since you’ve got a data connection to the phone, you can stream music and data from the car to the phone and vis-versa. You could put in another screen and physical controls for managing the music, but you already have one in the car for the rear cameras anyway, so why not just integrate the whole damn thing and now we’re at most modern features of EVs, minus the goofy handles and driver automation.

    • kboy101222@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
      8·
      6 days ago

      Do EVs even have transmissions? I ask this legitimately, I know shit for dick about cars beyond how to change oil

          • Djehngo@lemmy.worldEnglish
            4·
            6 days ago

            Internal combustion engines are very picky about how fast they spin, since they get their power from burning fuel the rate at which fuel enters the cylinders to burn correlates strongly to the power they have available. And since each cycle of a cylinder burns about the same amount of fuel the faster the engine spins the more power it generates.

            This is why internal combustion engine vehicles have gearboxes (transmission in the US?) to ensure that you can spin the engine fast even while the wheels are slow) or stopped) so you have enough power to start the car.

            Electric motors by contrast generate power through the strength of their electromagnetic fields, which is just how much current gets pushed through the electromagnets. How fast the motor spins just changes how fast the electronics have to “move” the generated field without changing the strength, so you get similar power even at slow speeds.

            So electric motors have enough torque at low speed that you can start your car without needing a gearbox.

            Note: this post is a gross simplification and probably mis-uses some terminology but it should give a general understanding of why the transmissions are different.

    • dkppunk@piefed.socialEnglish
      7·
      6 days ago

      I’d honestly love this. I don’t even care if the stick doesn’t actually switch gears and it can just give me fake engine rev sounds. I just miss driving manual and paddle shifters just aren’t the same.

      • JayGray91🐉🍕@piefed.socialEnglish
        3·
        6 days ago

        The Hyundai Ioniq 5 N wowed the cartubers crowd back in 2024/25 because it simulated a lot of the driving feel of gas cars.

        Maybe keep an eye on Hyundai.

        Edit: although I don’t think they have simulated stick shifting

    • bridgeburner@lemmy.worldEnglish
      1·
      5 days ago

      No f off with manual gears. They are unnecessary and make driving complicated. I hat that in my country manual gear cars are the norm, especially for compact cars. That limits massively the options I have if I’m looking to change my car and also makes me comparatively pay more. Prolly one of the very few things the US has done right, namely the proliferation of cars with automatic gears. It is just so freakin more comfortable to drive an automatic than it is a manual, especially for driving within cities.