General Discussion

Here's the problem in a nutshell: Slate is building an incredibly ugly car for the very vocal minority who doesn't want "giant screens" in their vehicles. In other words, he's selling a $25k-plus much-more-limited version of a 1997 Ford Ranger off Craigslist to the people who forward that old email about how things were so much better when little kids drank out of the hose.

Problem is, if your ideal car is a 1997 Ford Ranger off Craigslist there's nothing stopping you from going on Craigslist and finding a 1997 Ford Ranger. Since the only things that can survive a nuclear war are cockroaches and 1997 Ford Rangers, it should last you a really long time. The "electric vehicle" part isn't going to do them much good when (1) the car has about as much range as a Nissan Leaf (2) it can only tow a thousand pounds and (3) the people who reminisce about how much fun drinking out of the hose was want their cars to run on good old all-American gasoline.