DeluxeStang

It seems like this was a common issue for a lot of cars back in the day. I know some car enthusiasts say cars in the 60s, 70s, 80s lasted longer and were more reliable than modern cars on average, but I passionately disagree.

There are rumors this is the case, right around the same time Ford is discussing how they had a breakthrough with affordable battery tech recently. Call me nuts, but with their current trajectories, I can see a future in 10-20 years where Ford is doing better in the ev space than Tesla is. It seems like Tesla is losing steam right as Ford is getting into their stride.

As stated, Ford could also generate a considerable amount of revenue by selling their CE1 platform to brands like Slate. Kinda like how VW sold their EV platform to Ford. If this CE1 platform is the end all, be all, I can see a lot of startup brands being interested in buying it, even if it means throwing out their own engineering work. Imagine how cool this slate truck would be if they delayed it by a few years to switch to Ford's CE1 platform, and produced in out of one of Ford's plants. It means a higher quality platform, it means the platform has Ford quality, and can be serviced and repaired at thousands of Ford locations. This could save these start up brands a shit ton of time and money by partnering with someone like Ford instead of trying to build their own series of dealers and services centers across the country. Now is the time to take a unique approach. This whole thing is about how could Ford rethink their partnerships to make things like producing EVs more profitable and sustainable.

It just seems logical for Ford who's been struggling to make profitable EVs, outside of working to develop CE1, the most logical ways to generate profit are to offer a broad range of accessories, but also, to partner with other brands. Either by building their cars, or selling this CE1 platform to them, amongst other things. This Slate truck is kinda in a weird gray area where it's partially developed, but they haven't locked in a factory yet, or finished the engineering on it. Ford just invested a shit ton of money into BOC which in hindsight, a massive plant that won't have a great output because the large EVs it was created to produce aren't selling well. Outside of moving CE1 production there, the next best thing is to leverage that plant to make money building others products. Ford makes hundreds of millions, if not billions building other brands cars when the alternative would have been to leave that plant under capacity and under utilized, and brands like Slate have a dependable manufacturing partner, it's a win-win.

Their approach to the industry has been unlike anything else we've seen in the ev startup space. Most EVs thus far have been large, very expensive products with very limited customization abilities. This product takes a radically different approach to basically anything else on the market. It stands to reason that if someone else is making a very compelling product in a segment you're competing in, a radically new approach, it could benefit your brand to partner and learn from them. Additionally, turning a rival into an ally is never a bad strategy. Ford seems to have taken a creative approach with the development of the CE1 platform, it's innovative, but as for the rest of the truck, who knows. Whereas this seems to have a rather restrained platform by EV standards, but took a radical approach in several other areas, like saving 300 million by not having a paint shop, and instead encouraging customers to wrap the truck. Or by developing an entire range of accessories that will be profit drivers for the company. Could Ford do something like that? Yeah, but they haven't done that with their existing EVs, and there's been no mention of broad customization and accessories for future EVs mentioned up until this point.

We're just gonna have to agree to disagree man.

A far more conventional looking truck with a unique cab configuration and packaging, a way to hedge Ford's bets, that's what they get out of it. The CE1 Ford EV truck is almost certainly gonna be radical looking, that's how it's been described by Ford's CEO amongst others. Nothing wrong with that, but truck owners tend to be quite conservative in terms of their design tastes. It would be wise, especially considering affordable EVs are the ones that actually have high demand, and as such, there's a larger market for them, to offer a futuristic sleek aerodynamic truck for people who want something more radical, and sporty looking. Then offer a truck that's basically as conventional looking as it gets. There's room to appeal to both crowds and Ford should rather than going all in on one styling direction or another.

Most EV startups bring little new to the table, and aren't worth the risk of investing in, but I believe Slate has some good ideas, and a good design, but needs help actually engineering/manufacturing the vehicle. Not to mention partnering or being owned by Ford could make it possible to service these vehicles at Ford dealerships potentially, which would be a massive benefit. I just think Ford should hedge their bets. It sounds like CE1 is very radical, very radical in how the vehicles look, and act. Buying Slate so you could offer a far more convenient truck on top of that might be a good idea if you're trying to win over more truck buyers to an EV. An areo truck and a boxy truck being sold side by side, each with their own pros and cons, let the customers pick which one they want. Slate seems like they're bringing a lot of strong ideas to the table, and I believe Ford should be looking for ways to turn them into an ally instead of their competition.

A mid engine mustang is more natural than a mid-engine Corvette. Not only have both nameplates had their fair share of mid-engine concepts, the mustang came into this world for the first time as a mid-engine car. I know some people aren't on board with this idea, and I get it, it's radical, it's expensive, it's a risk. But when I hear Ford wants to offer additional mustang body styles, a mid-engine mustang is one of the natural, and most captivating ideas. It seems like other young people agree, every time almost that Ford does these students competitions, there's at least one mid-engine proposal. What if the GTD is Ford dipping their toe in the water, seeing how people react to the idea of a mustang supercar that's 6 figures? If people respond well, it could encourage Ford to move forward with a more radical mid-engine mustang on a new platform. A high profit margin, highly evocative vehicle that sits at the top of the mustang pyramid. The mach-e was the trial by fire for us mustang fans, it was basically the hardest pill we would have to swallow in terms of something being far removed from a traditional mustang. Now that we've accepted that, I don't want Ford to just give up on the idea when we've already had to stomach the hardest part of it.

It's kinda like how a lot of people give the maverick a hard time because it has the very attributes they asked for. Like it's a cheap small truck and people hate on it because the bed is small, or because the interior has some cheap materials. I just don't get some people man.

It'll be curious to see if mustang gets a new platform post s650, or if they just modify the existing platform they have. I'd keep the rest seats to keep insurance costs down, and maybe to use for people who have toddlers or something. But what I'd really like to see is just for Ford to improve on what they already have. Lower the roof and beltline slightly, this was apparently considered for s650, but wasn't in the budget. Shorten the overhangs, especially the front overhang, stretch the wheelbase an inch or a couple of inches, give it a more prominent dash to axle ratio. This would not only make the mustang look more exotic, if would give them more space behind the front wheels to maybe develop a front-mid engine layout, which would obviously improve performance significantly. The Ecoboost s650 is apparently a front mid layout already, or so I've been told, so a front-mid 5.0 shouldn't be impossible if they had more roof to work with.

Yeah that's not ideal. Maybe they were concerned about the aspect ratio and didn't want the image to be stretched and distorted horizontally?

Some people seem to want technology for the sake of having technology, it's weird. Instead of having tech for tech's sake, they need to ask what's the best solution for the job. Sometimes it's even less tech and complexity than what you already have.

But we'll see what Ford does with the CE1 truck and utility. I've mentioned a few times how one of the coolest ways Ford could make CE1 into more aspirational products is by offering a ton of customization and accessories to really make those evs stand out. Not to mention accessories generate a ton of profit, which is really helpful if brands want to make EVs actually profitable long term. This level of customization is exactly what I'd love to see on Ford affordable EVs.

I get where you're coming from. It's mostly the customization and accessories that saved this thing for me, I just like really unique approaches like that. It's kinda like how I thought the maverick was cool when I saw the prototypes, but what made me actually buy one was the hybrid. The prospect of owning not just a small affordable truck, but one that was getting 45-60 mpg in warmer weather, and used a super proven and durable hybrid system, that's what turned the maverick into a must have. Whereas for this thing, I thought the idea was cool, I was mixed on the design when I saw it for the first time. But seeing all the insane customization and personalization you can do, something that you can't find with basically any other EV right now, massively improved the appeal factor of this product for me personally. I just really like when people enter a proven segment, like trucks, but find a really unique way to spin the idea and differentiate themselves. It doesn't always work out, but I like seeing the cool ideas on display.

You're missing the point where I say we'll just have to agree to disagree lol.

It's a heck of a lot faster than the smaller trucks from the 80s and 90s this thing is clearly inspired by. A Chevy s-10, Ford ranger, or Nissan pickup did 0-60 in like 3-5 business days. That didn't stop people from slamming them, putting spoilers on them, and other sorts of cool street car builds. It's all relative, 8 seconds is slow for a sports car, but halfway decent for a super cheap truck inspired by 80s trucks. Stop trying to dunk on this thing, we aren't gonna agree. It's clear you don't like it, but I do. Small, cheerful, super customizable new cars are exactly the thing we need more of in modern society, I'm not gonna nit pick the one company that on paper just gave us what no-one else could. People always ask for cheap, fun cars, but then want the range, performance, and build quality of a 50k car. You can't have both. As far as I'm concerned, we need more EVs like this and I'll applaud it all day long even if it's not perfect.

Without the insane customization this thing offers, I'd agree with you. But the fact that you can do so much to it, including adding things like a touchscreen and power Windows if you want, it strikes a really good balance between affordability and personalization. There are a significant number of car owners who find the idea of a basic affordable car appealing, and a car that's very customizable appealing. This rather unique approach of having such a basic, affordable car that's so easy, yet radical to customize is gonna find some audience I believe. This has never been done at this level from any car company I've seen, the majority of cars have no accessory support from the factory. The rest are pretty limited, a wing here, maybe a roof rack there. I've never seen something as radical as a car company offering kits that completely change the body style, lift kits, lowering kits, wheel spacers, and so much more. That's gonna make a lot of people say hell yeah.

Check out this wall showing just a few ways this thing can be customized. This is smart as hell, that lowered street truck build especially is the coolest shit I've seen on an EV in a long time. If this company doesn't fold like a lawn chair, and actually makes it not a complete pain in the ass to own and service these things, I'm all in.

I swear to God if this fails, I'll never listen to car enthusiasts again on what they want to buy lol. 2 door, very small, extremely affordable, no infotainment screen, crank windows. My God, it's literally a wet dream for all the things enthusiasts say they want. If this company shows signs that it's gonna endure, and not fold like so many startups do, I'm VERY strongly considering buying one of these.

If it's what Ford has to do to make road going performance models in the future, it's what needs to be done. I'd rather live in a world with a mustang sedan and mustang supercar than in a world full of edges and escapes.

Some of these aren't terrible, especially with some tweaks. The ideas of a mustang wagon and mid-engine exotic both make a ton of sense if Ford wants to offer more mustang body styles. I'd really love if ford did something like this, like revealed an entire range of mustang products, sedans, coupes, mid-engine, electric, etc, to gauge the public's reaction. How cool would that be?

I'm actually kinda excited to see where this leads. People are still very passionate about cars, including a significant portion of young people, but they want things that are smaller, and more affordable. I can see fun, affordable cars with character becoming more of a thing in the near future. We've reached peak truck size, and probably peak truck cost. People can't afford these things anymore, and they're getting to the point where they quite literally can't fit into a garage or parking space. Something needs to give. Pretty much all the cool stuff you'll find comes in the form of smaller vehicles anyway.

Like what if Ford used areo design to reimagine what a family sedan could look like. Something that looks less like a fusion, and more like a supercar. This, but toned down for production would be really cool. Make the wheels a bit smaller, the roof a little taller, but you see what I have in mind. The fact that the guy who penned the Ford GT and F1 engineers are all working together to come up with the look has me cautiously optimistic.

I've thrown the idea out a few times in the past, but we know areo is a huge factor with these EVs. I kinda hope Ford says "If we need to lean into radical areo, let's use that as justification to make vehicles that look really striking". Most affordable compact cars look pretty bland, and generic, but Farley has implied that won't be the case for CE1 EVs. "They won't look anything like people expect, I don't know how people will react, I don't know how you'll react" "We still want them to be emotional products, they won't look like toasters on wheels" Just a few quotes from Farley on the styling these CE1 EVs will offer. My guess is they're gonna be very polarizing upon release, a lot of people will love them, a lot of people will say they're ugly. But they won't look generic is my guess.