So, which product line should Ford delay/cancel in order to free up enough money for this venture?  They don’t seem to have a bunch of spare cash lying around to invest in Slate.  

I like those cameras. If kias and Hyundais have them then so should ford. More visibility is better and you could use it in conjunction with the blind spot monitoring system.

I think it is a relevant argument if the price of a competitor's comparable vehicle is the same.  

They recently announced lower-cost lease deals on Model 3.  Perhaps that’s as “low-cost” as we should expect for now.   Anyway, Tesla must know they need a lower-cost BEV to compete in Civic and Corolla space.  Whether they can make it happen is anyone’s guess.

I grew up racing motocross into my 20s, but I have never owned a street bike because I don’t trust the other people on the road, even though I do love motorcycles.  Not to mention an acquaintance of mine got struck by lightning while riding his motorcycle to Sturgis and subsequently died from it.  At least all of my aches and pains from moto injuries are self inflicted, lol.  

Do you see this truck in all-or-nothing, black-and-white terms?  That’s not the way the real world works for most people.  Being affordable can not be the main advantage.  IMO a vehicle can be 90% perfect and if the other 10% is flawed enough, rising to level of deal breakers, it won’t sell well.  There are too many other choices.  A vehicle has to be fairly good at pretty much everything to succeed in mass marketplace.   Being open minded is not shifting the goal posts.  Objectively, this Slate pickup is very interesting but far from great.  Projected range is limited other than as a city car, charging in MPH rather slow, can’t tow much and bed a little short; though payload acceptable with smaller battery.  Larger battery to increase range may reduce payload even more (yet to be determined).  Biggest disadvantage IMO is that it’s a new company that may not be around long-term.  Who wants to buy what could be the next Fisker?   A person can like some aspects or features of a particular thing (like a vehicle) and soundly dislike other parts.  Objectivity requires seeing both the good and bad, and weighing without bias.  I think that if this compact truck was manufactured by a well-established manufacturer its chances of success would be much higher.  And if offered with gas engine, even higher.      

Stainless is stainless, but I can’t see why Slate doesn’t offer multiple colors composite panels (Black for instance).

Or a wide track of pickups of different sizes and price points as well. 

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. 

Six minutes of fun! It took place in Lynnville MA. A couple Macks, a C-series Ford.   (537) 40th Annual MAFAA Fire Truck Parade (2017) - YouTube