Took a drive today through the yard of what I believe is the largest truck equipment up fitter in New England. If I had to guess I would say at least 250 pick ups, class 4-5 ,  6-7 and class 8s.  Large number of 150's in Mass DOT Yellow.  Probably 30 Mass DOT Fl 114's single axle and tandems , then my guess would be an equal mix of Macks, Western Stars, and Internationals.  Surprisingly only a couple of Paccars. Highest percentage of the class 8's were obviously plow trucks judging by extended front frames for head gear.  F-750's  ...2!  Both same order judging by red color, V-8s  and extended front frame extensions without bumpers.   I would say the majority of 1-5 were Fords followed by GMs, very few Rams.

I warmed up to this name.  

Nah just delayed, as of August of this year   Ford delays electric pickup, van to 2028 as it chases smaller, affordable options  

Until EVs reach a price parity with ICE, electric vans are always going to be a hard sell to fleets. Beyond the well capitalized Fortune 500 companies like Amazon, most fleet buyers want something inexpensive, reliable, and easy to fix. I am not sure about reliability or repair costs, but BrightDrops were not cheap by any means.

In overall length, its 185 inches long, not exactly small-about the same size as the old 1990s Ranger Single cab.    The Slate is about 11 inches shorter, which makes me wonder how much actual appeal it will have with people once it comes out and they go...oh this is too small.   

That is basically the entire lineup for the past 10-15 years! Who the F was the supplier for the cameras? JFC  

There is a 10 inch difference in height between a Mustang/Fusion vs an Escape/Maverick/etc...that is the issue. 

That appears much larger pickup than Slate, given 4-doors and back seat, but yeah, it goes along with my point that if there was a market for a Slate-size truck, it could have been done already in ICE.  And more importantly the price would be much lower than Slate’s.   The first generation Montana (below) was probably closer to Slate in size.  Other than being electric, I don’t see much Slate offers to attract enough buyers.  And per article, lease payments are higher than those of Maverick; probably due to higher depreciation rate.  

Maybe so, but 4,604 units through 3 quarters is pretty bad, and last quarter’s rate of 430 in Q3 was even worse with 85% decline.  Ford must be losing money even if considered incremental volume, so what exactly are they gaining from continued manufacturing?  I don’t see it, but Ford must have a reason.  Still, it would not surprise me to see a similar announcement from Ford regarding E-Transit now that GM conceded first. 

Fair comment. Yes, back in the 1990s just in time gave good increases in efficiency but OEMs like Ford had to keep outsourcing more and more of its parts and processes- that’s where the vulnerability comes in, manufacturers are now prepared to risk long stoppages to get every last possible saving.