From Ars Technica · · 1m 10s
Slate Auto's GPS is just a road atlas
An electric truck startup ditches the dashboard screen and offers a spiral-bound Rand McNally atlas as navigation instead.
In brief
An electric truck startup ditches the dashboard screen and offers a spiral-bound Rand McNally atlas as navigation instead. Slate Auto, a startup making affordable electric trucks under twenty-five thousand dollars, replaces digital navigation with a printed road atlas to match its minimalist design philosophy…
Slate Auto's minimalist pitch
Slate Auto is an affordable electric truck startup with a sub-twenty-five thousand dollar starting price. It strips away most technology, leaving owners to bring their own devices for everything.
No infotainment system here
The truck has no embedded infotainment system. A small digital display shows speed and range, and the backup camera appears when you engage reverse. Two USB-C ports provide power but not connectivity.
Screenless GPS: a road atlas
For navigation, Slate offers a spiral-bound Rand McNally two thousand twenty-seven Road Atlas.The company says maps worked for past generations and should work now.
“We believe you should use the devices you know and love”
A portable, vehicle-agnostic system
The atlas is entirely portable and works in any vehicle, not just Slate trucks. Slate added the screenless GPS system to its store for a limited time, and review copies will be offered in an…
The key point
Slate Auto, a startup making affordable electric trucks under twenty-five thousand dollars, replaces digital navigation with a printed road atlas to match its minimalist design philosophy.
