[toast0]

> Seriously, I understand the difficulties of batteries and such with EV's and that's likely part of why the Slate is designed this way.

In 2000, Ford had an EV Ranger, and Chevy had an EV S-10. Neither with great range, of course. It should be easier to do with modern batteries. Attach the batteries to the frame under the bed, put the bed on top, all engineering problems solved.

[snuxoll]

I guess I should clarify, the unibody design makes it cheaper to do this in a compact design, given the extra material you would need to protect modern LiFePO4 cells from physical damage compared to the SLA batteries the EV Ranger and EV S-10 both used (which could pretty much take a bullet and not end up with a volatile reaction), as well as space efficiency with packing the cells.

The F-150 Lightning is body-on-frame, so I know it's entirely feasible, but the same reasons Ford went with a unibody for the Maverick are probably doubly relevant for something like the Slate (cost and weight). I'm going to quietly hope they succeed with this and somebody (Slate or otherwise) makes a proper compact EV pickup designed to get dirty. If not, maybe the market for EV conversion kits will further develop and I'll just yank the V6 out of my Ranger and slap an electric drivetrain in it.