Alright folks, check this out. Slate Auto is actually taking a *serious* dive into privacy for their bare-bones EV pickup, and it's kinda refreshing to see a startup actually prioritizing that over just slapping on a modem.<br>
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The whole pitch is that the Slate Truck is the anti-connected car. Seriously, they're stripping it down to 600 parts, meaning no embedded modem to start. No fancy infotainment system, just manual windows. That’s the whole point: ownership value over tracking.<br>
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The kicker here is the app. You *can* use the Slate smartphone app for range, drive modes, and diagnostics, but it only gets connected locally. No remote access, no embedded modem means they aren't tracking you in real-time. And here’s the big one: they explicitly say they won't sell the data collected. They’re being super intentional about what data is needed—account setup, diagnostics, charging context—and they want customers to *understand* exactly why the data is being shared.<br>
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This is key because the connected car hype often boils down to convenience, but it usually comes with a privacy cost. Slate is betting that a truly simple, owned vehicle experience beats a hyper-connected one for a segment of buyers. If this works, it could totally shift the pendulum back toward thoughtful design instead of just adding more sensors.<br>
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What do you guys think? Are you willing to trade some convenience for true untraceability?<br>
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Source: https://arstechnica.com/cars/2026/06/slate-says-its-electric-pickup-will-never-track-you/