Doubled it, Clean Slate

Last night I installed a memory upgrade in my PC. Despite having 32GB I was running into issues when doing video editing and playing WoW where I was pushing the limit. I bought 64GB to upgrade it. If you know anything about tech you know that RAM prices have been going through the roof because of the insatiable demand created by AI infrastructure. The two DIMM modules cost $500, geezus. They installed cleanly and within 5 minutes I had doubled my available RAM which should alleviate my issue. I hope to offset the memory upgrade cost by selling the 32GB of memory I pulled on FB Marketplace.

I believe I mentioned in the blog that I threw a $50 reservation on the new Slate electric truck awhile back. When it was announced the EV tax credit was still in place so it was advertised as being a sub 20K new vehicle which is unheard of nowadays. Since then the Trump administration has killed that incentive the starting price which was just announced has bumped up to $25K, still about half the average price for a new car nowadays.

Their approach is unique where every single truck that comes off the assembly line is identical, initially. If you want a different color they offer wraps for a reasonable number. However the customization options after that are crazy. You can tweak this truck a million ways including changing it into a SUV by adding seats and an enclosed top. It has manual windows and a bare bones interior that supposedly has enough head and leg room for someone my size. It has about 200 miles of range and ample power. Initial driving reports have been positive.

They opened up preliminary orders yesterday which requires you to commit another $250. Doing this supposedly gets you in line to get your Slate somewhere between January and March 2027. You aren’t actually picking out any options at this point, just committing more seriously to purchasing one as this deposit is non-refundable. I am not ready to commit yet.

When I laid down the initial $50 it was the idea that potentially the Slate could replace my Tacoma which is now 10 years old. Of course it is much smaller and would not have nearly the capabilities of the Toyota. However at this point I think I will continue rolling forward with my two vehicle household. Although I don’t see myself ever buying another gas powered vehicle there is a part of me that likes having my bases covered having the Tacoma in the collection. If I got into a scenario where charging the Tesla was problem as in a wide scale and long lasting power outage after a hurricane an ICE vehicle would be more viable.

I also have hesitancy about jumping in with two feet with a brand new car company. Who knows if the Slate will launch without major issues. How do they get fixed if something breaks? I think I would rather other people serve as guinea pigs to see if the Slate is indeed a good vehicle longer term.

One of my co-workers just picked up a low mileage Chevy Silverado EV, trading in his Model Y to do it. You may recall that was another vehicle I was considering. In that scenario I would trade/sell both my Tesla and Tacoma to replace them with one vehicle which would save in registration and insurance costs. I got to ride in it. It’s very nice and huge with space for days. On the downside it is the LT model which is missing a few bells and whistles including no self driving capability. To get that you need the pricier RST model. If I got one it would need be the RST but it just makes no financial sense right now. As much as I dislike Elon nowadays I do love my Tesla.