The bed is only 5’. Any truck that actually gets used as a truck will be 6’ (which will be 8’ with the tailgate down) or 8’.

It can be converted to a small SUV with an extra kit from the factory, so it can accommodate more passengers if needed.

Its the same size as a fifth gen hilux with a short bed option. Slate likely will make a long bed option in the future, but a short bed is hardly a deal breaker for a compact truck.

It's because it's a vinyl wrap, not paint.

The major criticism I have right off the bat is the body isn't actually painted and as a result their "optional" wraps actually aren't optional if you don't want to risk having to replace the whole damn body in a few years.

You can also get a UV coating applied every year or so, I believe, just be aware that in order to save themselves a little bit of sticker price and to sell their wraps they've locked you into a significant ongoing maintenance cost in either coatings or wrap replacements.

So of course now your "environmentally friendly" EV is shedding its plastic skin every three years. From Slate's quoting on the wrap price the wrap replacement does seem fairly affordable though (assuming that's not early incentive pricing), just be aware the lifetime maintenance is going to be higher than you're used to.

There's a very large part of me that wonders if the entire goal of this is to solve the EV manufacturing dilemma of not having as much recurring revenue from replacement engine parts.