Slate Auto proposes to ship parts directly to the consumer to reduce costs, but the model raises doubts about safety and civil liability
Slate Auto — an Amazon startup focused on low-cost electric pickup trucks — aims to subvert the traditional logic of automotive aftersales. The company proposes a radical model where owners themselves carry out repairs covered by the warranty, eliminating the need for mandatory visits to dealerships. The strategy was detailed by the brand’s commercial director, Jeremy Snyder, in a recent interview with host Jay Leno.
The proposal is anchored in the “Right to Repair” movement, but takes it to an unprecedented extreme. According to Snyder, the idea is to give the user total autonomy: the factory would send the spare parts directly to the customer’s home, who would perform the exchange.
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To make the operation viable, Slate’s application would include an integrated OBD-II diagnostic scanner and would maintain a partnership with the RepairPal platform for comparing labor costs, if the owner prefers a third party. However, the premise that the owner performs complex maintenance — potentially involving brakes or suspension — lights up a legal red alert.
Although saving time and money is a theoretical attraction, the proposal comes up against serious issues of civil liability. If a warranty repair made by an amateur results in a mechanical failure or accident, one wonders who is to blame. The validity of waivers in U.S. courts is uncertain, especially when they involve safety-critical items.
In addition, the scenario is still hypothetical: Slate Auto promises to launch its electric pickup for around US$ 25,000 (approximately R$ 145,000) — a value far below the average of the American market. However, the company has not yet delivered functional units to the public, which keeps the project — and its controversial warranty policy — in the realm of promises, or “vaporware”, until mass production comes to fruition.
