Less Is More: Slate Brings Back HVAC Knobs, Crank Windows, and a Screenless Dash

The just-announced Slate Truck is promising to deliver on a dream that many car critics, myself included, have been crowing about forever. You want a new, inexpensive, utilitarian vehicle with old-school simplicity in its interface but modern efficiency in its powertrain? Hell yeah, brother. The Slate is committed to being just that—right down to having crank windows and a dash-mounted phone slot instead of an infotainment screen.

Crank windows went extinct in the U.S. just last year when they were dropped from the base Jeep Wrangler. Even the cheapest Ford F-150 XL work truck and Chevrolet Express WT cargo van have power windows as standard now. Last week, I would have told you that the Chevy Express van still holds the crown for most old-school dashboard in a new car, but Slate’s truck interior might be even more primitive-looking.

It’s not just that the Slate is minimalistic. A Tesla is also minimalistic inside, but the man-cave-TV-sized screen on their dashboards subjects you to relentless futurism. The Slate truck has three simple knobs for climate controls, and, brilliantly, an OEM phone mount effectively outsourcing navigation and music to your mobile device. Which you’re likely to do anyway in any car, just through a larger screen with Apple CarPlay or Android Auto. And if you’re wondering how audio works without speakers, it’s simply routed through a Bluetooth speaker of your own choosing, stashed on the little shelf below the HVAC dials.

For years, I’ve been hoping more automakers would do this—dispense with the giant dash screen, just put a little clamp or mount for a phone, and a provision to charge it. Fiat did something like this with one of the Panda models, and of course, the Ford Maverick is well suited to accept custom-made OE-fitment phone mounts. For a short-range work truck like the Slate clearly is, this arrangement is absolutely perfect.

And don’t even get me started on the superiority of a three-knob climate control system to anything based on a screen. With an interface like this, you’ll easily be able to adjust the temperature without looking at the dashboard shortly after familiarizing yourself with the car. Meanwhile, after a week-long press loan with a modern BMW or Hyundai, I’m still taking my eyes off the road to fiddle with the cockpit climate. In a twisting and bumping environment, like a car in motion, sliders stink, and buttons without physical feedback are frustrating.

As for the crank windows, they might be more of a novelty—could a few extra inches of wiring really cost that much more than some gears and a plastic handle? I guess when you’re trying to sell a vehicle for as little money as the Slate’s being advertised at, you need all the margin you can get. At any rate, crank windows are kind of fun. I can’t say I’ve been clamoring for them—in fact, I’d probably pony up the extra $100 or whatever it’d cost to get switches if given the choice. But I don’t think they’d be that much of a drag in a vehicle this small and skinny. I bet the driver could reach over to the passenger side and work the starboard window crank if they didn’t have a guest with them.

Mostly, it’s just amusing to see retro cranks in a brand-new, electric, U.S. market car in 2025. Or, rather, 2026 by the time these actually get into customer driveways. I’ll reserve judgment until I get to take a test drive. On paper and in pictures, though, the Slate seems to be answering a gap in the new-car market that many people like to complain about.

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