In an auto business racing towards ever-smarter, larger, and pricier autos, a brand new electrical pickup is taking the alternative lane.
Slate Auto’s first mannequin, identified merely because the “Slate Truck,” strips the fashionable truck to its necessities within the identify of affordability and personalization.
This sub-$20,000 EV (after federal incentives) eschews paint, touchscreens, and even manufacturing unit coloration choices, presenting itself as a clean slate for patrons to customise.
As a behavioral psychologist and auto journalist, I discover Slate’s radically minimalist method an interesting case examine in design tradition and shopper psychology.
Can an “analog” EV truck that’s this Spartan actually reach a market that’s been educated to count on tech-laden, full-featured rides?
Let’s dig into what Slate’s truck gives, why it’s producing buzz, the way it compares to opponents, and what potential pitfalls lie forward.
A price ticket that turns heads (and opens wallets)
$19,900.
That eye-catching determine is the efficient base value Slate is touting – together with the U.S. EV tax credit score.
In uncooked phrases, Slate says the bare-bones pickup will value roughly $25,000 earlier than incentives, with a single manufacturing unit configuration. That undercuts each different new EV available on the market by 1000’s, and no different electrical pickup even comes shut.
For context, Ford’s F-150 Lightning begins round $57,000, the Rivian R1T round $72,000, and even Canoo’s not-yet-released small EV pickup is close to $35,000.
Tesla’s long-awaited Cybertruck hasn’t confirmed pricing, but it surely’s anticipated to be far above Slate’s territory. In brief, the Slate Truck goals to be the reasonably priced outlier in a section identified for luxurious costs.
Such a low value is made potential by deliberate cost-cutting selections in design and manufacturing.
There’s just one trim degree, one configuration, and one coloration – grey – popping out of the manufacturing unit. Choices like a bigger battery or add-on physique kinds are dealt with post-production as upgrades, not separate fashions.
By shifting complexity out of the manufacturing unit, Slate avoids costly tooling and meeting line variations.
“As a result of we solely produce one automobile within the manufacturing unit with zero choices, we’ve moved the entire complexity out of the manufacturing unit,” explains Jeremy Snyder, Slate’s chief industrial officer.
The upshot:
A lean operation that Slate claims will attain cash-flow positivity quickly after manufacturing begins, in contrast to many cash-burning EV startups.
CEO Chris Barman provides that skipping big-ticket services like paint outlets and metallic stamping saved “$350 million to $500 million” in upfront prices on the projected 150,000 models/yr scale.
Key specs of the Slate Truck at a look
Regardless of its discount pricing, the Slate Truck covers the fundamentals that an on a regular basis driver wants:
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Battery & Vary: ~52.7 kWh customary pack for 150 miles vary, or optionally available ~84.3 kWh pack for 240 miles (Slate hasn’t introduced the value bump for the larger battery.)
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Motor & Drivetrain: Single 150 kW (201 hp) motor, rear-wheel drive solely. No dual-motor or AWD choice is obtainable – a purposeful omission to maintain prices and complexity down.
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Efficiency: 0–60 mph in ~8 seconds, prime pace ~90 mph. Not a tire-shredder, however peppy sufficient for metropolis and lightweight freeway use.
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Cargo & Towing: ~1,400 lb payload within the 5-foot mattress, plus a 7 cu ft entrance trunk (“frunk”) for additional storage. Towing maxes out at simply 1,000 lb – sufficient for a small utility trailer or bike rack, however a far cry from typical vans (even the compact Ford Maverick can tow 1,500–4,000 lbs)
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Charging: Tesla’s NACS cost port (future-proofing entry to Superchargers) with DC fast-charge as much as ~120 kW, good for 20–80% in ~half-hour. Stage 2 dwelling charging at 11 kW can totally recharge the small battery in ~4 hours (8 hours for the massive pack).
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Dimensions: Actually a “small truck.” At ~174.6″ lengthy and 70.6″ vast, the Slate is over two toes shorter than a Maverick and even a number of inches shorter than a Honda Civic hatchback. It’s roughly the dimensions of a Eighties Toyota mini-truck, not at the moment’s bloated pickups. But its mattress is definitely a contact longer than the Maverick’s (60″ vs 54″)
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Security & Tech: Engineered for a 5-star crash ranking with 8 airbags (together with aspect curtains) and energetic security options like computerized emergency braking, ahead collision warning with pedestrian detection, and even auto excessive beams.
If these specs sound unexciting, that’s by design.
This truck isn’t simply breaking efficiency data or boasting luxurious options – it’s hitting a “adequate” baseline at an unprecedented value..
Design of Slate Truck: Grey plastic and nil screens
What grabs you first is what’s lacking.
Physique panels are molded in grey polypropylene — actually no paint.
Scratches received’t reveal primer, and wraps stick simply due to flat sheet metallic and hidden seams. Inside, there’s no infotainment show, no stereo, and crank home windows by default.
A dashboard cellphone dock stands in for Apple CarPlay.. Slate will promote optionally available audio system should you want tunes.
Designer Tisha Johnson says the textile seats and plastic exterior will “look higher as they age,” a wink at people bored with babying shiny finishes. Jalopnik referred to as the look “refreshingly small and cute,” like an ’80s Toyota redux.
Critics counter that even a base Nissan Versa gives a radio; Slate is betting prospects choose so as to add solely what they honestly worth.
The blank-canvas enterprise mannequin
As an alternative of manufacturing unit trims, Slate gives greater than 100 bolt-on components:
Raise or drop kits, auxiliary lighting, larger wheels, roof racks, power-window retrofits, and — wildest of all — a flat-pack SUV package.
For roughly $5 Ok, house owners can unbolt the pickup’s rear wall and fasten a cage-style extension with again seats and further airbags, making a five-seat wagon.
Vinyl-wrap kits arrive pre-cut. $500 modifications the truck from grey to hot-pink tiger stripes with out eradicating panels.
Slate College video guides stroll non-gearheads via every mod, and a nationwide service-partner community will set up components for a price.
Equipment are the place earnings conceal: promote the truck close to value, then money in as house owners personalize.
It’s the printer-and-ink technique, transplanted to autos.
How Slate Truck stacks as much as Tesla, Rivian, Ford, and Canoo
Characteristic-for-feature, Slate is outgunned.
- Tesla’s Cybertruck touts 300-plus miles and sub-3-second acceleration — at an estimated $61 Ok to begin.
- Rivian gives quad motors, air suspension, and 300-mile batteries — at luxurious costs
- Ford’s Lightning retains the acquainted F-150 form and full-size utility however begins at triple Slate’s value.
- Canoo’s mini-truck promised affordability and modularity, but nonetheless lacks a manufacturing date, whereas its projected $35 Ok value misses Slate by a rustic mile.
In brief, Slate is pursuing patrons the others ignore: people who don’t want 4-ton towing or digital dashboards, who need a city-friendly runabout that occurs to be electrical.
If the Maverick hybrid proved there’s mileage in a small, low-cost pickup, Slate could do the identical for EVs—supplied buyers embrace its no-frills ethos.
Who would possibly really purchase a Slate Truck?
Three teams loom:
- City DIYers who need low working prices and a canvas for self-expression;
- Price range EV intenders priced out of each different plug-in;
- Small-business house owners — landscapers, campus services, cell meals distributors—who can upfit the mattress or swap to SUV type over a weekend.
Youthful drivers, raised on customizing sneakers and cellphone instances, could relish a wrap-ready truck that modifications outfits like an avatar. However will mainstream shoppers commerce creature comforts for value? Discussion board chatter splits.
One ArsTechnica commenter cheered the “anti-Tesla vibe”; one other requested how many individuals will settle for handbook home windows in 2026. A lot hinges on whether or not federal credit stay and whether or not manufacturing hits 2026 as promised.
Historical past is filled with cheap-EV startups that by no means reached showrooms. Slate should show its Indiana plant — and its stability sheet—are greater than press-release guarantees.
The underside line
All in all, Slate Auto has tossed a minimalist grenade into the over-optioned EV house.
By deleting paint, screens, and supplier markups, it claims to ship a sub-$20K electrical truck that doubles as a modder’s playground.
If it ships on schedule and at value, Slate may broaden EV adoption the way in which Ford’s Mannequin T as soon as democratized fuel automobiles — sparking a brand new micro-truck area of interest targeted on creativity over horsepower.
If delays, funding gaps, or shopper sticker-creep creep in, it could be a part of the lengthy checklist of well-meaning disruptors that couldn’t scale.
Both method, the Slate Truck reopens an previous query:
How a lot automotive do we actually want, and the way a lot are we prepared to pay for the tech we hardly ever use?
This little grey pickup is about to search out out.
