Jeff Bezos-Backed Slate Reveals $25K Truck to Tackle Tesla and Rivian

EV startup Slate Auto, which counts Amazon founder Jeff Bezos as a key investor, simply unveiled its first automobile.

The brand new pickup, revealed at an occasion on Thursday night time in Los Angeles, will begin at simply $25,000 when it goes on sale in 2026, Slate mentioned — even decrease with potential tax credit.

The no-frills mannequin is devoid of widespread niceties like energy home windows or a radio that permits clients to make as many or as few upgrades as they want.

“We wished to get that price out of the bottom automobile,” Slate CEO Chris Barman instructed Enterprise Insider in an interview.

“It actually provides freedom of option to the proprietor of what equipment they’d wish to placed on the automobile, both on the time of buy or over time, relying on what their price range could also be,” the previous Fiat-Chrysler govt and engineer added.

The Slate Truck, which is predicted to be produced at an undetermined location within the Midwestern United States, could be the most affordable new EV and pickup truck within the US.

The present least expensive EV is the standard-range Nissan Leaf, which begins at $28,140. Probably the most reasonably priced pickup truck on sale within the US is the Ford Maverick, which begins at $26,995.

A $25,000 value level would imply reaching one thing the present EV gross sales king, Tesla, has been unable to do. Elon Musk has lengthy teased shoppers with the prospect of a $25,000 mannequin, however there may be at the moment no agency timeline for its launch.

Rivian’s truck and SUV, like Tesla’s competing fashions, are removed from naked bones and begin at almost $70,000.

The Slate EV’s powertrain will function a 52.7 kWh battery pack and a 201-horsepower electrical motor driving the rear wheels. It has a goal vary of 150 miles and will be capable of recharge in a single day utilizing a family socket.

These needing extra vary can improve to a bigger 84.3 kWh pack, which ought to be capable of journey as much as 240 miles.

It should additionally function superior security tech like automotive emergency braking and ahead collision warning, Slate says.

The Slate truck is a clean slate for house owners to personalize

In response to Slate, all vehicles will go away the manufacturing facility in a single base configuration with solely primary facilities, reminiscent of metal wheels and crank home windows.

Then, the patron can select from over 100 equipment, from {hardware} like energy home windows to completely different wraps that give the truck a customized look.

“We actually suppose fans are going to be enthusiastic about this,” Barman instructed us.

As well as, an SUV package might be out there that converts the truck right into a five-passenger SUV, full with a roll cage, rear seats, and airbags.

All of the equipment, together with the SUV package, will be upgraded retroactively and are designed to be put in by the proprietor as DIY tasks. (You can too select to have the work completed professionally, after all.)

“That is going to, we hope, encourage a complete new inhabitants of a youthful era who perhaps by no means even thought of engaged on their automobiles, that is going to be enthusiastic about it as a result of satisfaction of possession, and it is an extension of their persona,” the Slate CEO added.

The Slate truck is now out there for preorder with a $50 refundable deposit.