[Bullet Club]

Bezos-backed Slate Auto unveils affordable EV truck

One outlet has called it the "anti-Tesla," referring to its simple, minimalist stature.

Slate Auto, a firm backed in part by Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, is unveiling a low-cost electric truck that can also change into an SUV.

Its starting price point: $20,000 after federal EV incentives.

"A radically simple electric pickup truck that can change into whatever you need it to be — even an SUV," the Slate Auto website says. "Made in the USA at a price that's actually affordable (no really, for real)."

The two-door version can be changed into a 5-seat SUV. The baseline truck is small: About two-thirds the size of a Chevy Silverado EV and about seven-eights the size of a Ford Maverick. It has a payload capacity of 1,400 pounds compared the Maverick's 1500 pounds.

At less than 15 feet long, Slate says its more akin to a 1985 Toyota pickup.



Its smaller and less gaudy stature are by design: TechCrunch refers to the Slate as an "anti-Tesla," and while both the Slate Truck and the Cybertruck are customizable, the starting Slate model is stripped down to essential elements, including no power windows or infotainment screen.

The specs show a maximum range of 150 miles on a single charge, with the option for a longer-range battery pack that could offer up to 240 miles. The vehicles are designed in California and Michigan, engineered in Michigan, and assembled somewhere in the Midwest, according to Slate's website. TechCrunch reported the plant is in Indiana.

Earlier this month, TechCrunch broke the news that Bezos, along with the controlling owner of the Los Angeles Dodgers, Mark Walter; and a third investor, Thomas Tull, had helped Slate raise $111 million for the project. A document filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission listed Melinda Lewison, the head of Bezos' family office, as a Slate Auto director.

The vehicles aren't expected to be delivered to customers until late 2026, but can be reserved for a refundable $50 fee.

Source: NBC

They are ugly looking, but a nice ugly. Pleasantly ugly.

 

[TaySan]

Up the miles range and include a speaker and I would heavily consider it. Perfect price for a vehicle

 

[Arkam]

150mile range? This is a glorified golf cart. This has to be targeting property owners as service vehicles right? (Like Disney, Universal, resorts.....golf courses)

 

[Stilton Disco]

Good price but Lithium battery EVs are a technological dead end that never achieved being fit for purpose.

 

[Haxan7]

I watched videos of it. It's way too tiny and there's no room in the backseats unless you're squeezing kids in there. "7/8 the size of a Maverick" is misleading as hell. I'd rather pay 10k more and get an actual modern vehicle.

 

[Phunkydiabetic]

Up the miles range and include a speaker and I would heavily consider it. Perfect price for a vehicle

Yeah but then your "perfect price" goes out the window so..what happens then?

 

[Goatmilk]

This is super sick.

 

[TaySan]

Yeah but then your "perfect price" goes out the window so..what happens then?

Back to the drawing board for them until it does. My Honda has plenty of life in it for years to come

 

[DESTROYA]

I like it but it's more of a secondary fart around town vehicle than a go on extended day trip vacation kind of truck . At least they have a option for longer range battery

 

[MetalAlien]

Ford tried this but the dealers doubled the price and called it a market adjustment

 

[Spiders]

no power windows

I thought we were doing self-driving cars in the future, not Make Windows Roll Again lol

 

[cryptoadam]

So basically took everything out of a car that people want. I wonder if it even has a radio in it ?
Also car market is hard to enter ask Rivian VinFast or a bunch of others that failed. You need to have a good product you can't have crappy suspension or breaks or steering etc....
Its an interesting idea making a modular bare bones car but you get what you pay for.
The one thing I likes is adding features later which seems cool. Also if you could just order it through Amazon that could be disruptive.
But I don't see people going from a Honda or Toyota to this. Not from a Tesla or BMW. More like if your driving a Rio or something maybe you would just get this thing instead.

Looking further a Nissan Kicks is just under 22K and you get all the features of a modern car except for luxury features like leather etc... but you would get a screen radio speakers power everything all the usual safety features etc and it's from a Japanese car company with decades of experience.
The sticker price sounds great at first till you realize they are basically giving you a bare bones golf cart

 

[J-Roderton]

Really interested to see how these are. This is literally all I need in a truck at this point.

 

[HellforLeather]

Craziest thing is that for "mid $20k" I bought my Mazda 3 which has a lot of the fancy features that this car doesn't have. The auto market is just fucked all around.

Insane tech that nobody needs. Ridiculous prices. People buried in debt trap cars. Cars built to be disposed of...what a fucking mess. Even Chevy cant be trusted to build a fucking V8 anymore (google 6.2L main bearing failures)

 

[O-N-E]

They took the "customizable" nature of it too far. Some things should not be taken out of the car and sold as an add-on.

 

[TaySan]

Most cars are money pits. If I could walk anywhere I need to be I would trade my car in a heartbeat.

 

[Kvally]

I won't ever buy electric. That said I applaud more consumer choices, especially at affordable prices. We are at a point where $100k cars are becoming substantially more common than ever. If the build quality of this is there, and it's affordable for those that have been priced out of the market, that's a good thing.

Some people just don't care about extras.

 

[cryptoadam]

Still can't believe it doesn't have power windows lol.

 

[Kvally]

Still can't believe it doesn't have power windows lol.

It does sound crazy. But believe it or not you can still get new Jeep Wranglers, F Series, Silverados etc with manual windows.

 

[Frito_Pendejo]

150 miles of range is nothing. You will go through it insanely fast. And if you can't charge at home this truck would be an absolute nightmare. I'm assuming they'll adopt NACS so you'd be at the supercharger constantly. The only reason this thing is $20K is because it's just a stripped down nothing with terrible range. You could buy a used Honda for less with more features and get 30MPG. This truck makes no sense at all in its current form.

 

[cryptoadam]

150 miles of range is nothing. You will go through it insanely fast. And if you can't charge at home this truck would be an absolute nightmare. I'm assuming they'll adopt NACS so you'd be at the supercharger constantly. The only reason this thing is $20K is because it's just a stripped down nothing with terrible range. You could buy a used Honda for less with more features and get 30MPG. This truck makes no sense at all in its current form.

150 miles is more likely 100 to 120 especially if you run heating or AC (does it have either?) Or haul anything with weight in the bed.
Also if it's like an ICE car your not driving it to 0. Just like most people don't go to a complete empty tank. You are basically charging it every 2nd night because once you get to 20 miles range you want to top off.
So it's more like 100 miles of range and then charging which is probably 2 days of driving around town.
And yes agree on the price. And it's not 20k. That's with rebates. So it's actually 27K. And that's even if the can deliver at that price if it comes out. 27 K no power windows no radio no infotainment etc... even those crappy knock off Chinese cars you order off ali express have infotainment screens.
Take a kia rio and strip everything out of it and you could pr9bably sell it for 15K USD