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April 10, 2025 at 10:32
A camouflaged electrical pickup noticed in LA sparks hypothesis about Bezos-backed Slate Auto.
Slate Auto is reportedly creating a $25,000 electrical pickup, with a late 2026 launch deliberate.
The Michigan startup has not shared any particulars however plans to drop contemporary data on April 23.
Replace: Properly, that didn’t take lengthy. After we first reported on the picture you see right here, TechCrunch spoke with a “particular person with direct information of Slate Auto’s automobile design,” who confirmed—on the situation of anonymity—that the truck is “possible one of many idea automobiles the startup has created to indicate to potential buyers” at its design middle in Lengthy Seaside, California. Unique story follows beneath.
A mysterious electrical pickup truck has sparked curiosity on-line after a photograph surfaced of a camouflaged two-door truck being offloaded from a flatbed in Los Angeles. The timing couldn’t be extra fascinating: information additionally broke that Amazon founder Jeff Bezos is quietly backing a Michigan-based EV startup known as Slate Auto, which claims it’s creating a $25,000 electrical mannequin within the type of a compact, two-door pickup.
Extra: Jeff Bezos Secretly Backs EV Maker Constructing A $25K Pickup For The Plenty
The picture, posted to Reddit by consumer Discostranger09, reveals the pickup truck being unloaded from a delivery container simply exterior their workplace. The flatbed truck is marked with the identify “Time Towing LLC,” although there could also be a further phrase obscured on the entrance of the brand. The unique poster didn’t supply rather more than that, although commentators stated the picture was possible taken someplace in Los Angeles.
From what’s seen, the automobile appears to be like like a mashup of an older Vary Rover and a Jeep Renegade—boxy, upright, and unapologetically stubby. The absence of a grille opening on the entrance suggests its electrical, bolstered by what seems to be a charging port close to the rear nook. A fast picture search doesn’t match it to something presently in the marketplace, although admittedly, that’s removed from definitive.
Is This Slate Auto’s First Prototype?
Naturally, Redditors have been fast to take a position. The most well-liked idea is that this thriller truck is Slate Auto’s debut mannequin, presumably caught throughout testing or transport. Others floated concepts starting from a Rivian prototype to a one-off customized construct, although no strong proof has surfaced to assist any idea simply but.
What We Know About Slate Auto
Slate Auto stays principally underneath wraps, with restricted data obtainable past a current TechCrunch report. Based on that story, the corporate was quietly shaped in 2022 as a spinout of Bezos’ funding in Re:Construct Manufacturing. Since then, it’s been constructing out its workforce in Detroit, recruiting expertise from legacy automakers like Ford, GM, and Stellantis, in addition to from floundering EV startups corresponding to Fisker and Canoo. Their purpose? A $25,000, two-door, two-seat electrical pickup aimed toward a late 2026 launch.
Whereas Slate Auto hasn’t confirmed something concerning the automobile, they’ve introduced that extra information is approaching April 23. Whether or not that may embrace a proper reveal or simply extra company breadcrumbs stays to be seen.
Within the meantime, we’ll hold digging to see what else we will uncover concerning the truck in query. If you happen to acknowledge it—or for those who’re the one who constructed it in your storage over a protracted weekend—drop us a line.
