Jeff Bezos is backing a brand new EV startup referred to as Slate Auto. The model has launched nearly no data to date, with a barebones web site and a trademark submitting for “We Construct It. You Make It.” Nonetheless, reviews counsel that Slate Auto is engaged on a fundamental, two-seater electrical pickup that will likely be customizable and can begin at round $25,000.
A key piece of lacking data has been any indicator about what the truck appears to be like like. The corporate has not even supplied a teaser silhouette to the general public. Nonetheless, a proof of idea prototype, reportedly in existence to indicate to traders, seems to have been noticed within the wild by a Reddit person.
Key Takeaways
Slate Auto is a brand new EV startup
It is reportedly launching a $25,000 electrical pickup
A Reddit person noticed the pickup sitting on a flatbed truck
It appears to be like cool and fundamental
Although being a two-seater might restrict its attraction
This Is The Slate Auto $25,000 Pickup
The Reddit picture instantly piqued curiosity about whether or not it was the $25,000 Slate pickup. The chances that one other producer has a two-seater electrical pickup in improvement had been small. The chances that a longtime producer would simply depart a top-secret prototype on a flatbed with out being festooned in camouflage had been even smaller.
A supply confirmed to TechCrunch, the outlet that originally reported on Slate Auto’s existence, that that is the electrical pickup truck prototype. Slate seems to have nailed it on the outside look, with a little bit little bit of Bronco Sport, Rivian, and Land Rover combined in. The truck appears to be like boxy and fundamental, with flat panels to scale back complexity, and the shortage of grille and rear cost port hints at an electrical powertrain.
Will The $25,000 Pickup Truly Work?
Many questions stay about Slate Auto’s $25,000 pickup. A giant one is whether or not that worth level is attainable or aspirational, like Tesla’s $35,000 Mannequin 3. Slate reportedly plans to construct the truck in America and outsource elements just like the battery and motors at a time when tariffs will make producing vehicles much more costly. That worth level would make it the most cost effective pickup and most cost-effective EV by a large margin. Producers battle to hit that type of pricing with combustion vehicles.
Fashionable vehicles have grow to be bigger and pricier due to the transfer to 4 doorways. So the two-seater format will theoretically make the truck cheaper to construct. Nevertheless it additionally might restrict its attraction. Two-seater vehicles are cool in idea. However in follow, even a brand new automotive with a “younger” demographic continues to be focusing on patrons of their thirties. Having no rear seat guidelines out households. That is why the one-row truck has practically gone extinct.
TopSpeed’s Take
The Slate Auto truck appears to be like nice. Specializing in high-margin equipment sounds promising. Having one of many world’s uber-billionaires backing the venture all the time helps. However automotive manufacturing is a brutal trade. Many EV startups do not attain manufacturing. Even those who have, like Rivian and Lucid, are nonetheless scaling up and looking for an unbiased monetary footing.
