Slate Auto, a brand new EV startup backed by Jeff Bezos, surpassed 100,000 reservations inside two weeks of unveiling its low-cost electrical pickup truck at an occasion in Los Angeles.
The no-frills, all-function customizable EV pickup has generated a number of buzz from budget-conscious shoppers and EV fanatics alike. Whereas the refundable $50 deposit doesn’t assure a sale when the automobile formally launches, it’s a powerful early sign of market curiosity.
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The truck shall be priced at $20,000 after the $7,500 federal EV tax credit score. Slate’s pricing technique instantly challenges the present auto market, the place the typical value of a brand new automobile has ballooned to roughly $50,000. This pattern will probably proceed as automakers develop dearer, feature-rich fashions.
To attain such low pricing, Slate is stripping away non-essential options that usually drive up prices. The automobile will embody handbook crank home windows as a substitute of energy home windows, no built-in radio, no infotainment system and a minimalistic inside with fewer digital parts. The automaker’s philosophy focuses on what makes a automotive a automotive–nothing extra and nothing much less.
As a substitute of dictating options, Slate invitations clients to take full management over the customization of their autos. A modular design system permits homeowners so as to add solely the specified options and even convert the pickup into an SUV.
Slate plans to construct its autos at a repurposed printing facility in Warsaw, Indiana, with buyer deliveries starting in early 2026. The automaker is focusing on a 150,000-unit manufacturing purpose by the top of 2027.
