Slate Auto wants to shake up the market with an electric pickup for less than 25 thousand dollars

Remember this name, Slate Auto, because it could make a lot of noise in the coming years. It is a startup backed, among others, by Jeff Bezos, which aims to bring the electric vehicle to a much broader segment of the population, applying imaginative ideas that reduce production costs.

The company intends to enter the North American market from late next year, selling an electric pickup that they promise will cost less than 25 thousand dollars. So, applying the tax incentives that the federal government of the United States grants – at least for now – its price would even fall below 20 thousand dollars. A real treat, let’s say.

The Slate, which is what this pickup will be called, will be available with two battery packs to choose from: the most affordable, with 52.7 kWh of capacity, will allow, according to the manufacturer, around 150 miles – 241 km – on a single charge. Meanwhile, the extended-range battery pack of 84.3 kWh promises 240 miles per charge, about 386 km. Contrary to what might be expected, these battery packs don’t seem to be LFP; instead they will use NMC chemistry and will be supplied by the South Korean supplier SK On.

As for the propulsion system, the Slate will be available only with a rear-axle motor that delivers 150 kW of power. For now, no other technical specifications such as top speed or 0-100 km/h acceleration have been revealed, but we shouldn’t expect surprising figures given the audience this vehicle is aimed at.

Customize your Slate to your taste

At 4.44 meters long, 1.80 wide and 1.75 tall, the Slate’s most notable feature is its ability to transform. The manufacturer plans to offer a wide variety of modular kits with which customers can personalize the vehicle to their liking. Different hubcaps, front grille designs, color changes and graphics, and even the option to turn this pickup into an SUV or a fastback by covering the bed and adding an extra row of seats.

To carry this project forward, Slate Auto already has a production plant in Indianapolis, from which all units of this electric pickup will come in the body’s own gray color, with no other color options to thereby reduce costs, avoiding the need for a paint shop. As the manufacturer itself explains, this decision together with the absence of stamping presses will mean savings of between 350 and 500 million dollars a year, which will ultimately push the final price of the vehicle down.

Only what’s essential

The cost reduction does not apply, however, only to some exterior details of the vehicle, but also to what we will find inside. Unlike most electric vehicles currently on sale, the Slate lacks some components that are already almost considered essential, such as the central screen for the infotainment system, or the sound system. This affordable electric pickup only has a screen for the instrument cluster and a phone holder, so navigation and music playback will have to be handled through an external Bluetooth speaker that must be bought separately. The vehicle’s interior components have been cut back so much that it doesn’t even have power windows, and the windows are raised and lowered with a hand crank.

One notable element the Slate does have is an NACS charging port, located at the rear of the vehicle on the driver’s side, just as on the models of Tesla, which will make charging easier at that brand’s Supercharger network. Slate Auto claims that about 30 minutes will be needed to raise the battery charge from 20 to 80 percent.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mxMd3SNEKCA

Finally, it should be noted that reservations for this electric pickup are already open on the Slate Auto website for the United States, requiring a 50-dollar payment as a refundable deposit. The company hopes to make the first deliveries in the last quarter of 2026, with an estimated production level of 150 thousand units a year.