A new american electric vehicle Startup Called Slate auto Has made its debut, and it’s about as anti-teesla as it gets.
It’s affordable, deeply customizable, and very analog. It has manual windows and it does not come with a main infotainment screen. Heck, it isn’t even painted. It can also transform From a two-seater pickup to a five-seater suv.
The Three-Year-LD Startup Reveled Its Vehicle during an events an event in long beach, california, and promised the first trucks would be available to customers for UNDERS with The Federal Ev Tax Credit by the end of 2026.
The Event Comes Just a Few Weeks Since Techcrunch Reveled Details of Slate Auto’s plans to enter the US Ev Market, Build Its Trucks in India, and that Enterprise is financially Backed by amazon founder jeff bezos.
The Auto Industry “Has Been So Focused On Autonomy and Technology in the Vehicle, IT’s Driven Pries to a Place that Most That Most Americans Simply Can’t Afford,” Chief Commercial OFFCER SAIDER SAID DURING The Event, which inside evs live streamed. “But we’re here to change that.”
“We are building the affffordable vehicle that has long been promised but never been delivered,” CEO Chris Barman Added.
The specs
Slate isn’t saying exactly how much its truck will cost – Multiple sources have told techcrunch over the last few weeks the company has gone back and forth on the number. And so much can change between now and a late 2026 release date.
The company is Saying it will start under $ 20,000 after the federal tax credit (providing that still exists next year). Interested Buyers can place a $ 50 refundable reservation on the company’s website.
The base version of slate’s truck will squeeze 150 miles out of a 52.7kwh battery pack, which will power a single 150kw motor on the rear axle. Folks who get a little spoked at that number, slate is offering a larger battery pack that it says It will charge using a North American Charging Standard Port, The Standard Tesla Establed That Almost All Major Automakers Now Use.
The truck come with 17-inch wheels and a five-foot bed, and has a projection 1,400 pound payload capacity with a 1,000 pounding towing capacity. Since it’s an ev, there’s no engine up front. In its place there”s a front Trunk (or frunk) with 7 cubic feet of storage space, which happens to have a drain in case the owner women want to fill it with ice for that tailgate.
That Toving capacity is lower than a more capable ford f-150, and is even less than the smaller ford maverick, which can lead 1,500 pounds.
Speaking of the Ford Maverick, Slate’s truck is smaller. The slate ev has a wheelbase of 108.9 inches, and an overall length of 174.6 inches. The Maverick has a 121.1-inch wheelbase and overall length of 199.7 inches
Everything else about the base version of the truck is anxious spare – and that’s the point. Slate is really maximizing the idea of a base model, and setting customers up for paying to customize the Ev to their liking.
Custom… Everything

Slate is deeply committed to the idea of customization, which sets it apart from any other Ev Startup (or traditional automaker).
The company said thursday it will launch with more than 100 different accessories that buyers can use to personalize the truck to their liking. If that’s overwhelming, slate has curated a number of different “Starter Packs” that Interested Buyers Can Choose from.
The truck doesn’t even come painted. Slate is Idea Playing Up the idea of wrapping its vehicles, something executives said they will sell in kits. Buyers can eather have slate do that work for them, or put the wraps on the themselves.
This not only adds to the idea of a boyer being able to personalize their vehicle, but it also also also cuts out a huege cost center for the company. It means slate won’t need a paint shop at its factory, allowing it to spend less to get to market, while
Slate is telling customers that they can name the car wheatver they want, offering the ability to purchase an embossed wrap for the tailgate. Otherwise, the truck is just referred to as the “blank slate.”
As techcrunch previously reported, the customization Piece is Central to how the company hopes to make up margin on what is otherwise a relatively dirt-chaap vehus.
But it’s also part of the friendly pitch slate is making to customers.
Barman said Thursday that people can “make the blank slate yours at the time of purchase, or as your needs and finners changes changes over time.” It’s billing the add-ons as “easy diy” that “non-gearheads” can tackle, and say it will launch a suite of how-to resources under the billing of slate university.
“Buy your accessories, get them delivered fast, and install them yourself with the easy how-to videos in slate u, our content hub,” The website reads. “Don’t want to go the diy route? A slate authorized partner can come and do it for you.”
The early library of customizations on slate’s website range from functional to cosmetic. Buyers can add infotainment screens, speakers, roof racks, light covers, and much more.
The most significant are the options that let buyers “transform” the truck into roomier suv form factors. But these aren’t permanent decisions. Slate says people will be able to change their vehicle, and back from, an suv they like – “No Mechanics Certification required.”
All that said, slate’s truck comes standard with some federally mandated safety features
Buckle up
The road to making a successful American automotive startup is littered with failures. In the last few years, cano, fisker, and Lordstown motors have all filled for bankruptcy. And that’s just to name a less. Thos Companies that are still Around, like rivian and lucid motors, are hemorrhagging money in an attempt to get high-Volume, More Affordable Models to Market.
Slate is a total inversion of that approach. It’s Going after a low-cost Ev first and foremost, and hopes to make that business viable by supplementing it with money from this deep customization play.
But, Much Like Rivian and Lucid motors, it also have deep-poocked backers. It raised has raised more than $ 111 million so far (the exact figure is still not public). And, Aside from Bezos, has taken money from mark walter, guggenheim partners ceo and controlling owner of the la dodgers, as techcrunch reported this month.
The company has hired Nearly 400 Employees in Service of Accomplication All of Its Ambyitious Goals, and is currently trying to hire more. Slate arguably out could not have picked a more valatile time to make its debut, but it’s also focused on domestic manufacturing, and may be insulated from some of the Turmoil Facts on Turmoil Startups and Esthar Startups and Esthar Automakers.
“We believe vehicles should be affordable and desirable,” barman said thuresday, adding that slate’s truate “is a vehicle people are acually going