With our spy shots of Ford’s Universal EV pickup hitting the market sometime next year, with an expected price of $30,000 and an expected range of 300 miles, all eyes are on Slate, which plans to announce pricing on June 24th.
Slate is having loads of media at an event leading up to that June 24th embargo, not just to capture content with the new truck, but specifically to learn the price; Slate has “hear the price” in its invitation’s subject line. This leads me to think the price is going to be good. At least, that’s wishful thinking.
All we’ve really heard for the longest time is that the price will be in the “mid 20s,” and prior to that we heard it would start around $20,000 with incentives that are no longer here due to changes in the U.S. presidential administration. Since then, Ford announced its EV truck, which in base form is undoubtedly going to be way better equipped than the Slate, which comes standard with crank windows, manual locks, manual seats, and no radio.
I love the idea of a back-to-basics truck, not just because it’s less likely to break and easier to fix oneself, but because in theory, a back-to-basics truck should be dirt cheap. At least, if you’re a legacy automaker with skills and factories and economies of scale.
And so that leads me to a question I don’t have the answer to: How cheap does a 150-mile, crank-window equipped electric two-door pickup truck have to be to be successful? It’s something a number of Slate enthusiasts are asking themselves around the internet.
I’m going to define “success” as a volume of 100,000 units annually. Is that definition based on anything other than my own personal delineator for “high volume”? Not it’s not, and the true definition of success is sustainability for the company. But let’s just roll with that number.
For me the number I’d like to see — though I don’t know if it’ll yield 100,000 sales — is $25,000. This is mostly just a gut thing, not driven just by the Slate’s lack of basic amenities, but primarily driven by the fact that it has only two doors. That, at least these days, tends to be a volume-killer. But cool and cheap is a hard combo to resist. Then again, at $25 grand you can buy a pretty well outfitted Chevy Trax…
The two-door thing is going to be tricky, and I do like the look of the Ford truck, but car purchases are often irrational, and if the Slate is the cooler vehicle of the two, and if it can undercut the Ford significantly, maybe it stands a chance. Maybe they can both succeed; I’m not entirely sure the two are vying for exactly the same customer.
What do you think?
My concern for the slate is that there’s a very finite number of people who actually want a single cab manual truck with all mechanical cab systems (locks, windows, etc) and a sub 200 mile range.
It’ll do great as a commercial vehicle- it’s cheap and probably easy to service, but you can bet that drivers will hate it- even the lowest end base model fleet pick up has AC.
Agreed on all points, but I’m fairly certain the Slate has AC standard.
I had the equivalent of one of those in college, back in the day. Toyota Hilux pickup with manual everything and the single cab because that was all there was back then. It was perfect for what I needed then, even drove it to Fairbanks, Alaska and back one summer. I do like the concept and I’m sure there’s still a (limited) market for something like this, but almost 50 years later, it’s not me.
20K for a base 2 door with at least 200 miles of charge in the snow or with AC blowing. But, the expansion kits need to be available to buy via Amazon and easy enough to install with basic tools in the driveway. AKA a rear seat and a bolt on roof for the bed area. It would also make sense to have a simple electric window system that was plug and play. aka, a motor/actuator that bolts over the crank window shaft through the door. Basically make it as simple as possible to upgrade or not as funds arrive.
I remember seeing those in the JC Whitney catalog! 🙂
For 150 miles? For me it would have to be WELL below 25k. Like at most 22k. Because I have two kids, so this couldn’t be my primary car (in its truck form and I really want my next vehicle to be an electric truck). So it would have to be dirt cheap for me to consider it. The Ford EV is just a much better proposition for me, even at 7-10K more expensive.
Google’s AI search result yielded the following. If only I knew how to place a bet on Kalshi about this thing’s failure.
I mean, Slate had originally said $20k back when the $7500 federal tax credit was in effect. When the tax credit went away, a number of media outlets added the two numbers together and started saying $27.5k, although Slate themselves have been saying “mid 20s” since then.
Personally, I’m inclined to believe that since $20k was a very round number, their “real” expected cost when they announced was something less than $27.5k, with the difference being taken as additional profit. Since then, on the one hand I’m sure that they’ve been looking for savings where they can (in different engineering, better deals from suppliers, etc.), but on the other hand we’ve seen how world events have been pushing material prices up. Question is how all of that is going to end up shaking out.
$22k. Even then I think I would give better odds to Beelzebub’s chariot being pulled by snowmen than Slate selling 100k of these.
Need cheap delivery vehicle for your fleet? Trax.
Need it to be electric? Bolt.
Need it to have an open bed? Maverick.
But there are folks buying Kei trucks for ~$25k, and you can’t even title those in some states.
There are loads of Kei Trucks on the market for less as well. https://carfromjapan.com/cheap-used-truck-for-sale-under-cc700?maxYear=2001&gad_source=1&gad_campaignid=11124458558&gbraid=0AAAAADn4GNpNXMFJUTgBvSUuUqwU1jMen&gclid=CjwKCAjw6MPRBhBTEiwAd-7Mrw5iUYX90a9E8rPU4wR5zrGDkRrmNSQ5ofp-GQ6WVk4PgcfjTugTgxoCYrQQAvD_BwE
or were you thinking new ones?
New ones. I know there are plenty of used/25+ years old for more reasonable prices.
So many excellent points, $15k would be the right number and they’d sell in crazy volumes. Realistically, $20k is the threshold. Anything more and by the time you add back in any features, you’re at a number that doesnt make sense. Lets not even mention the fact that used EV trucks are selling for fractions of what they once were.
There’s really nothing else in the segment. A true single-cab isn’t on the market. The only two-door SUVs are off road-worthy things like the Wrangler and Lando Defender; as a 2wd-only model with on-road-only-please ground clearance, the Slate doesn’t compete with those. It’s a city animal.
Leaving off a lot of that kind of hardware – AWD, window motors, infotainment – means what’s left is the basics like keeping the wheels in their corners where they belong, the mandated vehicle stability stuff – used to be you just knew to slow down in corners – aaaaand that’s about it. Seat cushions, I guess, though Citroen proved you could skimp on those too. I reckon you’d have a tough time selling something as bare bones as a 2CV in the current market; Torch already has his so there’s probably not many people who’d spring for one.
I guess the closest competitor would be the Maverick, which itself is still a four-door, four-seat option. The Slate can be optioned into a two-door five seater, which comes close-ish to being in that same arena. With less capability than even a basic Maverick, price it somewhere comparable. With the Mav starting at $27,000 for the bottom-tier model, I think bringing the Slate in around that mark is a good start.
I think the base price is less important than the price of the options. Even if the most basic version comes in at under $25k, that’s mostly a marketing gimmick. My question is, what’s the price once you add in some of the basic amenities that modern customers expect in a brand new vehicle? If adding in the radio, power windows, center console, color wrapping, etc pushes it closer to $30k, and the SUV tops push it over that threshold, I think the value simply isn’t there for that level of compromise.
I’d like to remind everyone that Ford is nearly as bad as Tesla when it comes to claiming one price and coming back with a 25% higher price. Even if Ford claims that their EV will be 30k, what’s the odds that you’re going to actually obtain one for 30k? Will dealers ever allow that to happen? Will Ford build enough of them?
If Slate’s truck is 25k, it may not seem like that much cheaper than the Ford, but it may actually be 10k cheaper in practice.
$25k
Plus monthly Prime subscription fee, Slate+ add-on subscription fee, and did you want music? Prime Music is another monthly fee.
I’m obviously taking a leap of faith myself that the Slate isn’t going to be a nickel and dime operation itself. Unlike Tesla and Ford, Slate doesn’t really have any particular reputation, good or bad. While there’s Bezos money involved, time will tell whether or not that sort of influence will get baked into the Slate experience.
I’m rooting for Slate, even though I’m pretty certain that it’ll fail, at least in the Northeast. Nobody is buying a 150 mile EV up here, considering cold weather losses. There’s the extended range battery, but I can’t imagine that’s going to be under 30k.
I get what you’re saying, but Slate isn’t an Amazon company.
Neither is BMW (what idiot thought a subscription for heated seats would win over buyers?) – but they’re a heck of a lot closer to Amazon than Ford
if it is like the maverick, they will sell the 30K units to fleets only with very few leaking out to the regular public. That way they can sell them out on paper and explain it that way to the public when they go looking for one at a dealer and can only find the 35K version with a 3-4 k setup and delivery fee.
I would say that’s likely, but it would be sort of nuts to go through the trouble of making it modular to then not have anyone buy it as a personal vehicle. But maybe the cool stuff was only ever there to bring in investment.
Plenty of people got ’22 Maverick Hybrids, but XL’s were always low on the production mix and hybrids moreso. If anything the fleets mostly went FWD/AWD Ecoboost and sometimes upgrading to XLT because they were more readily being produced with the orders/production logjam on the hybrid side.
The fleet lot was the only lot near me with Mavericks in general when they first came out. the utility companies really wanted to stuff them full and always wanted the $20K Hybrid version. I am sure the fleet buyers saw low price, awesome fuel economy(on paper) and technically a work truck (again on paper). since the price has gone up and they have had to live with them since, the volume has dropped off almost 90% I would guess at this point. Seeing way more base work truck Turbo max silverado’s these days.
If it stays $25k or under, I’m interested.
For base pricing, absolutely positively 15k or even less to attract attention. We need Changli levels of price attractiveness in the “why not” territory to overcome its drawbacks (no dealer, no brand, all electric, shockingly bare bones).
What I predict is going to happen is that once you add necessities, it will become 25-30k and at that point it makes no sense. They will rely on options to make a margin, like everyone else.
Ford moved 150,000 units in 2025, in its third full year. We’re talking ford brand and dealer network, well-equipped, gas and hybrid options.
For a no-name, 2-door all electric vehicle success should definitely not be 100,000 in its first full year, it’s way too steep.
I want them to succeed but I fear for them.
What makes it appealing to me is the customization that’s available.
In theory, you could switch between having a two-seater pick-up, to a two seat SUV, to a four/five seat SUV – provided you have the garage space to store everything. And if you’re buying an electric vehicle, you probably at least have off-street parking.
While that’s interesting, cost has to come into play at some point. By the time you pay for the 5 seat SUV package, you’ll also want to start cross-shopping 5 seat SUVs with the occasional Home Depot truck rental. It’s a fun idea to have the 5 seat SUV set up and occasionally convert to pickup mode for yard work, but that looks like a lot of hassle to unbolt the second row, remove the top, remove whatever else is in the way, and go pick up 10 bags of mulch. And let’s be real, most of us interested in Slate are interested because it is supposed be cheap, not necessarily because it will do anything better than the competition At least that’s how I see them positioning themselves right now. I don’t expect it to convert quickly, and that’s OK. I think the better value proposal is “a car that can grow with you.” Buy the pickup, make some friends or a kid, then add the second row.
The issue with the modularity is that it just doesn’t really do a good job of adding capability. Being able to chuck a couple seats in the back still leaves you with a 2-door with really short doors for rear access and a tight rear seat, plus it eats your cargo room.
I still like the idea of modularity, but only because it’s kind of fun. If you start talking practicality this loses to the Mav or the new Ford EV truck every time.
I’ve been in a Maverick. It’s not a place I’d pay money to spend time in.
For the enthusiast bunch, it’s priced fine but for the non-enthusiast crowd if you really want to give a middle finger to Ford: $15k for a few reasons:
Slate is a new brand and it doesn’t have the staying power as Ford (despite all Ford’s quality woes). People with enough disposable income (or financial cheapassery) who can manage buying a 2nd or 3rd car could jump to a Slate without much fuss, but the average person will probably gravitate to the safe bet (Ford) because Slate will either become the next Tesla sans Elon when pigs fly, Rivian if they’re lucky, or Fisker if they don’t play their cards right.
As much as I think it looks cool and the concept is amazing, I think it unfortunately falls into the category that the Mitsubishi Mirage fell into, where you can get way more car for not much more money. That being said, mid 20s already undercut most EVs which start in the mid 30s, and it undercuts Rivian and the other current EV pickups by a lot.
Optimistically, both can exist and be relatively successful, and overall they’re both a good direction away from stuffing everyone in an elephant sized crossover. For all the people who moan that they don’t make the Ford Ranger (the real one) or the Chevy S10 anymore, here you go. Put your money where your mouth is and get a Slate lol.
Except, as the first sentence of the article points out, Ford’s upcoming small pickup, with double the range of the Slate, is expected to come out at $30k. Mid 20s doesn’t undercut that by that much. AND it’s likely to come with a radio and other basics that many folks have come to expect. Double the range PLUS these creature comforts makes spending an extra $5k seem like an incredible value.
So, yeah, IF they could release it at $15k, it’d fly off the lots. If they were smart, they’d adapt a similar model to how many video games work, where you get the main thing cheap (or free in many cases), and they make all their money from the add-ons. Release this at $15k, many folks will slowly add various parts to theirs to customize it, likely, over a few years, spending at least another $10k.
Well, being electric the comparison to the S10 and Ranger is not apples to apples. It’s already on a short leash due to its range especially if using it as a proper truck, and in remote / rural areas this will be a deal breaker.
True, although that’s mostly an EV problem in general given current rural infrastructure. I still see 90s-00s rangers putting around cities although the rust belt has not been kind to them.
Totally , which is why EVs continue to be a fancy, city-folk or affluent suburbanites thing. Those buyers already have lots of options.
2-doors aside (doesn’t bug me), simply based on the (lack of) features and range… If this existed in a vacuum, sure, $25k would be decent. But because the Maverick exists, and Ford’s upcoming small EV pickup with double the range is coming soon, both for just a few grand more… yet you get a TON more stuff with that… makes a bare bones $25k Slate look like a pretty poor value. I think they’d have to release it at $19,999 at most and hope they make their money back with the various accessories. I’d love to get the fastback SUV kit personally.
I wonder what the insurance costs will be. Unknown manufacturer history and a lack of what have become standard safety features like blind side monitoring and emergency braking.
Per a quick google search, it DOES come with standard emergency braking (and a bunch of other standard safety features like automatic high beams and pedestrian detection), but no blind spot monitoring.
The list from their own website:
Traction Control
Electronic Stability Control
Forward Collision Warning
Automatic Emergency Braking
2-stage Driver/Passenger Airbags
Full Length Side Curtain Airbags (Truck 2) (SUV 4)
Seat Side Airbags (2)
Remote Keyless Entry
Backup Camera
Pedestrian Identification
Auto High Beam
I stand corrected on that. Thanks
David, I believe you have enough access to sales figures to construct a demand curve (units sold vs price) across the US auto market. This may give an idea of 100k units at $25k is wishful thinking or not.
For me, this would be a tempting vehicle for basic commuting, and it has functional truck capability to haul some mulch when needed. I hope Slate succeeds and more importantly, adapts quickly to market feedback.
I feel like nearly the entire market for this truck, they all post at The Autopian. How many non-car people in regular life do you know that would choose to have less car for the money? Less options. Less range. Less features. All from an unknown brand.
It’s a bare bones small truck. I get that some people think that’s the holy grail of simplicity but how big is the market for that, really? I suspect it’s not very big. I hope to be proven wrong.
I think fleets or small businesses would LOVE the Slate. Their use case for auto parts stores this would be perfect. Something that barely has to go anywhere with nothing to break and be as cheap as possible to run, the Slate fits that bill perfectly. My local Advanced Auto has a trio of uber-base Chevy Colorado’s (~34.5k MSRP), and I would wager the Slate trucks would be much cheaper long term, even with depreciation factored in.
Large fleets don’t pay MSRP for Ford and Chevy trucks though, not even close.
They are also extremely risk averse, because buying trucks is budgeted, and excessive downtime is not. I don’t see fleets jumping on a brand new entrant unless and until they are proven reliable.
I hope both the Ford and Slate “succeed.” Small trucks should have a place among the market choices.. However, I think the Slate will never sustain annual sales of 100,000 at any price. The organization can only succeed if it plans for a cost structure around lower volumes.
Google says – The cheapest new car on sale in the US is the Hyundai Venue, which starts at a base MSRP of $20,550.
Chevrolet Trax: Starting around $21,700
You what they both have?
An established Dealer Service Center Network to handle Maintenance & Warranty.
The ‘real’ question is –
How much cheaper does a vehicle with no Service Center Network need to be in order to successfully sell the quantity required to keep a factory in daily operation?
Let’s even assume that the service network is a non-issue for someone; after sitting in a Trax or a Venue, what is Slate’s appeal or value proposition? It better be comfy and cheaper, because it sure doesn’t have more features.
This is a good point. For whatever reason, seat design seems to be something many manufacturers struggle with and when Ford owned Volvo, they had an agreement that they couldn’t use Volvo’s seats. I doubt the chances of Slate hitting on truly great seats out of the gate and the single cab’s lack of back means they already don’t recline (unless one pays more for the back add on, which adds cost, reducing its competitiveness further).
Hot take: I don’t think the price actually matters.
Given that it is a two-door truck, there is basically no price point low enough to make it viable for 97% of new truck buyers.
Even at a fantasy $20k, that’s still “new car money’ for most regular people. New car = loan or lease. Might as well pay an extra $20 a month to get the 5-seater Ford.
The real question should be: “How much would you spend on a two-door truck?”
For most regular folks, the answer is probably $5-10k.
End of the day, the Slate is a fleet vehicle. Some tech/car nerds and old rich dudes will buy it as a toy for their ranch, but that’s it.
Was thinking oh this is a great retiree second car but then got thinking about it and not so sure it is. Admittedly just one person’s anecdote but for my retiree father who wanted a pickup he bought a clean high mileage 2019 Chevy Silverado a year or two ago for about the price of the Slate. Over time it will be more maintenance and possibility of breakdowns but he also only drives it like 2K miles a year and for that money he’s got a cowboy cadillac with great seats, the ability to drive where ever he wants (if he wants) and can even tow the occasional trailer instead of a tiny barebones pickup trying to recreate an era he’s not even nostalgic for. IDK maybe the older end of gen X is getting close enough to retirement and money’d enough that they fit what you’re saying, I assume they’re the generation most likely to have nostalgia for stripper mini trucks as they’re sort of a ’80s-’90s thing.
Fun fact, my motorcycle with a sidecar (Ural Gear-Up) can legally carry my wife and our two kids while the Slate cannot (at least in truck form).
I like the idea of a mini truck being an option again. I really hope it succeeds.
Hopefully the price is compelling enough to allow for this type of vehicle to survive. If these trucks end up in $30k+ land, I’m assuming these vehicles will have strong sales due to the people out there that really want this body style. Then sales tapers after 1 or 2 years.
I think they can both succeed, but I don’t know if they will. I really like the Slate. If I can get that for the low side of $25k, I’m in. Yes, I could get a very nice Chevy Trax for that, but I’d rather have the Slate.
I just don’t know how many weirdos like me are out there.
I like the idea of a small, simple 2-door BEV truck because it would be another option out there. But not for me. But I know my brother would have been keenly interested in a SLATE if not for inheriting a 2-door ICE truck.
Commercial or fleet buyers will likely sharpen their pencils once the full specs and price are known. I’ve said similar in another Autopian article, that a replacement akin to the prior small Ford Ranger would be attractive to certain businesses. They’d have a company site to allow plugging in overnight. Lower cost of operation for a BEV and less routine maintenance could push the decision to make the purchase.
Could commercial buyers keep the factory running for 100,000/year production?
Tough to say. The old Ford Ranger peaked at like 340,000 units, averaged like 200,000, and was down to 70,000 by 2011. However, that includes the full model lineup with nicer trims, extended cabs, 4×4 etc that allowed it to be sold to normal buyers. Not just the base fleet truck.
The Transit Connect is probably a more accurate comparison because it was basically only sold as a fleet vehicle in the USA. It peaked at 50,000 units and averaged like 20,000 a year.
The Transit Connect is a great comparison. We’ve had one since 2013 for all those “need to haul stuff” jobs. Ours came with back seats, but they’ve been out for years. Electric is a great fit for most of the things we use the TC for and I’m very interested in the Slate when it comes with a higher roof cargo shell. The TC was about $26k in 2013 (but that included most of the few options you could get on a Transit Connect!).
The Transit Connect was sold in countries other than US, which spread out the development, tooling, etc. costs.
A less than 100,000 output appears to be more financially viable when major parts and systems are shared, as will be with the UEV. The SLATE will have a difficult time gaining the benefits of mass production if only sold in the US, or beyond North America (ignoring the current chaos of cross-border sales).
Seems like an UEV van will eventually happen, from Car and Driver, and might be appealing for both personal and commercial sales with relevant simple changes to suit both markets:
Ford’s New EV Platform Will Spawn…
Ford says the platform will spawn a family of “affordable, electric, software-defined vehicles.” While Ford wouldn’t go into too many details on what other vehicles are coming, a graphic showed a vehicle transforming through a variety of SUV, truck, and van shapes. The company also said at the briefing that it was working on “everything from vans to three-row SUVs down to B-segment vehicles.”
Yeah. I think Ford is moving in a sound, flexible direction with the EUV platform. Seems well considered and fills most of the current holes in their lineup.
Agree.
The TC was also built overseas and on a platform that underpinned a lot of high volume cars.
Been a reservation holder since day one and a prolific future owners forum arguer.
23K – I’m in
25K+ I’m out
21K or less – Zoo Wee Mama!
I just don’t see demand for 100k of these per annum at a $25,000 base price. I assume there’s a boatload of used trucks available at that price, with, like power windows and a radio. I know some people do want a (really) basic, small, electric truck and that’s great. But not 100,000 a year. We’ll see, I’ve been wrong once or twice.