Everyone is curious about the $24,950 Slate truck, a completely outside-the-box electric pickup that champions simplicity, affordability, and customization (the truck can be converted from a truck to two styles of SUVs!). On Monday, I had a chance to talk with Slate’s engineering team and also drive the truck. Here’s what I thought.
Monday was one of the coolest days in my automotive journalism career. I not only got another chance to experience the gradual birth of this startup automaker, but I visited its brand new design headquarters in LA, talked with its nerdiest engineers, and even got behind the wheel of one of the most exciting, hotly-anticipated vehicles in the car-world today.
Here’s my video review:
I’ll get into what it was like driving the charming little EV truck in a moment, but first here’s a look at the new design headquarters building in southwest LA:
The large warehouse-ish section of the building appears to have recently been a Habitat for Humanity Restore (basically a furniture-Goodwill), though the most impressive part of the facility is its entrance, which gives off vibes you might expect from the entrance of the old American Motors facility or perhaps the old Packard plant:
The tunnel between that entrance and the warehouse area is very cool:
Leaving the tunnel I was greeted with a vast open area filled with lots Slate trucks and SUVs, as well as nerdy employees eager to talk about their baby:
It was in this space that Slate had set up a bunch of modules so journalists could learn about the truck’s engineering and especially its modularity/personalization.
Slate Focuses On Smart Compromises, Not On Cutting-Edge Technology
Slate is a very different company than any other I’ve covered since becoming an auto journalist. The entire team does not try to prove that its vehicle is a state-of-the-art piece of engineering. There’s no discussion about fancy megacastings, there’s no talk about how the team has built some kind of complex coolant valve or heat pump to eke out the last bit of vehicle efficiency (the Slate uses a basic PTC resistance heater for cabin eat), there’s no mention of AI or autonomous driving or exotic materials.
This is a small team of fewer than 200 engineers — many hailing from Chrysler, Nissan, Tesla and other OEMs — who together have been tasked with creating a vehicle with these main attributes: safety, durability, reliability, customizability and affordability.
Whereas most automakers want to show journalists how they came up with the most advanced and most efficient solution, Slate freely tells journalists that it considered a manual steering rack, leaf springs, drum brakes, a body-on-frame architecture, and other bits of what one engineer referred to as “yestertech.” (Drum brakes seemed like an ideal option for this truck, but per Slate, the supply base for drums has dried up).
“We did a decision matrix for everything,” Slate told me. The leaf spring idea, for example, didn’t work because, in order to package the battery, Slate would have had too short of a leaf spring pack, causing the suspension to “build rate too quickly” and ride too stiff, one engineer told me. The same engineer said the truck’s crank windows only just made it into the program. “Nobody manufactures [manual window regulators] in the US, but they do in Brazil,” he said. Choosing this over an electric window, he continued, saved the company $40 per vehicle; that’s a fortune in vehicle-development terms.
This is all very unique; an automaker is proudly saying that, unconstrained from legacy vehicle architectures, it looked into ancient technology instead of simply taking at face value that this old tech doesn’t belong anymore. All in the name of affordability.
A Totally Different Battery Pack With Improved Range
Those window cranks may come from Brazil, but the Slate truck is still expected to be built of 60 percent US/Canada content, with 12 percent from Mexico and the rest from other nations. The Slate truck’s battery pack, for example, has a capacity of 65 kWh gross, 63 kWh usable. Assembled in Illinois, the pack’s LFP cells are from Chinese supplier Gotion. This is a significant change from the 52 kWh NMC pack from South Korean manufacturer SK that Slate initially chose, reportedly in part to qualify for the now-dead federal tax credit.
Slate says it stepped the base battery pack up due to overwhelming demand for the upgraded battery. “[Looking at] online reservations, people were opting up,” President of Vehicles Chris Barman told me. The 52 kWh pack that Slate initially showed at its debut last year promised a 150 mile base range, while a 84.3kWh upgrade was to offer 240 miles on a single charge. Now there’s just that single 65 kWh option whose size — along with some aerodynamic and thermal tweaks to the Slate — has brought expected range up to 205 miles.
A Conventional Body With A Weird Suspension
Also on display was the Slate’s Body-In-White. Aside from emphasizing safety (Slate says a 5 STAR NHTSA rating and an IIHS Top Safety Pick were requirements), Slate wasn’t trying to convince anyone that the chassis was anything exotic. It’s all steel, it’s built using conventional methods, and the truth is, even Slate knows it’s not the most efficient design as it’s made up of 250 separate pieces welded together (with some adhesive, as well). “[It takes] a lot of investment to get a casting going,” a Slate engineer told me, saying it was challenging to find a casting company interested in working with a startup. This engineer implied to me that further optimizations could be a possibility in the future.
The stampings making up these 250 components come from multiple suppliers and are not made from any particularly surprising materials. There’s cold rolled steel for the outer parts and the floor; this provides a nice surface finish. There’s a dual phase advanced high strength Steel for the front crash structure. There’s hot stamped boron steel for beefing up the door ring that’s subjected to side crash tests, and the rest of the truck is high strength, low alloy steel, as it’s cheap and easy to stamp, giving flexibility to Slate’s stamping suppliers.
A few little things I noticed on the body: At the very rear of the bed are standoff brackets for mounting the back of the outer bedside panel. Those brackets feature floating cage nuts that allow for quite a bit of adjustment so a line worker can get the panel installed just right: 
Here’s a look at where the battery pack mounts to the body (Slate says it is not structural, though it acts as a shear plane). It’s a wide battery pack, but it is short because it has to mount behind the front subframe and ahead of the rear drive unit, which isn’t far behind the back of the cab:
Speaking of the drive unit, I’m fairly sure the second box from the bottom here is pointing to its front mounting brackets:
The other boxes are pointing to the mounts for the five-link DeDion Tube rear suspension. It’s a great setup for an EV, as our in-house suspension engineer Huibert Mees explained in his article. “A De Dion makes perfect sense for a low-cost truck-like EV,” he mentions in that piece. “It’s relatively cheap, easy to make and due to lower un-sprung mass, will work better than a live axle or e-beam.”
Here’s a peek at the drive unit and its mounts; notice that there is no rear subframe. There’s just the axle and the control arms, while the motor is held there in the center, mounted to the body at the locations shown above. The motor’s halfshafts reach between the control arms to the center of the rear wheel hubs. You’ll also notice an absence of a sway bar; Slate says it didn’t need one due to the combination of a low center of gravity and the DeDion tube’s naturally low roll center:
One question numerous journalists have asked is: Will there be an all-wheel drive option? Slate would not answer, but I slid under the truck to see if I could tell whether the company “package protected” for a front drive unit. And I think the answer is: probably. Check out the shape of the sway bar links:
There appears to be a clear path from the center of the front hubs inboard to the front subframe. Have a look at the open space just inboard of the front hub centers — there’s a nice look at the AC compressor, too: 
I don’t know that I see an obvious place to mount a drive unit, but I’d say an AWD variant seems possible.
Since we’re in the front, I’ll point out the 12-volt battery tray mounted to the front firewall/bulkhead. It looks like swapping the 12-volt battery is going to be an easy job for Slate owners, as there’s a removable cover in the frunk:
Also up front is the MacPherson strut suspension, which we may as well look at:
There are parts of that body-in-white that are obviously designed around the IIHS Small Overlap Rigid Barrier test — things like the front rail and that SORB enabler at the bottom rear of the wheel well:
It’s an 860 pound body-in-white, and its construction is not supposed to blow anyone’s mind. It’s supposed to be simple, affordable and fun. And that last point you can’t really test unless you actually drive the thing. So I did just that.
What’s It Like To Drive The Slate Truck
Slate gave me the chance to drive its truck around the company’s new design headquarters in southwest LA. Though the vehicle I drove was built in Slate’s Warsaw, Indiana factory (annual production capacity: 150,000), it was a Design Validation vehicle built using early tooling. This is worth mentioning because, even before entering the vehicle there were some obvious fitment/trim imperfections (for example, the fasteners holding on the front fenders were loose, one display vehicle had a center console that popped off with little more than a light push, some weather stripping was loose, etc). This is not at all unexpected for a development vehicle, especially one so early that it has cloth covering up the whole dash:
Showing me the loop and introducing me to her team’s pride-and-joy was President of Vehicles, Chris Barman. She encouraged me to hammer down the accelerator pedal and keep up speed through rough patches in the road. So that’s what I did.
After pulling down on the beautifully-executed column shifter that makes the most of the truck’s interior volume by not wasting useful space, I was off, and right away one thing became obvious: An electric car’s power-to-weight ratio just doesn’t mean the same thing as a gas car’s. I say this because my dad used to drive a 2010 Chevrolet Equinox; it weighed just under 4,000 pounds and its 2.4-liter inline-four made 182 horsepower. The base Slate truck weighs 4,048 pounds, and its single rear electric motor produces 181 horsepower. The Slate is not only quicker from 0-60 mph by at least a half a second, but it feels about 5 million times quicker around town, especially between about 30 mph and 60 mph. The Equinox feels like a dog, but the Slate feels legitimately eager to move — maybe not right off the line, as it does take a bit to get going, but certainly once you’ve gotten moving above about 20 MPH. The vehicle’s ~12:1 gearing helps make the most of that motor’s power output in town, which is the environment for which Slate optimized the truck’s performance.
You may wonder why the company didn’t just shove a more powerful electric motor in the truck given that the EV revolution has given the world cheap horsepower (seriously, you can buy a lightly used Tesla with 1000+ horsepower for 50 grand these days). Slate says it just wasn’t worth the expense. A higher power electric motor would take up valuable packaging space and cost more (in part because of the extra copper in the motor, and at a certain power level you’ll add cost beefing up the driveline). Based on my drive around LA, I feel Slate made a smart call, here, though I am curious if I’ll feel the same while hauling the truck’s 1,550 pound max payload or towing at its 2,000 pound limit.
Especially when in a densely populated city, it often takes me a little while to become acquainted with the vehicles I review, as I don’t know how they respond to inputs, I don’t know their dimensions, and I’m not used to their sightlines. I felt at home in the Slate almost right away, and that’s largely because of its compact size (it’s only 6 inches longer than a VW Golf!), its great forward and rearward visibility (though over-shoulder blind spot visibility isn’t amazing due to the thick B-pillar; smart use of the mirror helps here), and its responsiveness. Not to mention the tilting and telescoping steering wheel, the supportive seats, and the roomy cabin (if you’re over 6’2″, it might be worth sitting in the truck and assessing long-distance leg comfort, as there is a wheel hump), which together made the truck quickly feel like an old friend.
Helping aid in that comfort is the truck’s ride and handling. I won’t pretend that I took the thing through tight turns at triple-digit speeds; I’m not trying to get anyone killed, and these are public roads. So while I can only say that the handling seemed totally acceptable for around-town driving, I can say more about the truck’s ride; it seems really solid.
The course I drove the truck on was a true indictment of America’s infrastructure. One road specifically, MLK Jr. St., looked like the aftermath of a severe earthquake, with massive buckles, deep potholes, and cracks everywhere. A white sedan ahead of me had no clue what to do, slowing down and speeding up as it tried avoiding the minefield that was this public road.
The Slate didn’t care. That MacPherson strut front suspension, with its 8.25 inches of travel, and that wacky five-link DeDion tube coil sprung rear axle offering 8.7 inches of wheel travel both handled the course with confidence. The damping felt on point, never soft enough that I worried about bottoming out or feeling like I was in a boat, and never overly stiff to where I worried about my teeth falling out of my skull or about lifting a tire off the ground and potentially losing control. The truck’s standard Kenda tires remained planted on that terrible road, and it was clear to me that the thing is ready to take on all the crumbling asphalt America’s cities can throw at it.
Road noise felt reasonable to me, and I will admit I did break an occasional speed limit to get an idea of how well the truck kept wind noise out. The cab has a very upright profile, and while that helps give the truck its handsome styling, it also risks both efficiency and NVH. The A-pillar red spot on this CFD image illustrates the area I was most concerned about:
During the drive, I did hear some aero noise going about 55 mph. My test was short, and the road was one I hadn’t traveled before, so it’s hard for me to quantify anything, though wind noise does seem like something Slate is working on. After hearing me mention it, Chris Barman chimed in, saying, “You commented earlier on the wind noise. There’s still more refinement that we have to do to make sure that we get the dimensionals tuned in on the roof of the vehicle. So the next one you drive should sound better.”
When I was in the passenger’s seat, I asked about wind noise as well and how Slate balanced the upright profile with NVH. “We know that it is an EV, which means that when [ICE noise] goes away you can hear a lot of other things,” Barman replied. “The team has really been working on a very good balance of a Noise, Vibration and Harshness package…But there will be some noise that the vehicle has. It all comes down to a tradeoff of cost and benefit, and we’re going to work to find what we think is the best balance for our consumer.”
Steering was well assisted, and the 37-foot turning circle is tight. Regenerative braking is strong, slowing my truck down with vigor as soon as my right foot lifted off the accelerator. Strong regen is the only option; Slate does not plan to offer adjustability. I personally am all for it, as one-pedal driving is fun and efficient, though there’s something about Slate’s setup that needed to bake in the oven a bit longer.
When I touched the brake pedal lightly, there were times when the pedal just sucked itself down towards the floor; Slate tells me it’s still working on tuning the regen/friction brake blend, and that consumers should not expect the pedal to move on its own without driver input.
As I pulled the truck back into Slate’s headquarters, I couldn’t help but feel a bit surprised. Especially after seeing the Ford $30,000 EV prototype in the flesh, I had spent a lot of time thinking about the Slate’s vulnerabilities in the marketplace — the fact that it has two doors, the fact that it costs more than significantly better equipped cars, the fact that its range is relatively modest — and I had let this put a damper on a product that, in many ways, I think we should be celebrating.
It’s a simple pickup truck, and it’s reasonably cheap. Is it the cheapest? No. Is it the most practical for families? No. But what the Slate has going for it is this: It is, by far, the most soulful new vehicle an American consumer will be able to buy for $25,000. And it won’t even be close.
It’s All About Customization
I asked Chris Barman what it is about the Slate that she thinks will compel people to buy this truck over a competitor (I was alluding to the new Ford truck), and her response was quick: “I think the customization.”
It became clear during this media event that Slate knows it cannot succeed by simply marketing its vehicle as an inexpensive EV. The Slate has to be a cool car that just so happens to be an affordable electric vehicle. And though some of the truck’s coolness is a product of its size, its quickness, its ride, and of course its chunky, squared-off design, it’s the customization element that has the potential to really allow the Slate to stand out.
Just look at the three vehicles above. There’s a squared off SUV, a fastback SUV, and a truck, all with unique liveries. And yet, all three of those are built on the same Blank Slate. It’s one vehicle that can transform into three different models, and within each model the number of potential customizations is enormous.
For example, let’s talk about the wraps, which start around $500 for a full-body applications (accents can be had at $100, partial wraps start around $300, and custom graphics can reach up to $2000 — Slate says it’s working to ensure than, even if people don’t want to DIY it, they have an option to have a full wrap done for under $1000 all-in), and are expected to last between three and five years. Slate says it plans to offer over 100 wrap colors at launch, as well as the option to provide owners with infinite choices in the form of a custom color of their own:
Slate spent lots of time at this event talking about how it designed the vehicle to be wrapped, pointing to something called the “Coach Line,” which they say was specifically added to the vehicle’s side to split up the large panels so that people wouldn’t have to try to manipulate a large piece of vinyl, and could instead use two that meet at the seam molded into the plastic body panel (I’m not convinced this is the only reason for that seam, since this lines up perfectly with the clamshell hood’s edge). Slate also says it had to develop its own adhesive to make laying the wrap on the plastic body panels easy and durable:
Slate says it is creating something called “Slate University” to help people — via video and paper instructions — with DIY’ing not just wraps, but all of the brand’s over-175 accessories. Among those accessories is the SUV top, in standard and fastback form. Those will cost you $5000, so if you’re among the 60 percent of buyers whom Slate expects to opt for the SUV, you’ll be dropping at least $29,950.
The customization options for the Slate are immense. You can, for example, change your whole dashboard color for around $60. And if you want to change your whole interior color it’s around $500.
The personalization options for the vehicle’ interior include new seat covers (the stock covers are zip-offs):
The center console and door card colors can also be changed out:
And so can the rear side trim panels when in SUV mode:
The image below shows colorful round bezels for the window crank and HVAC dials, plus little trinkets for the dash vents, and what appears to be a door pocket.
In the center you can see radio faceplates in different colors, with a demo radio on the bottom left of the photo — the center speaker is $250, the outer speakers are $150 for the pair. On the right side are door panels and on the far right are center console lids, which are the exact same part as the door armrests — a clever bit of parts-sharing.
The steel wheels can be “wrapped” with nice, colorful vinyl donuts:
There are multiple grille options and turn signal/taillight bezel options:
Slate has even worked with Diode Dynamics to offer multiple turn signal patterns — something that seems fairly complex from a regulatory standpoint, though Slate says they were able to self-certify fairly easily:
On top of all this, Slate plans to open-source a lot of its designs to encourage new ideas from others, who can sell their products on something called the Slate Marketplace.
I Don’t Know If It Will Succeed, But I Do Know It’s Cool
It’s a two-door, regular cab pickup truck with crank windows and no radio. On paper, selling this thing could be challenging, but I don’t want to focus on predictions about the Slate’s marketplace success, I just want to tell you what I think about the truck. It is really cool.
It looks fantastic, it’s small on the outside and roomy enough on the inside. The power is perfect (at least when unladen), the suspension seems comfortable, and the customization options are absurd and fun.
It’s not perfect, and believe me, I have done all the value-comparisons one can imagine. Yes, a Chevy Trax costs about the same and has way more amenities. Entry-level Nissans and Hyundai economy cars are in a similar boat. And as far as EVs go, the Bolt offers a lot for only a few grand more. And maybe Ford will have something competitive for not much more. I can go on and on, but there’s one thing that seems almost certain:
At the end of this year when it hits the market, the Slate will be the most soul you can get in a new car — gas or electric — for $25,000. And that has to count for something.
Guys, if I want to assess the market viability of this thing, I’ll go to the WSJ. I’m at the Autopian, and this is a cool truck. Whether it sells is Bezos’s problem.
(By Guys, I mean commenters. David, you nailed it.)
Agree, but disagree. For me, I’m going to ask my wife. She’s not a car girl but she likes what she like. When she likes a car, it almost always seem to do well. Like she fell in love with the new Santa Fe because the tail lights look like dog bones. They seem to be selling really well.
She sees things that I don’t and she’s better at seeing trends than me.
Slate is getting on with making dog bone shaped taillights right away with this info on hand.
I thought jeep had the dog bones?
Many of the comments about this vehicle and the concerns people have seem to indicate, quite clearly, that many people here have never spent any time driving anything older than mid 90s at the oldest. They have never even experienced a vehicle this limited on tech (minus the obvious powertrain which is modern tech).
I’ve dailyed a 1960’s Buick with no heat. I also drove a 1991 Cavalier with no options for 5 years. I have no desire to do it again.
I do miss wing windows.
Isn’t that all the more reason that this thing won’t do well? I wish it the best, but if most are used to mid-90s + levels of tech, surely this will be a non starter?
I’m tired of having to tarp up the miata every time it rains. This should be a fun replacement with the bonus that it can haul bikes for me and my kid. Looking forward to the Jan-Mar delivery window!
There are 50k Mennonites in the US. I could see every single one of the buying one of these. But outside of them, I don’t normally see a demand for a vehicle that is so basic.
However, it comes down to every now and then a fad hits.
I’ve seen cars become fads. A combination of cute, easy to make it cool looking and yours trumps everything else. Remember the early 2000s when every parking lot had a New Beetle with flower stickers, a daisy in the vase next to the steering wheel and a Frog making the peace sign on the back? Or now, you can’t see a Jeep without rubber ducks all over the damn place.
I could 100% see a Slate getting stickerized. Like the Tape Stripe version I’ve see is perfect for a sticker on the back window saying “Mog’s Sex Wax”: The designed from the start customization has a good chance of hitting a nerve here.
D.T’s report about the vehicle having a Soul is a good sign. The cars that become and stay fads have a personality. Wranglers do not drive like a modern SUV, they are a throwback and have been a fad since they replaced the CJs. The VW New Beetle had a bit of a personality and harkened back to the old Beetles that had movies and cartoons about their personalities.
If Slate hits a nerve and this thing becomes a fad, I think they will do well. If they don’t…. I don’t know if $25k is the cheap enough to be attractive to anyone that doesn’t reject zippers as being too fancy.
I hope it does hit a nerve and becomes a hit. I’m a cheap bastard and wouldn’t mind getting a 5 year old one with a faded wrap on the cheap.
Rode in a friend’s about 8 year old Wrangler the other day and was surprised by how crude it was, not just in finish but ride and NVH were terrible, so I think you make a good point, as a shocking number of non off-roader people seem to buy them.
(Also wtf is up with the ducks on the dash?)
Some cars are “honest”. You refine a vehicle too much and it becomes bland and lacking in personality. Then the car doesn’t get named.
Growing up, every car had a name. We had Grabby, The Green Monster, The Yacht, the Dink, Goldie, Gramma, Old Blue, the Doorstop and others that I can’t remember.
Today people don’t name their cars. There just isn’t enough personality to them. Other than Jeeps (a coworker’s is Hello Kitty BTW).
D.T. has enough experience with older vehicles that had personalities that he would know if the Slate has one. To me, this is glowing praise and I could see someone spending the time and money make sure the world knows that Mr. Slate, or Sam Slate or Bruce or Eggbert or whatever is different than any other vehicle on the road.
My Delmonico Red 2019 Ram 1500 is named ” Tinto .”
Yeh to be clear I agree with you that too many modern cars lack personality so I do respect that the Wrangler has stayed so authentically unique. That being said not sure that the near constant movement of the suspension when doing anything besides cruising on smooth pavement in a straight lines is adding character or just poor suspension design. I have owned 2 XJ Cherokees in my past and I don’t remember either of them being so unpleasantly boat-y. I was getting car sick just riding down the road. Which I might dismiss as worn shocks in my friend’s Jeep, but my wife had a similar experience when she got “upgraded” to a Wrangler at the rental counter recently. I’ve also owned a couple of ’70s Blazers with lifts and mud tires back when I was off-roading so I’ve had experience with some pretty crude vehicles.
Fwiw, a friend of my wife’s just bought a new 4runner and named it Tina so I don’t know if everyone has stopped. And I think the Slate is quite cool, I asked my wife half seriously the other night how she’d feel about replacing one of our cars with one, I’m hoping it’s successful not least bc it may prove to the rest of the auto industry that the endless feature bloat “improvement” cycle they seem to be stuck in is not always needed to sell cars.
Oh, a LOT of older cars with Personality could have been nicknamed “Christine”. My first car’s personality was a socially awkward teenager with ADHD that would decide to wander off, pout and shutdown randomly. The removal of bad personalities has been good, but we also lost the cheerful personalities as well.
For sure, my Christine was a total pile of a poorly maintained ’76 Blazer that was so scary to drive at highway speeds I remember having a stress dream or two that manifested as me constantly fighting to keep it on a narrow two lane road.
I could see “
SaltSlate Life” stickers taking off.Some Amish use powered vehicles that fit their parameters.
A battery car for those already using solar might be a solid market.
Basic function as a win in their case.
There are subsects of the Amish. Many of these subsects accept and use 21st century technology. Which is how you find Amish markets on the interstate that take credit cards. The thing is that when you say Amish, people automatically go to the subsect that is living like its 1826 and not 2026.
The Mennonites are a completely different sect of Christianity with a completely different history. They just happened to end up being very similar to the subsects of the Amish that accept 21st technology in behavior.
30+ years ago, Mennonites were easy to spot. Back then, even the stripper versions of cars had shiny bits. I had a computer science professor that drove a mid-70s Nova where she had painted the poverty caps black. Inside, the blank off panel for the radio was also painted black. This was because she was a Mennonite. Yet, she got her PhD in Computer Science back in the 70s, so she obviously didn’t reject new technology.
Today, with cars not having the chrome bits, spotting a Mennonite would be much harder. I saw a Prius recently where it had black hubcaps on top of the original alloy wheels. This could be a Mennonite, or just someone with no taste and access to a local Pep Boys.
I have thought for a long time that something like this needed to be made! ICE or EV. I value simple and minimalist.
It is a modern soulmate to my ‘53 Dodge and ‘51 Chevy pickups! I’ve owned a Beetle, an ‘81 Toyota pickup a Vanagon and other basic cars. I’d probably not add anything to the base unit. Who needs luxury?
I’ve found its much easier to be happy and satisfied when you consider “convenience” to be a luxury (like power windows for example).
I see a first-gen 4Runner, with a backseat facing into the open front cabin, here. And that would be super cool.
Is it Comma AI compatible? Having an ace of base truck with an excellent ADAS would be nice. And heated seats? Can those be done? That’s an excellent way to mitigate the range hit in winter. And a heat pump option?
I’d need a cold weather package of heated seats, possibly a heated steering wheel and remote start (key fob is fine) plus AWD to seriously consider one. The towing and DCFC speed is fine for the US market. It’ll get eaten alive in Canada when BYD brings over a pickup with flash charging.
The seat covers zip-off and there are aftermarket seat heaters. That is probably the best bet.
No heat pump is a bummer. I don’t think you can option it, but they will probably switch production to heat pump in later model years.
I missed the part about zip-off seat covers. That will make heated seats easy.
I reserved one of these on the first day. Will I buy it? Maybe.
I think this vehicle makes more sense two years from now. Why? Ford will have made its $30,000 EV $40,000 by then.
Remember how you could get an F-150 Lightning “Pro” base model for $39,950? That seems like a steal comparatively.
I love the customization options. The design is neat. The whole thing is just… NEAT. I would want a 4WD SUV one with the lift kit for about $30k, and it looks like at $30k you still have crank windows and no other options than the SUV back.
I was all weirded out by having to log back in, with aqua text on black background Autopian there for a minute. I’m sure someone explained why this was necessary elsewhere. I’m off to work (volunteer work/no paycheck) so I’ll look forward to David’s review when I get back. 🙂
I do agree with M SV and those that feel this could have been a truly transformational product IF its actual base cost to buyers was at the $20K mark that was originally touted when tax credits were still in place.
At $25K, it’s very interesting, but it’s so minimalist that plenty of non-car-folks will rule it out when they look at what the same money buys new or used. At $20K, I think a much wider pool of people would get excited about it: EV enthusiasts and car nuts to be sure, but also regular people and the generally thrifty. $20K would undercut the cheapest new car in America (the Hyundai Venue, which is really not a bad car at all if you’re not put off by how it looks) by $2-3K, which by itself, would generate a LOT of mainstream press (aside from being an American product).
Still, I wish Slate the best, regardless of what I think about Jeff Bezos.
PS: I happened to watch the Car Care Nut on Youtube review a Hyundai Venue last night and it was very interesting (he does great work) so here it is if you’re curious: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jjZGJ9U_LVo The Venue seems better put-together than some more costly Hyundai/Kia products, and it also seems like it would be a better long-term ownership experience than the two now-deceased ‘cheapest new cars’ that came before it: the Versa and Mirage.
Such a shame that the Venue only comes with a CVT now… when it was released, you could choose between a traditional autobox and a decent manual (I test drove both… the manual was almost actually fun).
So, I’m hauling and towing w/ an F250 XL fleet truck right now because it hits my needs, and the bare necessities of it have really grown on me. Same w/ this Slate, I could see, especially when my towing needs scale down, going with something as basic but functionally fun as the Slate.
I hope they can produce enough to get the cost down more. I think it’s the right product at the right time. Truck customization is very popular then add in fleet trucks that almost all have some kind of upfitting. Plus mini truck and ev. EVs at least used cheaper ones seem back. LFP also a huge plus. It’s almost Scandinavian you get the current tech just not in your face. Almost more Scandinavian in design then Volvo.
Scandi design is good design!
Now I’m hoping they succeed and their next model is a full on station wagon
Suddenly it’s 1965!
Kudos to Slate for looking backwards to find some well-proven solutions to common problems. This reminds me of the long, long ago when basic cars were exceptionally basic. Optional radio with single dash speaker? Crank windows? Check.
Part of the Mustang’s popularity at launch sixty years ago was that it was a cheap stylish car with a long, long list of customizations and upgrades.
We’ll soon see if the American car-buying public is still interested in that model.
I think this is cool as heck –
Some of the excess customization stuff is a bit silly – but the basics are right on target.
I’d rather be seen in one of these than a Ford Family Fordoor.
I’d take mine in for a basic Maaco enamel paint job (Baby Blue? Aqua?) paint the bumpers and grille white, the steelies red and put on some baby moon hubcaps & white-letter tires, get one of those brown lace-on perforated vinyl steering wheel wraps like Dad used to put in his cars & trucks, wrap the seats with some colorful Mexican blankets held in place w/ bungees, throw in a set of Coco Mats, and hang a bluetooth speaker on the dash which I can stream music and nav sounds to.
A dashboard Hula Guy will be 100% necessary too.
You probably can’t paint it.
I’m not sure what the body panels are made from, but it’s probably plastic like a kayak would be molded from. Paint will not stick to that.
The body panels are Polypropylene.
There are primers for that – Rustoleum makes them, as well as paints for such plastics.
I wouldn’t bet on it holding up to highway use.
We had a product molded in polypropylene that someone wanted to use in a glue-down installation. We couldn’t find a glue that would stick. We eventually just molded the mounting part out of ABS for that customer.
I love these, and I hope there’s some kind of bolt-on extension to the bed floor and sides some day. Looks like you could add 1-2′ and it would have the same axle placement as a typical small pickup.
As a devotee of the late, lamented minitruck, it’s really interesting to see what it takes to make one that survives modern crash standards. And apparently, it takes ~1000# of extra structure since that’s how much it weighs over a Nissan D21. (Assuming battery + motor weigh roughly the same as fuel tank + transmission + engine.)
I’ve been vocal about my disappointment with the lack of Slate coverage over the past year. You guys have blown it away the last two weeks, and this article is a beautiful cherry on top. Sorry for being a dick and doubting you guys, I shouldn’t have!
Logging in and plunking down my 250.
Edit: I thought i was locked in the initial deposit pretty quickly and I am slotted for april-july 2027
Not focusing On Cutting-Edge Technology and unnecessary bells and whistles? A focus on Fun???
Based on the CUVs the masses buy, it’s clear they don’t care about fun and do care about unnecessary bells and whistles.
Not to mention so many people buying way more truck/vehicle they need “just in case they MIGHT need it”… or they need the capability once or twice per year
So I think the big area of success for this truck will be fleets.
Fleet managers are far more practical and pragmatic than the typical consumer. They’ll look at that cheap purchase price, look at the low TCO and I’m guessing this will become a favourite vehicle for fleets.
But honestly I hope I’m wrong and this gets much wider appeal.
Perfect fleet vehicle and I hope it gets a lot of fleet takeup so I can buy a well cared-for used one in 10 years.
There’s a fun near-future sci-fi novella called “Glasslands” (serialized on Bluesky) that features an old used Slate truck later on and while I don’t want that particular future, I’d love to see one that has old Slates kicking around like old Rangers and Nissans do now.
Yeah, I’m wondering if a pallet would fit in the bed. This would be a perfect delivery vehicle for our company…
It does look like a pallet would fit, hot dog!
Fleet managers are practical, which is why they’re not likely to trust a brand new product from an unknown automaker.
Down the line, maybe.
I can see them getting in a few test units and not betting the farm on them until they’re proven.
To give you an analogy… The Toronto Transit Commission started with electric buses with a small 60-bus test fleet (out of a fleet of over 2100 buses) split between three different manufacturers… NewFlyer, Proterra and BYD.
After a few years of testing, they concluded the BYD was an unreliable POS, Proterra went bankrupt and NewFlyer was ‘the most reliable of the three… but there was room for improvement’.
And from that test fleet, they learned what was needed… such as changing their approach to charging… mandating that all future electric buses would use a safer high voltage overhead charging system and equipping them with a diesel-powered auxiliary heater to fix range issues in really cold weather.
So they’ve subsequently ordered 340 more electric buses that are in use now. And none of those new buses are from Proterra or BYD. It’s split between NewFlyer and Nova Bus.
It is cool, but I’m struggling to see why anyone would buy one of these over a Ford Maverick or Ford’s upcoming EV truck. A base model Slate has the amenities of a fancy golf cart. The Ford vehicles will be “real” trucks for not much more money.
Also, if you play around with the configurator on Slate’s website, it isn’t hard to turn one of these into a $35k SUV. I’m sure I could turn that into a $40k vehicle with some effort. This is weird to say about a vehicle that starts at $25k in 2026, but I think it is actually overpriced.
I just configured a fastback SUV with upgraded bumpers, upgraded lights, roof rack, speakers, foglights, spare tire mount, 17″ alloy wheels, center console, floor liners, and a fancy wrap. Sure enough, you can hit $40k. And there were a few interior color options yet to be priced and a few priced options I ignored (like telematics and interior accessory rails), so you can get a little higher yet.
Edit: went back and added the running boards, other lighting options and wheel decals. $42k
You still are missing the entire point of this truck. It will have some of the highest reliability of any car. Some people value that more. Ever actually seen how unreliable the maverick is? Its a piece of s***.
It will have some of the highest reliability of any car.
What are you basing this on? Why are you assuming a new vehicle from a startup tech company will be extremely reliable?
Ever actually seen how unreliable the maverick is?
Still more reliable than most vehicles built twenty years ago? Ford products have had a lot of recalls, but they usually don’t end up with the vehicle sitting on the side of the road. Plus, the Maverick is still massively popular despite its quality issues.
You still are missing the entire point of this truck.
Enlighten me, then. I also appear to be missing the entire point of your comment.
The company I used to work at ordered like 12 mavericks for fleet vehicles and they were really really bad. Nearly everyone of them went into the shop 2+ times in the first year. I wouldnt touch one.
According to CR the Maverick stands as average to above-average reliability. And since the Ford F-150 is actually as reliable as most Toyotas or even better than the new Tundra, I would put my money on the upcoming Ford EV truck.
I would were I to purchase a new vehicle. I have not once looked at either vehicle you mention and been interested. I would rather just do an engine swap on an 80s Nissan truck for a little more power, and drive that than either of the vehicles you mention. But Slate carries a similar appear to me as the 80s Nissan Trucks I love. I do not argue it is truly a large market, but to pretend there isn’t a set of people who don’t prefer simplicity and tech reduction would a mistake.
I don’t doubt there are people who genuinely prefer simplicity. I think that number is very small, though. I also think a lot of people think they prefer simplicity, but their true preferences are revealed when they buy a normal, feature-laden care like everyone else. I think there could be a lot of buyer’s remorse among Slate purchasers.
Your comment on people thinking they prefer simplicity is a strong one. There will definitely be a group of people in that pool. I agree that the simplicity pool is relatively small. But I feel it is growing alongside growing tech fatigue, and issues like to right to repair being a “safety issue” according to Ford. Is it growing enough? That is to be seen, for sure.
I agree tech fatigue is real and increasing, but I’m not sure that will translate into sales for vehicles as basic as the Slate.
For me, I am not interested in most tech features found on new cars, but I’m also not interested in buying a car without AC, a stereo with blue tooth, and cruise control. I would also be reluctant to buy a car without power door locks and, at least for four door vehicles, power windows. I suspect there are probably a lot of people like me who prefer “basic” vehicles in the sense of a modern base-model vehicle.
Frankly, I think a lot of buyers in 2026 are going to be confused by the base-model Slate. Those of us who like older cars (I own a ’70s pickup and two Beetles) might have an idea of what they are getting with a base model Slate, but if you’ve grown up with a “basic” vehicle being a 2000s Civic, the lack of features is going to be jarring.
I don’t find it weird at all to say the Slate is overpriced. It was launched at $20K and now is $25K.
“It is cool, but I’m struggling to see why anyone would buy one of these over a Ford Maverick or Ford’s upcoming EV truck”
It would be for those who not only want something cheap to buy, but also cheap to operate.
And even the cheapest Maverick costs more than the Slate… and will have a much higher TCO and higher maintenance requirements given how the base Maverick is just a regular 2L turbo engined truck.
And I seriously doubt Ford’s upcoming EV truck will be anywhere close to being $25K when it comes out.
I agree Ford’s EV is unlikely to sell for anywhere near $25k, but I also doubt many consumers will be interested in the Slates available for $25k. I suspect the out the door price will be similar for a Slate and the upcoming Ford EV for most buyers.
Also, I suspect Slate resale values will be poor. The same might end up true for the upcoming Ford EV, but Maverick depreciation has been better than average.
I think Slate might be making a mistake by leaning into the $25k number. What customers expect and what they will get are going to be very different things in many cases. I expect buyer’s remorse to be very high with the Slate, although I will acknowledge it is a great choice for the right use case.
“Also, I suspect Slate resale values will be poor. “
As someone who likes to buy cheap used vehicles, I look forward to this!
Yay, power locks standard! First I’m hearing this (somehow). I vastly value that doodad over power windows. Particularly on a narrow vehicle like this, where it’d be no big deal to reach over to the passenger side to work that crank.
Yeah but if you can reach over to operate the window you can do the same thing for the locks. Note if you want a remote to open those power locks it is optional at a yet to be disclosed price.
True. But even without a remote door lock, just having that button on the door (?) is convenience enough for me.
Thanks for the review. Now I’m even more interested in one of these.
HAHAHAHA VINDICATION FOR CRANK WINDOWS
smashed that preorder button SO hard and opted for early delivery if I can get it.
I am the ideal buyer for this truck and I am going to flog it at every C&C I can find within 70 miles for MONTHS
NO SCREENS
NO BACKSEATS
NO PROBLEMS
“smashed that preorder button SO hard and opted for early delivery if I can get it.”
And now I’m guessing you need a new keyboard or mouse as well? LOL
Yes I broke all of my peripherals pressing the order button in my exuberance
Unfortunately, this brings visions of a lot of ratty looking vehicles three years down the road, comparable to a 20-year rusty 70’s car.
Or just take it to Maaco for a basic paint job at the same cost – and get that sweet, sweet old-truck patina that takes decades to achieve in just a few years.
I think a patina wrap would be the best of both worlds here!
Brilliant. Get the look of a $500,000 restomod for only $1000!
And damn, now I’m thinking about a McClaren with a rust-out wrap on it and it’s hilarious. And can you imagine conniptions Farri would go into if you did it to one of theirs‽
The good part is that you can refresh the exterior, even changing the color, for $500 if you can wrap it yourself.
Wouldn’t that apply to any car?
It’s hilarious hearing people whine about it being base with no options.
I have to admit that the wraps ended up significantly cheaper than I expected. I’m disappointed that there are still a few small options that aren’t priced, like the accent colors for the knobs, and I don’t like that the L/R speakers require the center speaker and the dash panels.
I’m tempted, though. At this price, I could reasonably use this as my commuter and for pickup things, then get something used for road trips. Would like a longer range for my occasional road trip, but I’m not sure this is the vehicle I want to drive on those, anyway.
I’m still hoping for the Telo to come to market and deliver on most/all of their promises, though. That would be a viable contender as a sole vehicle.
The wraps are just the vinyl pieces. Installation could easily exceed the cost of the vinyl.
With the claim of $1000 for wraps installed, I am betting Slate is working to establish a network of installers willing to apply the vinyl for a set $500 price.
To me that $500 installation cost seems way too low when they claim a DIYer should expect it to take 10-12 hrs with 2 people. Sure professionals can probably cut that time way down, and you probably only need 2 people for a couple of the pieces, like the hood, but I’m struggling to see how they could do it quick enough to make it profitable at $500.
Here, that $500 would be a huge discount.
If there’s a vinyl shop that has some down time between jobs it may be worth it rather than paying the guys to scrub the floor in the shop.
I’ve never done vinyl, but with a $500 pre-cut kit I’ll give it a shot myself at home.
I think a lot of Autopians would give it a shot, I know I would, the general public on the other hand….
I was just playing with the configurator and it doesn’t look half bad with just a wrap on the top and bare below the beltline. I’d have to see it in person, though.
“I’d have to see it in person, though.”
That is my problem too. Give me one each of 6 colors and I’ll pick one, but give me 5 or more or each and I am going to need to see them in person to make my choice.
That said I do like the retro graphic and could see doing that and some of the accent pieces in corresponding colors on an otherwise bare truck.
Assuming I can figure out putting stickers on plastic (I hopefully will not publicly admit it if I fail), I could change the entire look of the vehicle over a weekend for a few hundred dollars.
It’s not like I’d be modifying this for performance, and I can do two complete ‘paint jobs’ for the price of a decent Miata exhaust.
The way I figure it.
#1. With this many combinations they have to be planning on cutting them to order.
#2. Collisions happen
So you should be able to order an individual piece.
If it goes horribly wrong on that first piece and you decide it just isn’t for you, order another piece and find a pro.
If it is OK, but you know you can do better, move on and later you can replace that first piece if you decide it isn’t good enough.
If you want a cheap SUV, there are dozens of better options. If you want a small 2-door pickup, that’s where the competition gets slim. I still want one of these, but there’s something just barely tipping it to the no-buy zone. Not sure if it’s the lack of options or a couple thousand off the base price. I am at least on-the-fence until I see more reviews.
I feel like the range is perfect for this truck, though. I can’t imagine wanting to spend more than 3 or 4 hours straight in this small cab anyway.
$30,000 and I can get a single cab electric truck with a solar paneled tonneau cover, in red?!
What’s the pro to any other EV? Range I don’t need? Seats I don’t need?
This thing gets cooler the more it gets posted and details come out!
Buy one quick.
I will if I can figure out the financials lmao