As gearheads, I think we all appreciate the concept of looking under the hood. One of our readers does, too, except he likes looking under the hood of websites. Websites for, say, small EV pickup trucks that everyone desperately wants to know the price of . Yes, I’m talking about Slate, and yes, if you look under the hood of the company’s website, it appears that the price of the entry-level truck has been leaked.
I’m not entirely sure if “leaked” is the right word here; it’s in the source code to the web page on Slate Auto’s site titled How To Preorder, and the pricing information in the source code was spotted by a pleasingly nosy Autopian named Dave.
It’s clear that, based on the 236 comments on our article ‘How Cheap Does The Slate Truck Have To Be To Be Competitive?“ the world has opinions on what the “budget” EV truck should cost given its lack of options and two-door configuration, and up until now Slate has kept that a secret, with an event announcing price coming up next week. The secret appears broken thanks to the strange decision of a web developer who included this comment in the page’s code (emphasis mine):
“26102SLATE_EXPLODED-HERO_v013_1400x800.mp4\”,\”contentType\”:\”video/mp4\”}}}]}},\”headline\”:\”THE MOST AFFORDABLE NEW \\\\nPICKUP TRUCK IN AMERICA.*\”,\”body\”:\”The Slate Truck has all the essentials for the CONFIDENTIAL price of $24,950 (reminder: we’re all still under NDA and prohibited from sharing this).**\”,\”cta\”:{\”metadata\”:
This is all in the metadata, so it would not normally be seen by a casual web browser, which makes me wonder if this is considered a “leak” or not. I think it’s more just a very questionable decision by the coder to include it, or, possibly, a deliberate plant by Slate themselves to drum up excitement? I mean, who is that “reminder” for, exactly?
If so, it did work, as I am excited. Both from the lurid thrill of potentially finding something that should have been hidden, and the price itself, which is pretty damn good. Is it enough to be a viable competitor with Ford’s upcoming $30,000 EV pickup? Maybe?
Further evidence that $24,950 seems to be the actual price is that there was yet another apparent web-related mishap when a now-deleted page on Slate’s site listed the price. This page, now deleted, was sent in to us via a different tipster:
I think if Slate wasn’t planning on $24,950, they pretty much are stuck with it now. Good!
[Editor’s Note: Back before the Slate truck debuted, an anonymous source told me the truck was sitting on the side of the street in Venice, CA. The result? We were the first car website to show up-close photos of the truck prior to the reveal. This guerrilla marketing was just the beginning of Slate’s rather unique marketing strategy, and I do wonder if this “mistake” is part of their plan. It seems a bit obvious, and it aligns with their marketing team’s whole vibe. Still, why show a decoy price that seems pretty decent? –DT]
Remind Me What The Slate Truck Is, Again?
I suppose there’s those of you out there with lives so rich and full and fulfilling that you don’t fixate on the low-end electric truck market. If that’s the case, you may not be aware of what Slate is, exactly. Let’s take care of that now.
Slate is a company that operates by burning money from Jeff Bezos and converting that into an organization focused on creating a small, bare-bones, highly customizable electric pickup truck. It’s deliberately simple and basic, which is something I personally like a great deal. Some buyers, though, may find the idea of an unpainted (they offer wraps for color) single cab pickup truck with manual, crank-operated windows just a little too austere. I mean, look at this dash:
Of course, you can add in a stereo and center screen and all that, but you don’t have to. If you want a minimalistic tool of a truck, here you go.
Specs-wise, the Slate says the truck will have a rear-mounted 201 horsepower electric motor, a 52.7 kWh battery pack that combines with the vehicle’s light 3,600-pound curb weight and small overall dimensions to yield a range target of about 150 miles.
As for charging, there’s DC “Level 3” charging with speeds up to 120 kW (using the Tesla “NACS” plug), promising 20% to 80% state-of-charge in under half an hour. At-home charging is limited to 3.6kW with a regular “Level 1” plug (11 hours to charge 20-100%) or 11kW with Level 2 (under five hours from 20-100%). There is also an optional 84.3 kWh battery pack that Slate says will offer a targeted 240 miles of range, though, unlike other accessories, this is something an upfitter would have to install if a customer wanted a range upgrade.
As for dimensions and capacities, the 3,602-pound vehicle is rated to tow 1,000 pounds and to carry a payload of up to 1,433 pounds. It’ll do 0-60 mph in around 8 seconds, get up to a maximum speed of 90 mph, and carry up to 37 cubic feet of cargo in its bed (34 behind the front seats of the SUV). There’s also a frunk at the nose that holds 7 cubic feet.
It seems like a pretty useful vehicle, and there are plans to be able to outfit the basic truck design to become a two-door SUV with a roof cap and bulkhead delete. Will people be interested in a single-cab truck still? Will it find success as a fleet vehicle? Is 150 miles of range enough for most people? Will the official number be more? I guess we’ll find out.
Is It Cheap Enough?
Last week The Autopian published the world’s first spy photos of Ford’s $30,000 EV pickup, and this got everyone wondering: What about Slate, the Jeff Bezos-funded EV startup that hopes to revolutionize the EV world with a back-to-basics truck with crank windows and an optional radio? The Ford is expected to be well-equipped with things like power windows, an infotainment system, and — crucially — four doors. If the Ford is $30 grand, then how deep into the “mid $20s” price that Slate promised does the two-door startup truck need to be?
Does it even matter? Is the Slate actually competing with the Ford given that one is a two-door and one is a four-door? Or are they both vying for a different customer base? How much volume is Slate gunning for? It seems it’s set up to crank out 150,000 vehicles a year, but is that even possible with any two-door vehicle these days, much less one that is just $5 grand cheaper than a four-door that may have more range?
The truth is, we won’t know until we learn more about both the production Slate and Ford’s Universal EV truck. All I know is that we’ve got two automakers playing ball in the economical EV space, and, no matter how you slice that, that’s worth celebrating.
We’ve reached out to Slate PR but haven’t received a comment yet.
Yeah, that wasn’t an accident.
Part of me wonders if this is an attempt to get LLMs scraping the website to pick up on it and “leak” the info for them.
I still can’t picture the actual size of this thing. It looks about as big as a Golf in the renders, but I know it cant be as its a pick up.
The target ranges are pretty bad considering the battery sizes. It mustn’t have very good aerodynamics.
No offense, but just look at it for your answer.
I suspect it’s the ute body rather than the boxy front end (you can can still get fairly good energy consumption with boxy cars, e.g. Jaecoo J5 EV). I wonder if they should have aimed for a SUV body style first to broaden its appeal through better range figures – though perhaps that would have driven up cost.
I want to see a start-up that does something similar but with a gas motor and 4 doors (or at least small suicide doors). Make a truly cheap trucklet obsessed with efficiency with just enough creature comforts to get the asses in seats. And don’t go on about the Maverick. At $29k starting, that thing has lost its luster. If Slate can actually deliver on $25k for a truck with battery, someone can deliver a gas-powered option at $20k if they really tried. I know it’s a stretch, but I can dream..
It’s fun, quirky, too expensive, and not useful. It’s a disposable appliance and is DOA. I will revisit this comment often to see how long it takes for Slate to disappear, but I’ll say .. 18 months from today.
I definitely understand nerding out about these kinds of finds…. but wasn’t this always promised as a cheap EV? They had implied $20k after the credit, so starting around $25k simply seems like they’re trying to remain where they said they would.
Yea but without the credit what are they supposed to do? It’s gone.
So, how long before Torch ran out and started hiding manifestos in the Autopian’s source code?
I don’t get the nostalgic love for two door trucks. Sure I can put stuff in the large frunk, but where is my pup going to go?
The main reason I don’t want any 2 door vehicle. My puppers likes her own window(s) to look out of and sniff for squirrels. She cant ride up front, she needs to stay in back on the dog liner to keep all the dust, dirt, and hair in some semblance of control
Still waiting for my Elio…
I keep the aptera preorder in the drawer right next to the elio one.
Jason there is no way that “with a regular ‘Level 1’ plug (11 hours to charge 20-100%)” is true. I’ve seen this on other car websites so I assume it’s from Slate. Level 1 is a typical 3 prong wall outlet. Best case 12 amps x 120 volts is 1.4 kW (more realistically 1 kW with losses). To charge a 52.7 kWh battery from 20-100% would require over 40 kWh, which would take OVER 40 HOURS on level 1. 11 hours implies easy overnight charging with no special equipment. 40 hours means you’d better have access to a level 2 charger.
You can charge many EVs at 16A on 120. On the Bolt you have to verify that you’re on a 20A circuit. Still would take 22hrs from 20-100%
I charge my Ioniq 5 from a standard 3-prong outlet. I don’t know the charging rate in kWh, but it seems to gain about 5 miles of range for every hour plugged in.
It’s my wife’s commuter, but she works from home Thursday and Friday. It is close to keeping up with m-f usage (in summer), and any deficit is cleared by Thursday night.
I don’t know if it will make an EV will charge faster. But you can install a 30 amp 120 volt outdoor receptacle with 8/2 wire and a 30 amp breaker very inexpensively. Probably $200-300 in materials.
The claim is just plain wrong. That’s at 3.6KW, but level 1 by definition tops out at 1.8KW (and realistically a lot of cars won’t do above 1.44KW).
It’s possible they’re support something that’s not technically level 1 or level 2, 30A@120V out of something like an RV 30TT plug, but that’s a pretty small niche. Especially since the majority of 30TT plugs these days have a 50A@120V plug right next to them.
I like the concept. I think it’s $5k too high. I also like the idea of 4 seat removable top configuration. I’d probably go $25k for that one.
In an ideal world yes. I do wonder if they can make it with the SUV package for like 28,000 that would be close enough for many buyers.
The crank window fetish is bizarre. It’s a hair shirt that also annoys other people.
Power windows have been standard and made by the hundreds of millions. They just work.
What’s the purpose of using a less convenient mechanism to operate something that’s mostly used for convenience and comfort? If you really enjoy suffering, seal the window altogether. Real men* don’t need air.
* using “men” here because I’ve never met or spoken with a woman who wants crank windows. It seems to be a man-of-a-certain-age affliction.
I’m actually curious if it saves them any money or if it was really designed to have an option 90% of people would order to make them money. At this point small DC motors are insanely cheap, and the doors are prewired for them so I don’t think the savings can be that good.
If i recall correctly, about 10ish years ago (maybe more), Toyota offered a basic package on the Tundra. I think it was manual locks and windows. The price reduction was really minimal, like $200 on a $35000 truck. I bet the take rate was near zero.
I think it’s just to be different. Also, this is probably one of the few trucks in the US where you could reach across from the driver’s seat and roll down the passenger window.
Eh look man the power window on my xlt super duty are often out. Either a short in the wiring or too much water in the switch over the years. My xl is 2 years older the cranks work perfectly and instead of twelve screws and a plastic tab that breaks to inspect the motor, it has three screws to get to the point I can grease the mechanism and replace the regulator. Neither truck has working ac anymore so the xl gets driven in the summer since the crank windows just work. No questions asked. That’s the thing about these newer vehicles. I couldn’t get a window switch for my Saab 95 during Covid for under $1750. I made it through 2022 by soldering new contacts on the pads but I’m embarrassed to say that even with a perfect rust free body I parted it out in 2023. Try to buy a touchscreen for a 2014 flex and get back to me. That’s the allure of the crank windows.
Meanwhile I’ve never had to replace a regulator or window switch in decades of owning VWs of all things. They’ve all just worked…..Now where is that piece of wood I need to knock on.
Yes, VW’s windows are solid and just work, same with Mercedes, but if we look at another german car, let’s say BMW..
Sounds like a Ford thing more than a power window thing ????
I agree 100%. That said, when my kids are old enough to drive they’re gonna learn on a car with a manual transmission and crank windows. But there will only be one crank and you have to pass it back and forth. In the winter, we ride with the windows all the way down, heat and hair bands blasting, and no I certainly will not hand you the window crank, because you’re not a pussy now are you?
Jason, I thought the Jeffy B team got out of Slate back in May?
I would love to be proven wrong here, but expecting 150k units for this vehicle is pure fantasy, frankly at any price. The market for a Slate type vehicle isn’t that large even at a way more competitive price.
And at $25k, it’s pure cope to expect sales to anyone other than hyper-specialized users and the half dozen people who won’t mind crank windows (all of whom are in The Autopian comments).
We don’t accurately represent the wider car buying public. And even here, there’s deep skepticism among a group that should be Slate’s biggest promoters. I don’t see this going well at all.
I have to agree. It seems like a fun first model, but I think the 2-door thing limits its appeal to maybe 25-50k sales a year in the US. Like I would have a use for it and I know others will buy it. But I don’t think any 2 door vehicle on sale in the US right now breaks 50k units a year. Really they should be planning a 4 door version with AWD for within 2 years to make it work. And I mean I would use the same width and same parts and stretch the wheel base to make a 4 door truck with the same concepts. The concept of basic but with easy upgrades, I think may be a winner.
I think you are spot-on here. There is no way on God’s green earth they will find enough weirdos to sell over 30,000 of these.
By the time you add sales tax you’re over $26,000. It just crossed the line.
Depends on where you live. SC caps sales tax at $500 on vehicles. Bought a new C8 with MSRP pushing six figures, $500 sales tax.
all states should do this
How many millions of people get fleeced out of their minds because the massaging seats option is “only $10/month”?
We in this echo chamber are not normal car buyers. This is far too expensive for what’s essentially a road-legal golf cart.
Slate =/= golf cart.
It’s cheaper than a road ready Polaris Ranger which may be a better comparison?
Meanwhile David’s out there on the west coast wishing CryShare was a real service…
Too true.
You do realize the press reveal’s probably going to be in SoCal so you’ll have to bring Delmar (or a stand-in stuffy) and a car seat along to do a Will it Baby?
Ok so I haven’t read all of the comments yet but the first time around I didn’t see any mention of the build page’s options that include “Doors? No Thanks” That really has me wondering if that is how they managed to make that under $25k price point without worrying that they will sell more than a handful at that price. Sure it could be a credit option…. I guess we will have to wait and see.
Here’s a question for all.
Which company can mine more valuable data from you?
The value of data generated by connected cars could deliver between $250 billion to $400 billion in annual incremental revenue, according to industry estimates. This significant opportunity highlights the potential for automotive manufacturers to monetize vehicle-generated data effectively.
Personally, I think Ford will definitely “make back” the low selling cost of the Ford Courier (huffs into cope bag… it will be the Courier) with data harvesting and tack-on subscriptions.
Slate, without so much as an infotainment system or any apps, can collect what… Mileage/usage data? I’m sure it will have handles for telematics because of fleet usage. But that data is much less valuable on its own.
As I understand it, the Blank Slate doesn’t even include telematics to keep costs down. Presumably, there will be options for fleets to install it since they’re into that sort of thing.
The lack of telematics and DIY friendly design certainly piqued my interest. I’m not sure if I can live with a two door though since most trips are with a kid in tow.
Slate doesn’t have a modem in the vehicle to track drivers (which is a big reason I want one). Numerous media outlets have covered it along with the pros and cons
https://arstechnica.com/cars/2026/06/slate-says-its-electric-pickup-will-never-track-you/
For me not having my data sold to god knows what corporation is important and a non-insignificant part of the purchase consideration.
Thanks for the responses , I’m learning stuff I didn’t know.
Get a Maverick hybrid.
Sure the Maverick starts at $5k more, but you’re definitely getting $5k more car than this.
I think that SLATE is massively overestimating how many people (note: NOT just Autopian commenters) will actually buy this.
I want them to succeed…but I’ve very skeptical.
Gas? Ick.
If Ford didn’t have a fully electric mini truck on the way, then I’d say that Slate could carve out a good niche for itself. But if Ford does (and unless there is a ton of pent-up demand for 2-door pickup trucks) then Slate probably can’t.
Lots of people that don’t really care much about EVs, seem to think that people that really want an EV, would suddenly accept a hybrid.
Sure, the Maverick is a fine comparison choice, but real comparison is the soon-to-be small EV truck that is coming. And we’ll have to see on actual pricing and how dealers impact it, before we can say it’s a real cost competitor.
This is true, not sure why I didn’t make the obvious comparison to the upcoming Ford EV truck. But then again…I’m a dumbass. haha
Autopian commenters are from a dairy world. Most wouldn’t put their money where they talk.
Dead on Arrival priced at $25k. This is a very low spec and bare bones vehicle. $19,995 would still be expensive for the specs but at least they could claim to be the cheapest new vehicle in the USA.
Who is buying a $25K Slate without even a radio instead of a nicely equipped Trax for $23.5K. ……. Almost nobody
The appeal is not features, its not having things that commonly break on new cars and are very expensive to fix. Assuming the drivetrain on this thing is solid, there is pretty much nothing to break. No paint to worry about, super easy to fix fenders and panels, and easy to wrap. I do feel its a little high, but your missing the point.
Having bought a number of new cars, including new EVs, we have not experienced “things that commonly break on new cars and are very expensive to fix” over the last several decades of doing so. New cars come with a warranty. If it breaks it’s not my problem or cost If it breaks more than I feel is reasonable I would get rid of the vehicle before the warranty expires. But in general, not buying vehicles with questionable track records in regards to reliability has served us well and left us without really any instances of common things breaking that are very expensive to fix.
A brand new manufacturer trying to trim out every last dollar of cost to hit some sort of magic price? Even if there’s nothing to break, something will break.
The point is that Slate might be missing the mark in omitting so many of the convenience features that people have started taking for granted. The missing features become more glaring when you start comparing bottom lines against established competitors.
I like the concept a lot but stuff like crank windows will come back to bite them. I see those lasting one or two model years.
I agree. I was in line to get one, but without proper power windows, power mirrors, and blind-side monitoring, all of which I consider baseline convenance and safety features, I walked away and got my $50 back.
SLATE went all in on offering a super-simple back to basics vehicle, but IMHO they didn’t make it simple, they made it dumb.
They could have provided more creature comforts and STILL avoided the intergraded, dreaded, oh-how-I-wish-it-never-existing all-in-one “infotainment” crap while retaining standard safety and comfort features, including a basic double-din stereo and a pair of cheap speakers.
At $20K I was willing to overlook most of these misses, but not at $25K +$ 3K for the larger battery + another $2K for the power window JC Whitney kit + double-DIN stereo.. so really closer to $30K for a minimum viable offering. Thanks but no thanks.
I hope they find enough buyers as the more low priced EVs and trucklets in the market, the better, but I’ll skip this one for now.
The crank windows are dumb.
The number of people willing to pay more for less features is vanishingly small.
As PBL mentioned – people expect basic features in a car. Things like power windows and door locks. These are basics that even the cheapest cars have had for years. Slate says these basics will be offered as options but that just makes the company look very cheap to most buyers.
To actually make money Slate is going to have to sell more than 100k of these a year … every year.
More money for less seems to work for Porsche?
My thought is that many of the things that aren’t included in the Slate are things that don’t really fail often anymore or are otherwise easy to replace. Windows? I can’t remember when I had a power window fail in a car built in the last 16 years. Radio? Slate could have just thrown in a store-bought mass-market double din unit. If it breaks, four screws and it’s out.
Paint? Alright, that’s something that’s expensive and isn’t easy to DIY repair. But then again, wraps don’t last as long as real paint and aren’t at all easy or cheap to replace if you don’t know what you’re doing. I predict a lot of dingy-looking Slates that aren’t even eight years old, maybe younger in some regions.
I feel like if a paintless car is truly the revolution Slate thinks it is, someone else would have done it already.
Then there’s the problem that cheaper cars have all of the features that Slate is omitting. If you’re buying purely on price, why pay more to get less? I feel like the Slate was designed for the people who said they’d buy a 2000 Ford Ranger again if one were made new.
I hope Slate proves me wrong.
Mercedes, you’re not poking fun at my 2001 S-10, are you? 😉
As a guy who replaced a 94 Ranger with an 06 Colorado that’s now about to cross the 200k mark (with crank windows that work, instead of the power units in the Ranger that failed twice before I just gave up) – yes, a new version of a proper old school mini truck is precisely what I want.
You can take my place in line then, I don’t want one anymore.
I think that’s more like the ‘Ford factor’, you know, the car company that beats their own recall records almost every year 🙂
All excellent points.
“Slate was designed for the people who said they’d buy a 2000 Ford Ranger again if one were made new.”
This is the big one. The conversion ratio of people that actually buy that super stripped down base car new vs the ones that say they will is the key. Most want someone else to buy that vehicle new so they can buy it at a discount in the used market.
For comparison’s sake a Deere GX Electric Gator is 19K plus tt&l if you include the optional windshield ($400) and turn signal package ($1100). But you don’t have to worry about manual crank windows because there are no windows. Or doors. 19.5mph top speed.
The Slate is an excellent deal in comparison.
Well from my look at their website I’m afraid that $24,950 price doesn’t include doors either. It is possible that the “Doors No Thanks” is a credit option but also just as likely to be how they got it under $25k w/o ever intending to sell more than a couple at that price.
I read what you wrote and this is my conclusion:
The Gator is an even worse deal in comparison.
John Deere doesn’t sell anywhere near 150K electric gators a year.
It’s not even manufactured by Deere
People get so worked up about Nipple Disclosure Agreements. Get over it! We all got em.
It’s not that I have a problem with having nipples. It’s the disclosure. We all know people have nipples, but if someone comes up and insists on informing you they have nipples, it suddenly gets WEIRD.
Please don’t enforce my NDA. Disclosing to strangers that I have nipples is gonna get me put on some sort of list.