“Affordability” is the big watchword in the auto industry these days. And for good reason, the average new vehicle comes in at more than $50,000 by the time you drive it off the dealer lot. Prefer an EV? That’ll set you back an average of $55,000, according to Kelley Blue Book. And even the typical used model now goes for $30,000. Making matters worse, automakers have been dropping many of their most affordable products.
That’s where Slate comes in. Founded just 4 years ago and backed by Amazon’s Jeff Bezos and other members of the online retailer’s family, the Detroit-based startup is set to start rolling out an all-new, battery-powered pickup in the coming months, and it will come in at a starting price of $24,950.
Harkening back to the barebones trucks that were wildly popular back in the days when Baby Boomers were just getting their driver’s licenses, the Slate pickup will debut with nearly 200 accessories, allowing DIYers to customize their vehicles. They’ll even be able to convert the pickup into an SUV.
What’s Slate?
Originally founded in 2022 as Re:Build Manufacturing by ex-Amazon Consumer CEO Jeff Wilke, the company soon changed its name to Slate but maintained its original focus on producing affordable battery-electric vehicles. It went public with an early prototype in April 2025 and, on June 24, unveiled the production-ready model.
On the whole, there have been relatively few changes made over the last 14 months. The truck still has a single row of seats and comes in at a modest length of 174.6 inches, about 2 feet shorter than the popular compact Ford Maverick. It features injection-molded body panels and is unabashedly basic: steel wheels, no radio, and hand-cranked windows.
But it’s lived up to expectations when it comes to pricing — more or less. The startup has always aimed to come in around the mid-$20,000 mark. But federal tax credits phased out last September would have brought that down below $20,000. It’s still going to be the lowest-priced electric truck on the U.S. market. And compare it to Maverick, which starts at $28,145 in hybrid form.
What’s New?
There are several notable updates, however. For one thing, Slate dropped plans for two optional battery packs. All of its vehicles will now feature a 65kWh pack delivering an estimated 205 miles of range. That’s 37% more than the original “standard” pack’s 150-mile rating, though 16% less than the “long-range” option, at 240 miles per charge, was to offer.
Original plans called for just one body style: that single-row pickup, though the automaker was going to offer a DIY conversion package that would transform it into an SUV. You will still be able to get the aftermarket kit, but Slate will now offer up front two already assembled SUV versions, the Squareback and the Fastback, both starting at $29,950.
Make It Your Own
The SUV conversion package will be just one of about 170 accessories available on the Slate Marketplace at launch, 80 of them for under $500, according to Chris Barman, Slate’s product chief. Can’t afford all the features you want up front? The truck is designed for DIYers to “customize” when they want so it “become(s) an extension of their personality,” she said in an exclusive interview.
Among those accessories? Everything from a stereo, roof racks, and zip-off seat covers to front and rear fascia mods. Slate is betting that it will see especially strong demand for its collection of more than 100 different-colored body wraps. To hold down production costs, the company’s Warsaw, Ind., plant has no paint shop, a massive expense. So, off the line, all vehicles are finished in a molded-in appropriately slate gray.
The Numbers
Slate is just starting to roll out specs. It hasn’t revealed whether it will offer useful features like all-terrain tires, nor ride height, approach, or breakover and departure angles. We do know it has upgraded capabilities compared to the original prototype. The truck now can tow up to 2,000 pounds — enough, it notes, for a pair of jet skis — while payload has risen from 1,400 to 1,500 pounds.
All versions will feature a single electric motor driving the rear axle. It will produce 135 kW (180 horsepower) and 264 Nm (195 pound-feet) of torque. That will be enough to launch from 0 to 60 in 8.0 seconds, the factory claims, with a top speed of 90 mph.
As for charging, once plugged into a Level 2 240V charger, Slate estimates the 65kWh lithium-iron-phosphate battery pack will require around 4 hours to go from 20% to 100% state-of-charge. A DC quick charger, it claims, should get the pack from 20% to 80% in half an hour. The numbers aren’t benchmarks but are reasonably competitive.
Who’ll Buy One
At this price, Slate planners think they’ll reach a diverse audience. These include new-vehicle buyers on a budget, as well as DIYers who like the idea of creating a truly unique vehicle tailored to their own tastes and needs. Considering the hefty cost of today’s new vehicles, Slate could be on to something.
Indeed, the average used vehicle is now stretching the budget for many buyers, noted Barman. “Our price point is below the cost of the average used vehicle,” and that opens up a potentially large market for Slate among those who would really prefer something new.
Not everyone is convinced, however. “You could also buy a Nissan Sentra for $25,000 and get a lot more features than a 2-door pickup getting that sort of range,” said Sam Abuelsamid, lead auto analyst with Telemetry Research.
The other question is whether there’s enough of a market for an unknown EV brand at a time when even established manufacturers are struggling to meet targets for their own battery-electric models.
The Competition
That includes Ford, which took a multi–billion-dollar write-off after tossing its earlier EV strategy last year, among other things, ending production of the full-sized F-150 Lightning in December.
But Ford seems to be in sync with Slate, at least up to a point. It’s getting ready to launch its own “affordable” EV pickup early next year as part of its “Universal Vehicle” project. But the yet-unnamed model will offer two rows of seats and far more features — expected to push the base MSRP to somewhere around $30,000. Ford also plans to add one or more SUV packages following the pickup’s debut.
And a variety of other manufacturers are pushing hard to develop their own under-$30,000 entries, which could begin reaching showrooms before the decade’s end, noted Abuelsamid.
Is There a Market?
“More than 180,000 reservation holders have told us they’re ready for a vehicle that’s affordable, reliable, and built around their lives,” Slate CEO Peter Faricy said in a statement, referencing the number of advance reservations Slate has logged.
That said, refundable reservations aren’t always a reliable indicator of future demand. Tesla claimed to have logged over 1 million deposits in the months after the Cybertruck’s 2019 debut. Sales have never come close. Tesla sold just 20,237 Cybertrucks last year, a 48% year-over-year decline. Ford misread the initial surge of reservations for its Lightning pickup, as well.
Despite the challenges, Slate officials seem unfazed. This week, Slate began taking preorders for the new truck. Potential buyers can put down a nonrefundable $300. Those who already plunked down a refundable $50 advance reservation can have that applied to their order.
The company will launch production by the fourth quarter of this year, with a single shift at its new assembly plant in Warsaw, Ind. That is scheduled to go to two shifts by the second quarter of 2027. A few months later, the factory will add a third shift, enabling it to roll out 150,000 pickups and SUVs annually.
By this time next year, we should have a clear sense of whether Slate is slated to succeed as a new player in the EV space or short-circuit, like some other once-promising startups such as Fisker, Canoo, and Lordstown Motors — all of whom included affordable battery-electric pickups in their plans.
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