Slate Auto’s radically simple electric truck starts at $24,950
https://techcrunch.com/2026/06/24/slate-autos-radically-simple-electric-truck-starts-at-24950/Open linkView original on lemmy.worldhttps://techcrunch.com/2026/06/24/slate-autos-radically-simple-electric-truck-starts-at-24950/Open linkView original on lemmy.world
https://techcrunch.com/2025/04/08/inside-the-ev-startup-secretly-backed-by-jeff-bezos/
Can’t give my money to literal terrorists. I can’t believe how many people are ok buying anything from the US after all that has happened.
Yes. The US does not have a recent track record for quality vehicles either.
The American divisions GM and Ford are the epitome of bad management, sponsored by fraud. And don’t get me started on Chrysler!
But yes, Slate is sponsored by Amazon and is an anagram of Tesla. It quite clearly only resists because Bezos and Elmo are having a pissing contest.
Too expensive. DoA. You can get a fat more capable car loaded up.
The idea is fantastic but this thing with nothing in it is more expensive than an AWD Subaru with Heated seats, BSM aeb, Android auto, etc.
Rebates would have helped it.
I think you are deeply out of touch with the contemporary car market.
👌👍
What "far more capable car loaded up" can you get for $25k?
you wouldn't be able to fill a car up with a washing machine or a couch
it’s the same dimensions as an early Toyota pickup. They deliberately simplified it but it has lane keep, collision avoidance, blah blah. Audio is BYO. They were straight up about that. Most of what you’d expect.
After watching them prototype and assemble , i was more impressed. it’s overbuilt to hell and back. But it seems to have some flaws.
Regardless i’m wary of the whole: we just built a factory and the stuff to make it so give us more deposits to make this real.
I personally would not define it as a Truck. I would describe it as a Hardtop Cabriolet Utility, as opposed to a Coupe Utility.
That said, I’m a Aussie, so a truck is something with a rigid ladder chassis and a detached tray, box or platform.
Even if you stripped the quarter panel skins off a Slate, it would still have the substructure of a Ute.
Still too high for v1. Gonna be another 10k to change it at all.
I'm not quite sure who this is even marketed towards.
When people buy a pickup truck with two seats, it's usually because they want a longer bed, but somehow these guys managed to remove the seats and keep the short bed. And it doesn't have a 4WD system. I don't get why anyone planning to get a pickup truck would choose this instead. If anything - this seems like the gateway truck (haha) into real pickup trucks for people who weren't in the market for one to begin with.
For moving stuff around, without having an obscenely large vehicle?
Is this supposed to address something I said?
It addresses your whole comment, which is about who this vehicle is for.
This is a vehicle for people who actually need and want a truck to do the kind of useful everyday hauling people who live in the suburbs actually need. It's for people who actually need a truck for practical reasons, not for people who want a giant penis extender.
This is a truck for people who need a truck. It's not suitable for people who just want to larp as a rancher.
I thought the niche would be sort of a cheap way to cosplay as a working guy, but I think the price point is probably too high for this to be a novelty second vehicle. But who knows? People drive and love Jeep Wranglers, which are kind of awful to drive in towns, and people still like the lifestyle part.
Man posts like this always bring out the most out-of-touch hot takes.
I’d happily pay 35k for twice the range, but that’s not on offer… also, the towing capacity is a dealbreaker.
I mean... Twice the range is 410 miles. The cheapest EV with that range is like $70k? Yeah I'd pay $35k for twice the range too.
Lease returned Lucids are sub $50k for 500+
True, but I'm talking about new cars.
It’s an EV. In order to be cost effective, it has a limited range.
That said, it is very modular so if someone developed something like the International (VW) Scout Harvester for it (essentially turning it into a PHEV), it would have much more range.
What if I fill the bed up to the cargo capacity of the vehicle in nothing but batteries? :D
Then you have the same problem with all EVs.
Increasing battery capacity also increases weight which decreases efficiency.
At a certain point, adding batteries actually decreases range because you are using more energy to move a larger load.
That said, you would exceed the Payload of Slate before you got to that point.
I was thinking of a small generator like the International Harvester in the Frunk, like the Scout.
Despite the inefficiency of ICE, Petrol is still the most readily available, energy dense portable fuel source. New future battery technology may change that…
"Very modular" sounds like a bad thing to me, if the essential part's and pieces that make it "go" don't meet the minimum expectations of a gas powered vehicle in the same price range (plus 20%) then it's DOA. If the platform is weak then adding stuff is only going to make it worse.
Sort of like buying a 2010 Ford Ranger 4cyl 2wd then putting side steps, spot lights, aftermarket heated seats, aftermarket stereo, lift spacers, and fat tires. But at the end of the day, you're still driving a piece of crap.
If the base parts aren't great then why bother.
I’m not recommending a GM LSX connected to a generator, and I’m not recommending a Honda Eu22i either. Something purpose built to backup the battery that can provide 7kW/h to the battery, just to top it up as necessary.
The Slate is designed to be an EV from the ground up. (We don’t know how well designed, until they are actually available). They are also designed to be customised to suit the use case. Adding accessories will compromise on other aspects of the vehicle; changing it into a wagon with rear seats means you won’t be able to carry large items, but you will be able to carry a couple extra passengers.
I would really like a vehicle like this one that isn't American-made and isn't backed by Jeff Bezos. Both are complete showstoppers for me.
All cars and trucks are made by or financed by rich assholes so good luck with that
Used car market exists.
You think you're not supporting them by buying used?
There are various levels of heinous. Bezos is a hard no for me. Same reason I'll never buy Tesla.
Gotta manually roll down the passenger side windows like a goofball. Might as well buy a used truck from the 80s for the price of a tank of gas.
I'd have to agree with you there. This is one aspect that online commentors love to make a big deal about when describing their "ideal low-tech vehicle" but I doubt any of those comments actually translate into real sales. It's like people demanding a TV that doesn't use a remote control. Nobody really wants that.
Power windows are an option.
Ars article earlier said they didn't make the cut (at least yet) when trying to design a car to buy on their site.
Presumably it'll be an option later they said.
It won't be the price they keep advertising
We'll have to wait and see.
Edit: To the person who down voted me, I just want to point out that Slate just verified that their base model MSRP is, in fact, the same as their initial claim. You really think they won't be able to maintain the same price for powered windows as they initially claimed?
There are not many 80s trucks left that are road worthy what is likely has had more restoration than the cost of a new truck.
I know people who do that, in the mountains small trucks are all that fit some places and so if you want a truck you buy something worn out and put more than it was new - inflation adjusted - into a restore.
It's true, the remainder are mostly in enthusiast hands now or very run down. They were not built to last. 90's too.
My strategy was to buy from someone at a car show (I'm not an enthusiast, I actually use it) and I got lucky after walking a bunch of them in 2016 with an all original 1994 Chevy K1500 5.7L 118,000 km odometer in mint condition even had the original windshield with no cracks and assembly line cling wrap in the door wells. Strange boomer fellow, he even opened the doors with a cloth. $8000 Canadian I paid, they're worthless even in such amazing condition to this day.
Big downside: Very few mechanics are still working who are willing to troubleshoot anything to do with anything attached to the ODB1 embedded computers. Nobody around me held onto the scanning tools. Many outright refused to work on mine recently when I had a rough cold start issue. It was the MAP sensor but the two mechanics who did try failed to find the problem. Ended up having to figure it out myself. Now I own a hacky OBD1 to USB cable from eBay and learned ProTuner scanner software lol.
Next downside: Entropy and dry rot. The interior plastics for example.... I can't easily replace the awful rear speakers because I've been told the plastic clips are extremely brittle from age and absolutely will shatter no matter how carefully I try to take them off. I'd have to commit to breaking them and then doing some 3D printed surgery to fix the panels back up.
It must be a really undesirable model like a long bed and/or extra cab because these OBS trucks are otherwise worth a lot in good/pristine condition to enthusiasts especially in places like Canada where vehicles quickly rust out. The most desirable is the single cab short bed truck.
Who gives a shit lmao
Quite interesting, but I wonder how much car insurance will be for it. I've heard it can be rather expensive to insure EVs. I suppose not even the insurance companies know the answer yet.
Came across a forum thread about insurance: https://www.slateforums.com/forum/threads/insurance-premium-cost-for-slate.14577/
No answers yet, just speculation (as expected), but apparently I'm not the only one wondering about insurance so I'm surprised by the downvotes. Was that because people don't like to think about negatives like insurance costs, because they don't like the Slate and I called it interesting, think I'm nitpicking compared to the cost of the vehicle, or something else?
Now that I think about it, another ongoing cost factor is vehicle registration, which can be higher in some states than a gas vehicle because they're trying to make up for lost revenues from gas taxes.
I hope to go electric someday, but I don't plan on buying a Slate right now. My ICE crossover SUV is still going strong, even as a compact still has more cargo space than the Slate (covered too, which costs extra on the Slate), and I don't drive very much. But if the worst were to happen (wreck or such), it's nice to have a backup plan. Used to have a 90's Toyota pickup and loved that size, so I'm pretty sure I'd enjoy the Slate too.