08:15 25-06-2026

Slate Truck Starts at $24,950: A Cheap, Stripped-Down Electric Pickup That Bets on Simplicity

Bezos-backed Slate Auto opens preorders for its $24,950 electric pickup with a 205-mile range, manual windows, no screen and a gray composite body — a deliberate bet on simplicity.

Slate Auto has revealed the price of its first electric pickup and started taking preorders. The base version will cost $24,950 — before destination, taxes, registration, dealer markups and mandatory fees. The out-the-door number will end up higher, but the headline figure still looks aggressive for the US market, where new cars have long since blown past the $25,000 mark.

The startup is backed by major investors, including Amazon founder Jeff Bezos. But the interest in Slate isn’t just about famous names. The company is trying to do something most large US automakers have all but forgotten how to do: offer a simple, relatively affordable car without the race for screens, fancy trim, extra drive modes and a long list of standard options.

Next to the usual electric pickups, Slate looks almost anti-modern. The base version is a two-seat compact EV truck with hand-crank windows, no infotainment system and no factory color palette. Every truck rolls off the line with the same gray composite body, and personalization is offered later — through wraps, accessories and add-ons.

A price below the rest of the market is the main argument. The average new car in the US costs far more, and affordable EVs have all but disappeared. The closest reference points are the Chevrolet Bolt starting around $29,000 and the Nissan Leaf at roughly $32,000. Ford has been promising an electric pickup at around $30,000, but it isn’t due until 2027. Against that backdrop, Slate is trying to claim the niche of a cheap, simple, customizable EV.

Along with pricing, the company refined the specs. Estimated range on the base version has grown to about 205 miles, or roughly 330 km. Two battery options had been on the table previously — 150 and 240 miles — but they were merged into a single 65 kWh LFP pack. That neatly sums up the project’s philosophy: don’t try to build an EV that fits every scenario, just hold the line on price and simplicity.

Slate’s main bet is modularity. In base form it’s a two-seat pickup, but it can be turned into a five-seat SUV. That version starts at $29,950, also before fees and destination. The company is pushing the idea that part of the work can be done not only by professionals but by owners themselves. To that end, Slate is already running Slate University tutorials: from converting the pickup into an SUV to installing exterior trim and accessories.

This flips the usual automotive logic. Normally the manufacturer tries to sell the customer as many options as possible at the order stage. Slate does the opposite: the base car is as simple as possible, and the owner buys extras later. The Marketplace promises hundreds of accessories — from a stereo and seat covers to roof rails, wraps and body panels. That lowers the entry price, but the final cost of a fully kitted-out truck can climb significantly.

Skipping standard paint is part of the savings. Instead of an expensive paint shop, the company is relying on the gray composite body and customizable wraps. For a startup, that’s a meaningful move: factory paint lines can cost automakers hundreds of millions of dollars, and Slate wants to avoid baking that into the base price.

Sales are also planned outside the classic dealer model. Slate Auto has previously said it wants to work directly with customers, following the lead of Tesla, Rivian and Lucid. The purchase details aren’t fully spelled out yet, but the logic is clear: fewer middlemen and simpler trim levels make it easier to hold the line on a low starting price.

A separate intrigue surrounds Carvana. TechCrunch reported earlier that the online car-selling platform received a warrant to purchase shares in Slate. That could point to a potential partnership, especially since Carvana has already signaled plans to enter the new-car market. For Slate, such a partner could be a fast way to scale online sales without a traditional dealer network.

The idea has weak spots, too. The $24,950 figure looks striking, but it doesn’t include destination, registration, taxes and optional equipment. On top of that, a cheap EV without the usual comfort isn’t for everyone. The buyer has to accept hand-crank windows, no built-in infotainment and the need to decide later which features to add. For part of the market, that’s honest simplicity; for another part, too big a compromise.

The political backdrop hasn’t helped either. After the federal EV tax credit was scrapped, Slate can no longer lean on its earlier pitch of a sub-$20,000 price with the subsidy. Now the startup has to prove that $24,950 without any incentive is still convincing enough for a mass-market buyer.

If the project works, it could end up not as a Cybertruck rival but as the electric equivalent of a plain, blue-collar pickup. Not the fastest, not the fanciest, not the longest-legged — but easy to understand on price. In an era of expensive EVs, that may carry more weight than yet another screen on the dashboard.