New American EV Company Is Taking on Elon Musk With a $20,000 Truck
Slate, a Jeff Bezos-backed startup, has unveiled a cheap, no-frill,s lightweight electric truck priced at just $20,000.
A new electric vehicle startup called Slate Auto unveiled its first vehicle at a splashy event on Thursday, and the company is coming out of the gates with a pickup truck that is everything Tesla’s Cybertruck is not. The Slate Truck, as it is called, promises to be a small electric pickup truck with 150 miles of range on a single charge and a variety of customization options. But the most notable detail is the car’s price, starting at just $20,000 with federal tax incentives.
If the Cybertruck is the most eye-catching yet polarizing truck on the market, the Slate Truck is everything but. The small, two-door vehicle features a traditional pickup design with no frills or fancy features like an infotainment system or autonomous driving.
In fact, the Slate Truck has does not have an infotainment system at all—drivers connect their phone over Bluetooth for entertainment—and uses crank windows as well as steel wheels and HVAC knobs. Some of those will be nice to drivers who loathe the transition away from physical knobs and buttons in cars, and are fine relying on Bluetooth to play music rather than forgoing some privacy to use a complicated infotainment system.
The stand-out feature of the vehicle is suggested in the “Slate” itself: the Slate Truck can be customizable to each buyer’s needs. Every vehicle comes off the line the same, and flat-pack kits will allow owners to quickly convert the two-seat pickup truck into a five-seat SUV in case they do not need the bed. Buyers are expected to retrofit the car themselves or through yet-to-be-announced nationwide partners who will support service and installation. The Slate Truck is something akin to the Framework laptop but for cars, or maybe a Pebble, with its simplistic design appealing to customers who just want the basics.
Slate has reportedly raised over $100 million from investors, including Jeff Bezos, who previously plowed billions into another electric truck maker, Rivian, while still at the helm of Amazon. Being backed by Bezos may be a turn-off to some who have soured on his political ideology, but ultimately, car buyers often care about value the most, and it might not matter. And car manufacturing profitability requires scale and years of upfront losses, so major backers are necessary for a company like Slate to survive.
Detractors of the Cybertruck say CEO Elon Musk never followed through with his promises for the vehicle, namely on price—the original starting price of $39,000 never came to fruition, and the vehicle instead starts at $62,000 for a pared-down version. Even at that price, the vehicle does not appeal to many buyers who simply want a daily work vehicle for hauling dirt. Tesla sold just over 6,000 Cybertrucks in the first three months of the year, a steep drop from the 12,000 units it sold at the end of 2024.
The popularity of the Ford Maverick and cult following of Japan’s Kei trucks suggests there could be demand for a small, affordable, lightweight pickup. That being said, Americans are addicted to large vehicles, which is why most automakers in the country have largely abandoned small sedans in recent years for compact SUVs. The Ford F-150 is the most popular truck in America, too. Other electric work vehicles like the Rivian R1T, Ford F-150 Lightning, and Ford E-Transit Cargo, which starts at $51,000 with a range comparable to the Slate Truck, are still quite expensive for what they offer.
To give Tesla a small amount of credit, the Slate Truck is two years from rolling off factory lines, and whether the company can fulfill its promise of a $20,000 price tag will remain a big question. For one, that price includes federal tax incentives for EVs that could be eliminated by the current administration. And the most expensive component of an EV is the battery, often making up about 40% of the car’s price. The battery in a Tesla Model Y, for instance, is estimated to cost between $10,000-$11,000. With China restricting access to rare earth metals found in many batteries, U.S. automakers may need to find alternative sources or design batteries with new materials. The Slate’s low price also raises questions about whether that battery will include heating and cooling necessary to prevent it from overheating.
Another concern is that with Rivian and others planning more affordable EVs in the next two years, will the Slate Truck be competitive at launch?
Still, for many people, the Slate Truck represents exactly what they have asked for in an electric workaday car. Truck designs have evolved over many years to reach their current state. Why not take a design that already works and modernize it for the EV age? That is what many people wanted out of the Cybertruck, and a desire that Slate appears to be capturing. Its horsepower only allows for O to 60mph in 8 seconds, and a top speed of 90mph, but the Slate Truck is clearly targeted as a daily driver or fleet vehicle for practical use, where nightly charging is to be expected.
We will soon be able to see whether those clamoring for a cheap EV with no bells or whistles are willing to put their money where their mouth is.