A new American startup of electric vehicles called Slate Auto made its debut, and it is about as anti-TESLA as possible.
It is affordable, deeply customizable and very analog. He has manual windows and he does not come with a main infotainment screen. Heck, he’s not even painted. It can also go from a two-seater pick-up to a five-seat SUV.
The three -year startup revealed her vehicle at an event Thursday evening in Long Beach, California, and promised that the first trucks would be available for customers for less than $ 20,000 with The Federal Tax Credit EV by the end of 2026.
The event has come a few weeks since Techcrunch revealed details on Slate Auto’s plans to enter the US EV market, build its trucks in Indiana and that the company is financially supported by the founder of Amazon Jeff Bezos.
The automotive industry “has been so high about autonomy and technology in the vehicle, it has led prices to one place that most Americans simply cannot afford,” said commercial director Jeremy Snyder during the event, who inside the EVS live broadcast. “But we are here to change this.”
“We build the affordable vehicle that has long been promised but has never been delivered,” added CEO Chris Barman.
Specifications
Slate does not say exactly how much his truck will cost – several sources have told Techcrunch in recent weeks, the company has gone back and forth on the issue. And so many things can change by a release date at the end of 2026.
The company is Saying that it will start less than $ 20,000 after the federal tax credit (provided it still exists next year). Interested buyers can place a reimburseable reservation of $ 50 on the company’s website.
The basic version of the Slate truck will tighten 150 miles from a 52.7 kWh battery pack, which will feed a single 150 kW engine on the rear axle. For people who are a little scared of this issue, Slate offers a larger battery which, according to her, will have around 240 miles of reach. It will charge using a standard North American load port, the Tesla Standard has established that almost all the main car manufacturers now use.
The truck is delivered with 17 -inch wheels and a bed of five feet, and has a projected payload capacity of 1,400 pounds with a towing capacity of 1,000 pounds. As it is an EV, there is no engine in advance. In its place, there is a front chest (or a fruit) with 7 cubic feet of storage space, which happens to have a drain in case the owner wants to fill it with ice for this tailgate festival.
This towing capacity is less than a more capable Ford F-150, and is even less than the smallest Ford Maverick, which can tow around 1,500 pounds.
Speaking of the Ford Maverick, the Slate truck is smaller. The slate EV has a 108.9 inch wheelbase and a global length of 174.6 inches. The Maverick has a 121.1 inch wheelbase and an overall length of 199.7 inches
All the rest of the basic version of the truck is terribly exhausted – and that’s the point. Slate Maxime really the idea of a basic model and puts customers to pay to personalize the EV to their taste.
Custom … Everything
Slate is deeply attached to the idea of personalization, which distinguishes it from any other EV startup (or traditional automaker).
The company said Thursday that it will launch with more than 100 different accessories that buyers can use to customize the truck to their liking. If this is overwhelming, Slate has organized a number of different “start -up packs” that interested buyers can choose.
The truck is not even painted. Slate rather plays the idea of rolling up his vehicles, which the leaders said that they would sell in kits. Buyers can either have to make slate this work for them, or get wraps.
This adds not only to the idea that a buyer can personalize his vehicle, but it also reduces a huge cost center for the company. This means that Slate will not need a painting workshop in its factory, which allows it to spend less to go to the market, while avoiding one of the most regulated parties in vehicle manufacturing.
Slate tells customers that they can name the car what they want, offering the possibility of buying a relief envelope for the tailgate. Otherwise, the truck is simply called “blank slate”.
As Techcrunch previously reported it, the customization part is at the heart of how the company hopes to invent the margin on what is otherwise a relatively dirty take -out vehicle.
But that is also part of the friendly pitch slate to customers.
Barman said Thursday that people can “make virgin slate yours at the time of purchase, or that your needs and finances change over time”. It is the invoicing of complementary modules as an “easy DIY” that “non-Garden heads” can approach, and says that it will launch a series of practical resources in the invoicing of the Slate University.
“Buy your accessories, have them delivered quickly and install them yourself with easy practical videos in Slate U, our content center,” said the website. “I don’t want to take the DIY route?” An authorized slate partner can do it for you. ”
The first personalization library on the Slate website goes from function to cosmetics. Buyers can add infotainment screens, speakers, roof supports, light covers and much more.
The most important options that allow buyers to “transform” the truck into more spacious SUV form factors. But these are not permanent decisions. Slate says that people will be able to change their vehicle and return to SUV if they wish – “no mechanical certification required”.
That said, the Slate truck is delivered as standard with certain safety characteristics mandated by the federal government such as automatic emergency braking, airbags and a backup camera.
Curl
The road to a successful American automobile startup is strewn with failures. In recent years, Canuno, Fisker and Lordstown Motors have all filed a bankruptcy. And it’s just to name just a few. Companies that are still there, like Rivian and Lucid Motors, hemorragine money in order to obtain high -volume and more affordable models to market.
Slate is a total reversal of this approach. He goes above all after a low cost EV, and hopes to make this company viable by completing it with money from this deep personalization piece.
But, just like Rivian and Lucid Motors, he also has deep donors. It has collected more than $ 111 million so far (the exact figure is still not public). And, apart from Bezos, took money from Mark Walter, CEO of Guggenheim Partners and owner of the Dodgers, as Techcrunch reported this month.
The company has hired nearly 400 employees in the service of achieving all its ambitious goals and is currently trying to hire more. Slate probably could not have chosen a more volatile time to make its debut, but it is also focused on domestic manufacturing, and can be isolated from some of the disorders confronted with other startups and established car manufacturers.
“We believe that vehicles should be affordable and desirable,” said Barman on Thursday, adding that the slap truck “is a vehicle that people will love and be proud to own.”
