New American EV Firm Is Taking up Elon Musk With a $20,000 Truck

A brand new electrical automobile startup known as Slate Auto unveiled its first automobile at a splashy occasion on Thursday, and the corporate is popping out of the gates with a pickup truck that’s all the pieces Tesla’s Cybertruck shouldn’t be. The Slate Truck, as it’s known as, guarantees to be a small electrical pickup truck with 150 miles of vary on a single cost and quite a lot of customization choices. However essentially the most notable element is the automobile’s value, beginning at simply $20,000 with federal tax incentives.

If the Cybertruck is essentially the most eye-catching but polarizing truck available on the market, the Slate Truck is all the pieces however. The small, two-door automobile contains a conventional pickup design with no frills or fancy options like an infotainment system or autonomous driving.

In truth, the Slate Truck has doesn’t have an infotainment system in any respect—drivers join their telephone over Bluetooth for leisure—and makes use of crank home windows in addition to metal wheels and HVAC knobs. A few of these will likely be good to drivers who detest the transition away from bodily knobs and buttons in vehicles, and are positive counting on Bluetooth to play music relatively than forgoing some privateness to make use of a sophisticated infotainment system.

The stand-out function of the automobile is usually recommended within the “Slate” itself: the Slate Truck will be customizable to every purchaser’s wants. Each automobile comes off the road the identical, and flat-pack kits will permit house owners to shortly convert the two-seat pickup truck right into a five-seat SUV in case they don’t want the mattress. Patrons are anticipated to retrofit the automobile themselves or via yet-to-be-announced nationwide companions who will help service and set up. The Slate Truck is one thing akin to the Framework laptop computer however for vehicles, or perhaps a Pebble, with its simplistic design interesting to prospects who simply need the fundamentals.

Slate has reportedly raised over $100 million from buyers, together with Jeff Bezos, who beforehand plowed billions into one other electrical truck maker, Rivian, whereas nonetheless on the helm of Amazon. Being backed by Bezos could also be a turn-off to some who’ve soured on his political ideology, however in the end, automobile consumers usually care about worth essentially the most, and it may not matter.

Detractors of the Cybertruck say CEO Elon Musk by no means adopted via together with his guarantees for the automobile, specifically on value—the unique beginning value of $39,000 by no means got here to fruition, and the automobile as an alternative begins at $62,000 for a pared-down model. Even at that value, the automobile doesn’t enchantment to many consumers who merely need a each day work automobile for hauling filth. Tesla bought just over 6,000 Cybertrucks within the first three months of the 12 months, a steep drop from the 12,000 items it bought on the finish of 2024.

The recognition of the Ford Maverick and cult following of Japan’s Kei trucks suggests there may very well be demand for a small, reasonably priced, light-weight pickup. That being mentioned, Individuals are hooked on giant automobiles, which is why most automakers within the nation have largely deserted small sedans lately for compact SUVs. The Ford F-150 is the preferred truck in America, too. Different electrical work automobiles just like the Rivian R1T, Ford F-150 Lightning, and Ford E-Transit Cargo, which begins at $51,000 with a spread akin to the Slate Truck, are nonetheless fairly costly for what they provide.

To present Tesla a small quantity of credit score, the Slate Truck is 2 years from rolling off manufacturing facility traces, and whether or not the corporate can fulfill its promise of a $20,000 price ticket will stay a giant query. For one, that value consists of federal tax incentives for EVs that could be eliminated by the present administration. And the most costly element of an EV is the battery, usually making up about 40% of the automobile’s value. The battery in a Tesla Mannequin Y, for example, is estimated to value between $10,000-$11,000. With China restricting access to rare earth metals discovered in lots of batteries, U.S. automakers might have to search out various sources or design batteries with new supplies. The Slate’s low value additionally raises questions on whether or not that battery will embody heating and cooling crucial to stop it from overheating.

One other concern is that with Rivian and others planning extra reasonably priced EVs within the subsequent two years, will the Slate Truck be aggressive at launch?

Nonetheless, for many individuals, the Slate Truck represents precisely what they’ve requested for in an electrical workaday automobile. Truck designs have developed over a few years to succeed in their present state. Why not take a design that already works and modernize it for the EV age? That’s what many individuals wished out of the Cybertruck, and a want that Slate seems to be capturing. Its horsepower solely permits for O to 60mph in 8 seconds, and a high velocity of 90mph, however the Slate Truck is clearly focused as a each day driver or fleet automobile for sensible use, the place nightly charging is to be anticipated.

We’ll quickly have the ability to see whether or not these clamoring for an inexpensive EV with no bells or whistles are keen to place their cash the place their mouth is.

okay this factor is fairly superior pic.twitter.com/U4moQqAiaI

— gaut (@0xgaut) April 25, 2025