This Tiny EV Truck Has All the Right Buzzwords. But Will Americans Buy It?

A new car company, Slate, officially introduced itself to the world last night via an impressive event in LA, which we were on-site to cover.

Now, the brand is the talk of the automotive town.

It’s easy for me to feel excited about Slate’s vision and product, both professionally as a product media professional and personally as a consumer.

Slate Auto

I got into this business because I liked learning about new products that offered compelling alternatives to the status quo. And Slate’s brand emobides this ethos in spades.

Small pickups will always also hold a special place in my heart – I drove a Toyota Tacoma all through high school. And now, as a middle-aged dad, I’ve evolved into an early adopter and fan of EVs.

And yet, the more I think about what the company’s revealed, the more it feels like its doomed to struggle. That’s presuming the goal is sell a lot of vehicles to American consumers.

But I sure hope I’m wrong.

A Great First Impression

Slate Auto

Even Larry David would struggle to complain about Slate’s stated goals and aspirations.

“We are building the affordable vehicle that has long been promised but never been delivered,” CEO Chris Barman stated bluntly at the unveiling.

The language on the brand’s About page is also expertly honed to trigger subconscious nods of agreement.

“We’ve got one job: building a vehicle you’ll fall in love with.”

“We’re not trying to make this about us. Because Slate is all about you.”

“Get exactly the vehicle you want.”

Slate Auto

In this way and many others, Slate feels designed in a lab to check every conceivable box that might grab the attention of journalists from across the tech, car, and startup culture world.

Its first car is an EV pickup truck, which, as it turns out, can also be configured as a small SUV if desired. The baseline version should also cost less than $20,000 (after federal incentives). And it’ll be made in the USA, in Hoosier country, a.k.a. Indiana.

Yet the truck’s unique design is modular, highly customizable and defined by a minimalist, retro classic aesthetic that’s lazily described as “cool” or even IKEA-esq.

Jeff Bezos is also a backer of the company, for whatever that’s worth to you.

Slate Auto

The brand’s CEO, Chris Barman, and head of design, Tisha Johnson, are also two welcomed new additions to a frustratingly small subset of female executives in the automotive industry.

From this vantage point, it’s easy to get carried away thinking that the Slate Truck is an EV launch on par with Ford’s F-150 Lighting or Rivian’s RT1, even before exploring some of the brand’s more interesting design ideas.

Bringing Bold Ideas to the Market

Slate Auto

To keep the Slate truck as affordable as possible, Slate rigorously pruned back the feature creep often blamed for making new cars increasingly expensive.

This is why the brand describes the truck as “the blank slate” and “a vehicle in its essential form” in case the decision to name the company Slate wasn’t already clear.

That translates to some fairly radical design decisions.

By default, the Slate does not have an integrated screen or infotainment system. Instead, it has a mount in the dash for holding a smartphone or tablet.

Slate Auto

The cabin also lacks built-in speakers, though buyers can purchase accessory speakers from Slate that mount inside the dash like a soundbar. Another alternative involves mounting a third-party Bluetooth speaker right below the center climate cluster.

The windows are also operated via a crank handle unless you pay for a powered upgrade option.

The baseline version doesn’t even come painted, which allows Slate to skip the production cost of needing a paint shop at its factory. But Slate will still offer customers wrap kits if they aren’t interested in getting the job done elsewhere.

Along the same theme of minimizing production costs, the car’s interior and exterior door handles are exactly the same. The same is true of the Slate truck taillights.

Slate Auto

These design decisions take the notion of a minimalist car to new extremes. Slate insists, though, that its less-for-less approach isn’t just a creative way to cut cost corners.

Instead, it comes more from the desire to give buyers true, a la carte style control over their vehicles’ costs, capabilities, and looks.

As Slate CEO Chris Barman summarized to the crowd at the launch event, “make the Blank Slate yours at the time of purchase or as your needs and finances change over time.”

Slate Auto

To Slate’s credit, the customizations currently previewed on the company’s website are more expansive than anything else I’ve seen on the market, with bespoke cars from Bentley and Rolls Royce excluded.

Buyers can naturally select wheels, color wraps, and interior accent colors. But they can also swap out the default truck build for an SUV or Fastback SUV body kit and extra back row of seats.

In case consumers find themselves overwhelmed with choices, Slate also offers so-called “starter packs” with personified names like “The DOER” to help spark ideas about how various customizations can radically change the look and vibe of the vehicle.

Slate Auto

Slate’s also emphasizing that it wants buyers to be able to upgrade and work on the car all on their own.

“Be Your Own Maker” is one subheading listed on the brand’s personalization page.

“Buy your accessories, get them delivered fast, and install them yourself with the easy how-to videos in Slate U, our content hub. Don’t want to go the DIY route? A Slate authorized partner can come and do it for you.”  

Breaking Bad Habits

Slate Auto

Many, if not all, of the ideas at the center of Slate’s Truck’s pitch, are welcomed challenges to the car industry’s current standard operating procedure.

New cars are absurdly expensive these days. In December of 2024, the average new car buyer in America paid $49,740, close to an all-time high, according to Kelly Blue Book. The few budget options under $20,000 that once existed in the market are now basically gone.

Choosing and paying for the version you want also sucks. Settling for a baseline baskets of features or upgrades you have no control over isn’t particularly consumer-empowering.

But revolutionizing these aspects of the car-buying process won’t matter much if the underlying vehicle doesn’t align with American drivers’ needs or desires. And it’s in this area that I have major concerns about Slate’s immediate prospects.

Flying in the Face of Range Anxiety

Slate Auto

The reality of EV growth in America is more complicated than the headlines would lead you to believe. But overall, sales growth for the innovative vehicle category has definitely slowed, even if the volume of EVs sold continues to grow.

Studies on American interest in EVs have discovered various reasons Americans remain hesitant about buying an electric vehicle, and “range anxiety” still hovers consistently near the top of the list.

Slate’s leadership is undoubtedly aware of this research. And yet, the base Slate truck only offers a 150-mile range from a 52.7-kWh battery that powers a single rear motor producing 201 HP and 195 lb-ft of torque, which feels like an obvious Achilles heel right out of the gate.

Slate states the truck can also hold a maximum of 1,433 pounds and tow up to 1,000 pounds. It can also hit 0-60 mph in 8 seconds and achieve a top speed of 90 mph (estimated). But none of these stats will impress seasoned truck buyers.

There will be an option to upgrade from the standard 52.7kWh battery pack to a larger version that will boost the range to 240 miles, but we don’t know how much that upgrade will increase the MSRP.

A dual-motor AWD option is apparently being considered as a future option down the line too.

The truck will feature the NACS charging port popularized by Tesla that’s recently become the new standard in the U.S. and supports 150kW fast charging, which can bring the battery to 80 percent in 30 minutes.

Truly Compact

Slate Auto

The size of the Slate isn’t exactly in line with American driver’s tastes these days either.

Slate’s homepage offers an interesting interactive graphic showing how the truck’s dimensions compare to modern-day trucks like the Chevy Silverado EV and Ford Maverick, as well as the 1985 Toyota SR5 Pickup.

As the graphic illustrates, the Slate truck is much smaller than the Maverick, currently the smallest compact pickup in America. It’s still slightly larger than the classic Toyota from the 80s.

The message from the module is clear – modern-day trucks have grown to be enormous, and there was once a time when excellent pickups were much smaller.

I couldn’t agree more with the sentiment. Bigger isn’t inherently better. But there’s also a reason why small pickups, and compact cars more generally, have steadily disappeared from the market: waning consumer interest.

Slate Auto

Lengthwise, at nearly 175 inches, the Slate truck is just an inch longer than the 2025 Chevy Trailblazer or 5 inches longer than the Land-Rover Defender 90, so it’s not exactly a micro-car.

Still, it’s significantly smaller than the other compact trucks on the American market. The Ford Maverick is nearly two feet longer than the Slate, while Hyundai’s odd Santa Cruise is over 20 inches longer. Both also have room for four passengers instead of the Slate’s two.

There’s certainly a logic to launching a product that fills an empty niche in the marketplace and zigging where others have zagged. I’ve never been one to assume the invisible hand of the market always knows what’s best for it, either.

But it’s hard to imagine the pent-up demand for a tiny two-seater pickup being massive these days, no matter how much enthusiasts on Reddit might pine for them.

And while the Slate’s wide range of customization options will invariably help tune it for specific driving needs, its body dimensions, power, and drive trains don’t feel optimized for off-road pursuits, hauling small families, or anything more than light commercial work.

This poses the question – who is this vehicle really for?

The Pricing Elephant in the Room

Slate Auto

The last and arguably biggest red flag surrounding the Slate truck is its bold promise of affordability.

While the team behind the Slate truck has made a wide range of clever design decisions to keep production prices down, the existing $7,500 EV tax credit remains key to the Slate truck costing less than $20,000. And at least as of the publication time, that credit’s long-term future is very much in doubt.

The massive depreciation factor of other EVs and the broader used truck market is another significant challenge to the Slate truck’s sales potential.

A buyer could pay around $20,000 for a brand new and distinctive Slate truck, but they’re also likely to be tempted by bigger, better-equipped, relatively new EVs and slightly older ICE trucks in the same range.

Last but not least, the bait-and-switch factor of the Slate truck’s initial price point —for lack of a less aggressive phrase—also remains to be seen.

Slate Auto

Given the brand’s emphasis on options and customization, it’s clear they expect few buyers to settle for the stock version of the truck, at least over the lifetime of owning the vehicle. But it’s unclear how various options might increase the base price.

To Slate’s credit, the company’s leadership has responded to this line of questioning by pointing out that even after spending an extra $10,000 more on bells and whistles, the Slate truck will still be well-equipped for the price relative to the rest of the market.

Verifying that’s the case can only happen though once further details about the Slate are revealed close to its expected launch date of winter 2026.

For American consumers already sold on the vehicle, Slate’s already launched the ability to customize your vehicle and put down a refundable vehicle deposit of $50 to reserve an early spot in the upcoming production queue.

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