CITY OF INDUSTRY, California -- The waiting is over: The bare-bones electric pickup with a multitude of customization options has finally arrived. Slate introduced its “most affordable truck in America” on Wednesday.
“What do truck buyers what?” Slate CEO Peter Faricy asked a crowd of journalists, analysts and influencers at a cavernous space at Slate’s Studio West in this industrial Los Angeles suburb. “A vehicle that grows with them over time.”
Slate will test that assumption with its “blank slate” gray vehicle, available as a pickup or SUV. The pickup’s starting price is $24,950. Buyers can also order the SUV from Slate or convert their pickup to an SUV after purchase.
Speaking with WardsAuto after the presentations, Slate CFO Ryan Green said the SUV will come in Squareback and Fastback versions starting at around $30,000, with the fastback being more expensive.
The pickup or SUV can be pre-ordered at Slate.auto with a down payment of $300, or $250 for the more than 180,000 existing reservation holders who already paid $50. “The company had received more than 10,000 pre-orders since the site opened the morning of June 24, Faricy said.
Deliveries are expected to begin in the fourth quarter of 2026 from Slate’s manufacturing base in Warsaw, Indiana.
It is upgradeable
The electric vehicle maker’s entire premise is that affordability is the biggest hurdle to vehicle ownership. Slate is “grounded in reality,” Chris Barman, president of vehicles, told the gathering.
“Everything in your life might be more expensive, but your Slate won’t be,” she said.
That however, depends on how extensively one chooses to accessorize their Slate truck.
The blank-slate design is meant to be customized, and the online Slate Marketplace offers more than 800 accessories including stereos, roof racks, lighting, wheels, and seat and light covers with one-third priced below $100 and half under $250, Faricy said.
Don’t like the basic gray? Choose from more than 100 wrap colors for under $500. Buyers can also customize the interior with colored panels which can be easily swapped out according to one’s mood, or the latest color trend.
The wrap can be applied at the factory, or owners can order it online and Slate will mail it to them to apply themselves or at a network of Slate-recommended shops.
Given the vehicle’s low price, it seems that accessories sales should be the main source of profit for Slate, but “we will make money off the vehicles as well as accessories,” Green said.
As a bare bones EV, Slate vehicles don’t connect to the cloud, so owners will rely on their smartphones for entertainment and navigation.
That doesn’t mean the vehicles can’t receive over-the-air updates, however. They can, but through the Slate app and not the cloud, Eric Keipper, head of engineering, told WardsAuto at the event.
Currently, the software in Slate vehicles is specific to modules such as steering and braking, all of which can be accessed remotely though a gateway module, he said.
Slate can remotely deliver information, such as telling a vehicle it will be an SUV and thus more airbags will be installed, or deliver updates to the steering or brakes, Keipper said.
That capability could expand in the future, however. “There may be things we can do from a customer perspective” to make sure the vehicle stays modern and updated, he said, adding, “It is upgradeable.”
Battery swap
Slate initially said it would use nickel manganese cobalt battery cells, but has switched to using lithium iron phosphate cells made by China-based battery maker Gotion at the company’s U.S. plant in Illinois, Jacqueline Siegel, Slate’s head of powertrain and propulsion, said at the event. The battery packs will be assembled at Slate’s manufacturing facility in Indiana.
The electric truck will have an estimated range of 205 miles and comes with a 10-year/110,000-mile battery and powertrain warranty, as well as a 12-month/12,000-mile workmanship warranty.
The Slate truck has a towing capacity of up to 2,000 pounds and a payload capacity of 1,550 pounds.
Although Slate says you can do most repairs yourself using online lessons from Slate U, owners will have access to more than 3,000 RepairPal shops nationwide, including more than 100 that can work on high-voltage EVs, according to the automaker.
The Carvana connection
Online vehicle retailer Carvana was granted the option to invest in Slate in 2025 when the EV startup backed by Amazon founder Jeff Bezos was putting together its $650 million Series C funding round.
Slate executives declined to discuss whether the automaker’s relationship with Carvana has progressed. “We aren’t talking about any of our partners today,” Green said. “We will talk about how it will be distributed later. We are here to talk about cars today.”
That reluctance is unlikely to stem from a lack of a distribution plan, Ed Kim, president and chief analyst at California-based auto industry research and consulting firm AutoPacific, told WardsAuto at the event.
“They just can’t talk about it yet,” he said.
Kim figures there is a market for a truly affordable vehicle such as the one Slate aims to produce. “I do have some questions about the body style,” he added. “Two-door vehicles tend not to be big sellers.”
Slate will also face competition from Ford Motor Co.’s $30,000, four-door electric pickup due in 2027. However, the EV startup may have an edge on Ford in at least one area, Kim said.
“The thing that could be big is customization,” he said. “The key for them is, they really need to position this differently from a mainstream brand.”
