Slate Auto's Radically Simple Electric Truck Starts at $24,950
The EV startup backed by Jeff Bezos has set a starting price of $24,950 for its bare-bones electric truck, undercutting rivals and boosting range to 205 miles, while pre-orders open.
Slate Auto, the electric vehicle startup backed by billionaire Jeff Bezos, has finally revealed the starting price of its electric truck: $24,950. That price excludes taxes, title, license, registration, fees, and optional equipment. The company began accepting pre-orders on Wednesday.
Crucially, Slate also announced it has increased the estimated range of its base model from 150 miles to around 205 miles. The aggressive pricing — half the average cost of a new car in the U.S. — positions Slate to capture a share of the entry-level new car market, which has few gas and even fewer electric options.
Key competitors include the Chevrolet Bolt (starting around $29,000) and Nissan Leaf (starting around $32,000). Ford has teased a $30,000 electric truck due in 2027.
The truck starts as a two-seater pickup but can be converted into a five-seater SUV. The SUV version starts at $29,950. The conversion can be done by professionals or owners themselves, and Slate has released how-to videos. The vehicle is extremely basic: it has hand-crank windows, no infotainment system, and all orders begin with a gray composite material with no paint options. Instead, buyers can order custom wraps. This likely helps cut out the multimillion-dollar cost of a paint shop.
Slate plans to sell directly to customers, avoiding traditional dealerships, similar to Tesla, Rivian, and Lucid. Earlier this month, TechCrunch reported that Slate granted Carvana a warrant to purchase its shares, hinting at potential collaboration.
The startup has raised about $1.4 billion across three funding rounds from investors including TWG Global, General Catalyst, Jeff Bezos' family office, Slauson & Co., and former Amazon executive Diego Piacentini. Policy changes under the second Trump administration, such as looser emissions standards and the elimination of the $7,500 federal EV tax credit, have complicated the path for many automakers, but Slate is pushing ahead with its low-cost vision.
