Slate Auto Opens Pre-Orders for Its $24,950 Electric Truck — and It Has No Screen, No Paint, and 205 Miles of Range

Slate Auto opened pre-orders on Wednesday for its debut electric truck at a starting price of $24,950 — putting it below the Chevrolet Bolt and well under most electric pickups on the market. The company simultaneously announced it has increased the base model's estimated range from 150 miles to around 205 miles, addressing the most common concern cited by potential buyers during the reservation phase. An SUV variant starts at $29,950.

Slate, which has raised $1.4 billion across three funding rounds with backing from Jeff Bezos' family office, is making a deliberate bet that the mainstream American EV buyer does not want a $60,000 touchscreen-equipped truck with over-the-air software updates and 400 miles of range. The company's vehicle has hand-crank windows, no infotainment system, no factory paint options, and seats two people by default.

The Model T Pitch

Slate's stated ambition is to build something analogous to Ford's original Model T or Volkswagen's Beetle — a radically affordable, simple vehicle that democratizes a product category previously out of reach for large swaths of the population. At $24,950 before any federal tax credits, the Blank Slate truck undercuts nearly every other electric vehicle sold in the United States except the Chevy Bolt, which starts around $29,000, and the Nissan Leaf, at roughly $32,000. Ford has announced plans for a $30,000 electric truck in 2027.

The absence of features is a design choice, not a cost-cutting compromise dressed up as philosophy. Slate sells customization kits — body wraps in various designs, a conversion package that expands the truck to a five-seat SUV, and a range of accessories — that allow buyers to configure the vehicle to taste after purchase. The company provides "Slate University" how-to videos for DIY installation. The direct-to-consumer sales model cuts dealership margins out of the pricing entirely.

Range and the Original Estimate Problem

Slate initially quoted 150 miles of range when it took early reservations. That estimate drew criticism from analysts and enthusiasts who noted it barely covered long suburban commutes with margin for weather variability, much less anything resembling highway travel. The revised 205-mile figure is a meaningful improvement — it puts the truck in line with older Nissan Leaf models and short of the Chevy Equinox EV's 319-mile EPA range, but above the threshold that makes daily use for most American drivers practical without range anxiety.

Slate has not disclosed final EPA range certification results, so the 205-mile figure should be treated as an estimate until official certification. The company's direct-to-consumer launch means buyers who pre-order are committing before final regulatory figures are published.

The Competitive Moment

The timing of Slate's launch is notable. Tesla's Cybertruck, which starts above $60,000, has faced significant customer backlash over build quality and Elon Musk's public political controversies. Rivian's R1T starts at roughly $70,000. The affordable end of the electric truck market has been essentially empty — Ford's F-150 Lightning dropped its entry price but still starts well above $40,000, and smaller companies attempting cheap EV trucks have repeatedly failed to reach production.

Slate is not claiming pickup performance, towing capacity, or off-road credentials. It is explicitly targeting buyers who want cheap, reliable, urban and suburban transportation in truck form — a segment that has so far defaulted to used gasoline pickups because no electric alternative existed at a comparable price point. Whether a minimalist two-seater with no screen qualifies as a "truck" for that buyer's actual use case is the central question the company will spend the next several years answering.

Deliveries have not been scheduled, and Slate has not disclosed its manufacturing timeline beyond confirming pre-orders opened today, as first reported by TechCrunch.