Tech Insider
A Slate truck parked outside a light-colored home.
Slate is coming to market with a bare-bones, tiny pickup truck. The company is hoping drivers will customize it from there.

Slate

  • Slate's tiny pickup starts at $24,950, putting it in the rare category of new cars under $25,000.
  • The Jeff Bezos-backed startup says buyers can customize the truck with hundreds of add-ons.
  • More than 10,000 people placed $300 preorders in its first four live hours, the company told BI.

Slate wants its tiny electric truck to be exactly what its name suggests: a blank slate.

The Jeff Bezos-backed auto startup is pitching a bare-bones pickup that buyers can turn into an SUV, wrap in more than 100 colors, and outfit with everything from a stereo to a custom key fob. This week, Slate gave that idea a price: $24,950.

It lands in one of the narrowest corners of the US auto market — new vehicles under $25,000. Only 4.7% of new vehicles sold last year had starting prices below that mark, according to Edmunds. Slate is trying to hit it with an electric powertrain, which makes the price even more unusual.

Still, there are tradeoffs. The base Slate truck has manual crank windows, no infotainment screen, no interior speakers for music, two seats, and an estimated 205 miles of range.

Slate's pitch is that buyers can add whatever luxuries they want later. The company says it will offer more than 200 accessories and add-ons, including vehicle wraps, seat covers, roof racks, light covers, a stereo, and interior tech.

And that idea is already getting early buyer interest. Slate told Business Insider that more than 10,000 people placed nonrefundable $300 preorders in the first four hours after its website went live. The truck is expected to hit US roads by the end of the year.

So we mapped out what Slate says buyers can customize.

This is what you get for $24,950
A base model Slate truck is driving down a tree-lined residential street.
Slate's base-model truck comes with two doors and no paint.

Slate

The standard Slate truck is intentionally plain: a two-seat pickup with a small bed, steel wheels, and almost no digital frills.

It does come with cruise control, tactile controls, and air conditioning — a feature executives initially debated including when the truck was still in the design phase.

Slate goes SUV
Two Slate trucks on the company's website with the SUV caps.
Slate also offers two SUV body kits with a standard bench seat in the second row.

Slate

Slate's most dramatic add-on is basically a personality transplant.

The company plans to sell SUV kits — starting at $29,950 for the squareback SUV and $31,950 for a sleeker Fastback — that turn the pickup's open bed into interior space. Both options come with a second-row bench seat, bumping the interior capacity to five.

A coming Jeep-like version
A mock-up of a Slate EV pickup that's been converted to an SUV.
A Slate EV pickup converted to an SUV with the door removed.

Slate

Slate also says that a Jeep Wrangler-like open-air kit — complete with a second-row roll bar — is still in the pipeline. Pricing has not been disclosed.

Don't have an eye for design? Here's some inspo.
A series of pre-configured Slate trucks.
Slate has already optioned several pre-configured models for inspiration.

Slate

For the decision-fatigued, Slate is also offering starter packs.

The preconfigured builds give shoppers a template they can keep as-is or tweak with different colors, accessories, and features. They range from "The Professional," an all-black Fastback, to the orange-accented "Hauler Back" pickup with a roof rack.

Mix and match
A board of possible Slate exterior wrap colors.
Slate says there will be over 100 wrap colors when the car launches later this year.

Slate

Slate's color strategy is less paint shop, more wardrobe change.

The company says buyers will be able to choose from more than 100 wrap colors at launch, or create a custom color, with some full-vehicle wraps expected to cost less than $500.

Slate-trained wrap installers can change the truck's color "in hours," the company said.

Bolted onto the exterior
A display of several exterior options, including front fascia boards, light covers, tents, wheel covers, and a bike rack.
Nearly every surface in the Slate can get customized, including the headlights, taillights, truck bed, and rims.

Slate

Slate's exterior parts business can start to look less like an automaker and more like a catalog.

Buyers can add roof racks, running boards, spare tires, tow hitches, bed organizers, light covers, decals, suspension lift kits, and other exterior accessories to change the truck's look or make it more useful.

Slate's new CEO, Peter Faricy, knows a thing or two about selling smaller, scalable products — he's the former vice president of Amazon Marketplace.

Add some creature comforts inside, too
Slate's webpage shows interior options, like a $49.99 door armrest.
You can customize the interior, too.

Slate

Slate is taking the same mix-and-match approach inside the cabin.

Buyers can choose from seat covers, storage add-ons, floor liners, pet accessories, tech mounts, and small comfort upgrades like a door-mounted front armrest. Some pieces snap into the lifestyle-accessory bucket; others are closer to mini DIY projects.

For example, Slate's $49.99 door-mounted armrest is rated "moderate" for installation difficulty.

And in the end, it looks like…
A Slate pre-packaged truck with 24 add-ons. The car shows a final price of $30,889.86, before taxes.
Slate's truck might be $24,950 to start. But it's easy to bump past the $30,000 mark.

Slate.

Accessories can quickly add to the final price.

Business Insider tested Slate's online building tool to see how fast the total could climb. Our build was a pickup with 24 accessories, including a suspension lift, a custom wrap, and a Bluetooth speaker mount.

Even with 10 of those accessories still listed as "price coming soon," the truck came closer to $31,000 than its $24,950 starting price.

Read the original article on Business Insider
Business
Transportation, slate, slate-auto, electric-vehicles, new-cars
Source
Slate's $24,950 EV truck is tiny, stripped-down, and ridiculously customizable