“Non-gearheads” now have the prospect to design their very own vehicles.
Final month, a picture appeared on Reddit of an unidentifiable small truck in a car parking zone in Los Angeles. The sighting was first noted by Carscoops simply after TechCrunch reported that Jeff Bezos was making an “inexpensive” automobile by way of a “secretive EV startup” referred to as Slate Auto.
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Web sleuths rapidly put collectively (and TechCrunch confirmed) that the truck within the Reddit picture was the precise Slate Auto idea automotive.
Now, the corporate is prepared for reservations, and personalization is essential. All the pieces is customizable, from the outside look to the colour to the inside knobs.
“We expect everybody ought to have the ability to personalize their automotive,” the web site says. “However autos aren’t constructed to be personalized by non-gearheads (we love you, gearheads). So, we modified that.”
Offered by Slate Auto
In a video asserting the brand new “radically easy, radically inexpensive Slate truck” on X, CEO Chris Barman stated the worth begins within the “mid 20s,” although it is going to be nearer to $20,000 (after federal EV tax credit). The only-cab electrical truck is ready to be delivered to clients in late 2026. The corporate is based in Troy, Michigan.
The individuals spoke. We constructed. Meet the radically easy, radically inexpensive Slate. Reserve yours at https://t.co/Y5RkOIFCRo pic.twitter.com/uvSZVpdkWv
— Slate Auto (@slateauto) April 25, 2025
“There is a huge inhabitants of individuals on the market in the case of secure, dependable, inexpensive transportation; there simply actually aren’t many options for them,” CEO Chris Barman told Business Insider forward of the official unveiling.
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A method the corporate is conserving it inexpensive is thru its customization choices. For instance, the vehicles are wrapped, not painted, and will be modified at a buyer’s whim.
“With different vehicles, you decide your colour if you purchase it, and that is it,” the web site says. “With a Slate, you’ll be able to decide your colour every time—and alter it every time. It is the primary automobile of its form designed to be simply wrapped.”
Wrap kits will begin round $500, in keeping with the corporate. (Although conserving it the easy grey—as per the Reddit reveal—will nonetheless stand out.)
Amazon founder Bezos, Mark Walter (Los Angeles Dodgers majority proprietor and CEO of Guggenheim Companions), and investor Thomas Tull have helped the brand new automotive firm elevate at the least $111 million, per TechCrunch.
NBC reports that, in keeping with a document filed with the Securities and Alternate Fee, Melinda Lewison, the pinnacle of Bezos’ household workplace, is the brand new Slate Auto director.
