A $20k American-made electric pickup with no paint, no stereo, no screen
(theverge.com)1389 points by kwindla 2 days ago
1389 points by kwindla 2 days ago
There are tons of golf carts on the road where I live so there appears to be a spectrum of use cases and ranges that people will tolerate.
This should really be mainstream car manufacturing. I can't wait for the day when we have choice of cheap cars, with DiY upgrades and no fucking tracking mechanisms built in and something that works without a phone. I wish them all the success and for the first time in my adult life, I'm excited about technology in cars again!
Perfect. Instant buy for me if they can deliver on their promises. No other car in recent memory has spoken to my minimalist frugal engineering mind like this one. Hope my 2000 4runner lasts until the Slate gets delivered to my door!
I could imagine this being popular for company and fleet trucks, but I can't imagine it being popular for personal vehicles with the general public. The people I know who drive personal pickup trucks want the absolute biggest one they can find and have zero interest in actually doing any truck activities with it. They drive their Raptors and 2500s to work and to burger king and that's it. If they do any customization, they might take it to a shop and pay them to put a louder muffler on it.
> The simplification goes simpler still. Slate will make just one vehicle, in just one trim, in just one color, with everything from bigger battery packs to SUV upgrade kits added on later.
Makes me wonder if, once "normal" features are added, cost and reliability will be a problem?
In contrast, I could see this really helping the dealer model work because dealers could compete with different customizations.
That being said: At least when it comes to the battery, efficiencies come from a single large battery instead of a modular battery. I suspect they'll need to offer a larger battery at the factory.
Ars did a good write up on this as well: https://arstechnica.com/cars/2025/04/amazon-backed-startup-w...
Definitely something I would consider if they can make it happen.
The issue with this is they claim the cost savings came from not having a screen and other silly features, but that’s not where money is spent.
The real cost savings came a tiny, 150 mile battery. It could easily be <100 miles loaded up after a few years of use, which means there are very few use cases for this truck, and it certainly doesn’t make sense without the tax credit. Cool idea, but there’s no getting around the price of batteries
Right, but it needs to be competitive with ICE cars that travel several hundred miles per tank and fill up in minutes. Literally 0 of my friends have been willing to transition to electric due primarily to range anxiety, and that's for vehicles that achieve over 200 miles per charge. I drive an EV and even I would simply never, ever consider this vehicle based on the range.
I'm just saying, many people aren't going to buy an EV until they see it as a strict upgrade over the ICE alternative.
As the owner of a 2014 Nissan leaf with ~70 miles of range left, this statement makes no sense... ~100 miles (after years of use and loaded down) sounds amazing. I use my leaf CONSTANTLY and only resort to my 2000 Chevy S10 for things like dump runs, home projects, helping friends move, etc.
Maybe if it was the only EV in town I'd change my tune. I am willing to pay extra for a battery that will take me 200 miles because I make one-way 100m trips often enough. Keep in mind, where I live there is some decent charging availability, but the places I would visit don't have much. I've also had a couple of experiences where I get to the charging place and it doesn't work for some reason. I have some range anxiety for sure.
I drive 20 miles a day and fill my tank once a month.
Or I could plug in my car every night in my garage. Where I already park and exit my car every day.
There's no competition to be had here. It's a choice between going to the gas station occasionally or not at all.
The 100 mile EV doesn't go beyond 100 miles, but that's not what it's for and not why I need it. I need a puddle jumper to get beat up and rode hard in big city traffic for 20-40 minutes a day and that's it.
There are plenty of use cases in the narrow band that it can operate, but it is a pretty narrow band. Around town commuter in climate that doesn't need AWD/4WD, like great for shopping, commuting, or for small contractors doing jobs. Two people in the vehicle plus luggage, it will be interesting to see what happens to range. Love the concept.
That “narrow” band is the vast majority of American driving. People drastically overestimate their needs in this regard.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-solutions/2023/07/07/...
> According to data from the U.S. Department of Transportation, 95.1 percent of trips taken in personal vehicles are less than 31 miles; almost 60 percent of all trips are less than 6 miles. In total, the average U.S. driver only covers about 37 miles per day.
> In a study published in 2016, researchers at MIT found that a car with a 73-mile range (like an early version of the Nissan Leaf), charged only at night, could satisfy 87 percent of all driving days in the United States.
I have said this and will reiterate - building an 'afforable' EV is impossible with the current level of technology - by which I mean a vehicle that competes on price with affordable ICE vehicles, and doesn't make compromises that would make it impractical to own as the only car.
There are $20k cars with infotainment, bodypaint and probably a lot more creature comforts than this thing. Also this thing has a 150 mile range (less probably IRL), which is not practical.
Looking at the basic shape, the drag looks horrible, and probably the efficiencys bad too, considering they only manage 150k with an 52kWh battery.
Euros have already tried this, they put out abominable shitboxes where they tried to save money everywhere but the battery and charger, and the result were poverty cars which barely cost less than a Model 3.
Once you spend the money on a 400 mile battery and a fast enough charger to be practical, you're most of the way in terms of BOM to a 300HP electric upmarket road monster. Tesla understood this, and are dominating the market.
BYD also knows this, and there's a reason their C-segment EVs cost more than their D-segment plug-ins, despite the latter having tons of electric range.
Also doesn't cost $20k from the factory, it costs $20k with tax credit.
It’s a process happening over time. Why the grandparent’s comment will age horribly in only five years.
I remember similar comments about digital cameras shortly after Y2k. A dozen years later it was already hard to use anything else.
Read the innovator’s dilemma for a full understanding of the process.
If this can’t compete head to head (no tariffs or other import restrictions) with BYD and the like, then I don’t know why one would get excited. Feels like an expensive consolation prize with tons of compromises. I want competition.
You can't really compete in a any real sense when the labor price differential is so massive and the companies and supply chains are directly subsidized. The price does not reflect the product, but all its inputs.
I never said that I’d expect that a US automaker would “win”. I want the best car at the cheapest price to be made available. And for that to be done within a level playing field with regards to safety / workforce / environmental / labor regulations. My expectation is that US automakers do not win, even with subsidies. But I do think keeping an industrial base in the US would be worth that compromise.
Historically, tariffs guarantee the local market will not win.
Tariffs (the "chicken tax") are directly responsible for US trucks being so expensive. They have no foreign competition in the US.
Environmental regulation loopholes cause US trucks to be so big, which is a related problem.
It's probably possible for US manufacturing to compete directly with foreign manufacturers, but they have no incentive to do so now that Trump extended the chicken-tax to all imported cars.
It's not a loophole if you explicitly state: "This is what we are going to focus on." The CAFE regulations also regulate pickup trucks, just less stringently.
>CAFE has separate standards for "passenger cars" and "light trucks" even if the majority of "light trucks" are being used as passenger vehicles. The market share of "light trucks" grew steadily from 9.7% in 1979 to 47% in 2001, remained in 50% numbers up to 2011.[7] More than 500,000 vehicles in the 1999 model year exceeded the 8,500 lb (3,900 kg) GVWR cutoff and were thus omitted from CAFE calculations.[10] More recently, coverage of medium duty trucks has been added to the CAFE regulations starting in 2012, and heavy duty commercial trucks starting in 2014.
>"If this can’t compete head to head (no tariffs or other import restrictions) with BYD and the like, then I don’t know why one would get excited."
Would you prefer our roads flooded with cheap Chinese EVs that are the automotive equivalent of Shein hauls? Protectionism has its place in certain areas, and I would say building a thriving domestic EV industry that isn't beholden to a single weirdo is one of them.
I’m pretty sure there are more possible outcomes than “this one truck or cheap, dangerous Chinese EVs.” False choice fallacy.
A lack of import restrictions in no way prevents safety regulations. You could also subsidize the domestic automobile industry without having tariffs, so that we protect our domestic industrial base. These things take no imagination.
Do you think that the rest of the world needs to protect itself from Tesla then and slap tariffs on any Tesla cars exported?
>"Do you think that the rest of the world needs to protect itself from Tesla then and slap tariffs on any Tesla cars exported?"
If it were a stated policy goal of said country to develop their own indigenous EV production at scale, then yes. The same the US did for 30 years after WWII to develop its own auto industry.
The era of dumping mass amounts of cheap "good enough" products on the global market, made entirely possible by the ignored and externalized costs of dumping trillions of tons of CO2 into the atmosphere via oceanic shipping, is coming to a close.
I drive a Polestar 2, which is a Chinese manufactured EV, and it's better quality than most North American vehicles.
The Munroe Live episode on it should disavow people of these biases. He ends it with a strong warning about people's weird biases about Chinese manufacturing.
The fact that it’s so bare bones (no stereo, etc. unless you put one in) makes me really hope that it doesn’t phone home with a firehose of telemetry like pretty much every other new car. If so, they’ve got my interest
I've seen that it doesn't have the ability to phone home on it's own but that OTA updates and other connectivity relies on you using their optional phone app and your phones internet connection.
That's the killer feature for me, if this actually comes out the after market mods are going to be amazing, having a test bed for creating your own self driving rigs is going to be a complete game changer.
It's so hackable (in a good way) that this platform could foster a whole knew segment of the population getting into EV manufacturing and dramatically increase the talent pool the same way the VW beetle and the Lisa Computer did, hobbyist hackers are the greatest pool for technical founders.
Not to mention replacing the exterior panels with custom displays and other amazing "Art Car" opportunities.
I see this and I don't see it as an every day, driving-on-my-commute style vehicle. As someone who (previously) drove a 2014 honda civic, cheaper cars leave a lot of comfort for longer drives. I can't imagine this barebones vehicle being fun to drive for any extended period of time, or any extended distance, unless you'd spent considerable time customizing it to those needs (at which point, you've probably spent more than buying something off the shelf).
I do see this being great for short utility trips (think running errands, picking something up, etc), and as a utility vehicle (would be nice to be able to have an 8ft bed).
It would be really interesting to me to see a fleet of vehicles like this that are ultra-rentable; think a Bird/Lime scooter, but a utility truck.
> I do see this being great for short utility trips (think running errands, picking something up, etc), and as a utility vehicle (would be nice to be able to have an 8ft bed).
Japan and the rest of the world figured this out decades ago. They're called kei trucks. You can buy pre-2000 imported ones in the US from like $5-15k depending on the miles/condition/year/transmission. I have a 1990 Suzuki Carry that is solely used for trips to Home Depot and picking up random furniture from FB Marketplace that I got for $6k.
Aren't there issues with states randomly revoking registration for imported kei vehicles because of emissions/safety/whatever?
I'm in NJ so as long as it's 30 years or older there's no emissions required. If you're in a state that doesn't allow registration of kei trucks then there are companies that make it pretty straightforward to get them titled and registered in states that have very lax laws like Montana.
Not going to say it's right, but for a vehicle that is occassionally used to drive between your home and the hardware store, I'm sure that a ton of these types of vehicles are just not registered. Even if you get caught without registration, the inconvenience is relatively minor (when compared to a daily-driver not being registered)
If the timing weren't so off (I just bought a compact electric car), then this would have been a real possibility for me: 150 miles is about 1 weeks worth of driving for me, it's usually just me (or occasionally +1), and we have my wife's car for driving the whole family long distances. Of course I'm skeptical that it will come in under $27,500 (implied by the "Under $20k after federal incentives), and if it's much more than that it will start to get squeezed by other options.
~$30k for a manual-window, slow-charging truck? Will anybody in the US actually want one?
It's a cool concept... looks good to my eye, small trucks are neat, etc. But, I'd want push-button windows, up-to-date charge controller/battery tech, and the normal EV integrated app. Maybe if it was really a $20k truck (they're advertising the price after incentives, many of which are either going away or vanish for higher income earners).
>I'd want push-button windows, up-to-date charge controller/battery tech, and the normal EV integrated app.
Don't they already have Cybertrucks for that ;)
>It's a cool concept... looks good to my eye, small trucks are neat
And it's barely a truck, 1000-lb towing capacity. A VW Golf can tow twice as much.
Makes you wonder if they picked that form factor to appeal to a certain market segment that's current underserved?
I love the concept, but at $20.000USD it's to much. My guess is that they'd need to hit 15.000USD for the extend range version. Two minor thing I would chance, as others pointed out: Bench seat, and the second: Just make the holes/mounting options for an after market stereo.
Hopefully this is successful and will push other manufacturers to create similar options. I saw an old Morris parked outside the gym the other day, it took up maybe 2/3 of a parking space, it was perfectly size for my grandparents, it perfectly sized for my needs. I get that the car grows a bit in size, once all the modern safety features are added, but I don't see why that would amount to much more than the size of say an Opel Kadett D or E, or a Volvo for the 1980s.
Anyone? Sure. If this was available 2 months ago, I may have bought one instead of a used Polestar. The Polestar is wildly faster, more luxurious, better range, but I'd have liked a truck, and if I got the $7500 tax credit, I'd have paid about $9k less for this. (Used, 20k miles, $29k.)
Lots of people? Much harder to say. Has to be either "first car" kind of thing for someone young, or "second car" in a family where it's OK to have a 2-seater with limited range be used for commuting/errands. (Or "third car" for people with money to spare.)
There's a 5-seat SUV version, so that expands the market a bit. I'm still not convinced it'll sell without beefing up the specs a bit while maintaining the price.
"third car" for people with money to spare.
Yeah, but the same ~$20k - $30k buys you a heck of a lot more ICE. A new Maverick XLT starts in that range. Or a Lariat trim at $34k. And if this is just a toy, that same money gets you in a new base or very high-spec used Miata.
120kW charging system, so ~30 minute 20-80% (on a relatively small battery), was what I saw. It's not "wall plug" slow, but it's nowhere near state-of-the-art. The small battery and slow(-ish) charging means it's mostly a run-about and less (relatively) suitable for roadtrips. The American market loves to buy on the most intense use, not the average or minimal - giant pickup trucks because somebody might go to Home Depot once a season or tow a small boat at the beginning/end of lake season. Etc.
I'm looking for a vehicle which doesn't track my location, and doesn't have complex software controlling vehicle functions which could kill me. Maybe this is for me.
>and doesn't have complex software controlling vehicle functions
Nobody should be allowed to buy a car without these functions. You aren't a good enough driver.
Not a truck guy, but I like it. What I like the most is that it's not batshit fucking insane.
I recently visited America after a couple of years away, and spent a couple of weeks in California, driving from SF to LA. The thing which I found the most striking was the sheer insanity of the pickup trucks that were absolutely everywhere. These things were true Idiocracy-class monster trucks, which are clearly lethal to operate in any environment which includes pedestrians. In some cases, my five-year-old's head barely reached the bumper, and my wife's head didn't clear the hood. And these were highly-polished, un-dented behemoths that had clearly never seen a dirt road in their lives. The whole thing is clearly all about aesthetics and identity politics. Absolutely revolting.
(If you haven't visited the US recently, I think it's almost impossible to appreciate how obscene the phenomena is. 10 years ago, trucks were far more restrained, but could still do everything they needed to do. 30 years ago, trucks were fully half the size, but could still carry the same-size loads and do honest work. There's honestly no possible justification for their corpulent growth.)
Anyhow, this thing looks like it can do honest work without killing everyone who crosses its path. I really appreciate that. I hope it starts a trend.
By the way, THIS is how we stop inflation. We make new things that cost less and are innovative. People on here are so scared of "deflation" but the reality is, if you don't have deflation your not innovating enough!
Price seems to be creeping up. Car and Driver says $28K.[1] That may be related to "incentives".
This could be very popular with companies that need small fleets of pickup trucks. The ones that have company logos on the side.
I love this. We have a Fiat 500 EV that we got for $8k used that’s a fantastic city / small hauling car, and this beats it in many qualities in a way that’s still minimalist, reasonably affordable, and low maintenance (if as promised). We also have a 1986 4WD VW camper van which gets the big jobs done but is still manageable in the city. This truck is like the DIY marriage of the two.
This is amazing. I hope it succeeds. If I had any use for a truck I'd be lining up to buy one. They make one in a compact sedan or hatchback form factor and I am in. Heck, even better a subcompact.
Slate is financially backed by Bezos [1] and Eric Schmidt [2] so it's not like they're going to run out of money unless they choose to do so. And it's staffed by a bunch of Detroit automotive engineers, so it's not like they're going to be surprised to learn that building and selling automobiles is harder than launching a CRUD app or SAAS.
I do expect a steep price jump when they realize that all this customization (especially post-purchase) makes crash testing really difficult and expensive, $20k is not going to happen but hopefully it will be under $30k MSRP and under $40k with typical options, at least targeting a different market than Rivian.
[1] https://techcrunch.com/2025/04/08/inside-the-ev-startup-secr...
[2] https://www.fastcompany.com/91322801/bezos-backed-slate-auto...
Why would post-purchase customization be crash-tested at all? It’s not currently. If I buy an F-150 and jack it up, it’s not Ford’s responsibility to crash-test my work. Even if I use genuine Ford parts I buy from Ford.
"Slate is financially backed by Bezos"
This is too bad. I'm not buying anything from people who showed up January 20th. It hasn't been difficult. And luckily there is plenty of competition in the electric car space.
If they get somebody else at the helm (not Elon), I'll root for them like crazy.
Being backed by Bezos and the appearance of infinite funding isn't necessarily a good thing. You need someone at the helm that is driven and in control. Don't know who's running the company or if they have the proper mentality to get through production issues, but it's certainly not Bezos.
Either way, I'm rooting for their success. The low end car market is pretty much non-existent. I've heard people blame the cash for clunkers program that got rid of a ton of low end supply in 2009, but haven't looked into it too much.
Don't get me wrong, I absolutely adore this truck. But I feel the same way about this truck that I do about the Framework Laptop (having owned one)—cool idea, cool product, but will Slate be around in 5 years to keep making parts and offering support for it?
This is a fair concern, I imagine. If it is highly user serviceable, maybe that isn't a concern.
That said, I think you raise a bigger issue - I'd like to see MORE things like Framework, Fairphone or Slate - user serviceable, customizable - maybe low initial cost.
To me, this feels futuristic, exciting, optimistic and positive.. we need more like this, so how can we make these kinds of businesses more likely to succeed, resilient, etc?
I'm very positive, however note that when they mention "injection molded polypropylene composite material" - this (i think) is the same material used for Seadoo Spark jetskis. I owned one and had a minor crash, and because this material cannot be repaired, the entire hull needed replacing, it was an insurance write-off. I hope they've thought about how to make this car repairable and not 'disposable' after the first inevitable minor crash. Of course this may not be a fair comparison because jetski hulls are exposed, whereas car chassis' have panels and bumpers.
> Meet the Slate Truck, a sub-$20,000 (after federal incentives) electric vehicle that enters production next year.
Then it isn't < $20000. It is a pitch.
Does this strategy even make sense? You can charge $20k for a car. Why wouldn’t you add options that cost you nearly nothing but some amount of buyers will opt in for a meaningful revenue increase.
Charge $1k for paint. Even if 95% of people don’t do that, 5% of orders just increased their revenue by 5%. Paint doesn’t take engineering time.. just spend $500 and let some other company do it. This is why trims exist, having a single low price point means people who want to spend more either produce lower revenue than possible, or are disappointed.
IMO this one trim, one price is almost certainly a prelaunch marketing gimmick as from a business perspective there is literally no benefit.
> Paint doesn’t take engineering time.. just spend $500 and let some other company do it.
Are you sure you read the article? The is explicitly addressed.
DIY wrap kit I guess is a form of options, but again seems like a missed revenue opportunity. Some of your market wants DIY customization, but realistically some anmount of (or almost every) consumer would rather pay +$1000 for a nice colored than $400 for a wrap kit.
In the YT video (linked in another comment), it claims they save $350M by not building painting facilities.
This is amazing. More car manufacturers should get out of the infotainment business. tablet tethered to a cellphone for reception, and a connection to OBD2 for car data is all you need and allows for easy upgrades/replacements when things fail.
I do think they should keep in mind that people will want to do this and at least design the dash to easily accept a tablet mount (vesa standard), amp mount (plug and play Pyle 120v?), speaker wire, and speakers (6x9 or 6.5”). That’s an easy hour install if everything is standardized, accessible, and doesn’t require drilling.
Would also love seating for 5.
Not sure if the article covers it (I read Ars Technica's, not Verge) but the Slate site shows that they do have support for tablets, bluetooth speaker mounts, 3-seat back row, etc.)
While speaker wiring might be nice... I sense that's less likely to be readily supported. Mounts + wireless + USB port for charging is probably the limit there.
Of course, used truck buyers tend to be happy to run some wiring for things like CB, radar, extra lighting, etc. Doesn't matter if the wiring is showing!
At $20k it is actually comparable in cost to a GEM el Xd pickup [1] which can only go up to 35 mph, has 78 mile range, and costs $18k [2]. Totally different class of vehicle, of course.
[1] https://www.gemcar.com/gem-el-xd/
[2] https://electriccarsalesandservice.com/products/2024-gem-el-...
I do wish we'd all just call this a $27.5K USD truck. If it ends up allowing some people to get a tax credit, awesome. But that's not the price they are targeting for selling this truck. And that tax credit is far from a guarantee come late 2026 / early 2027.
(That's before any "later adjustments" to the price, not to mention the effects of uncertain tariff policy.)
150 mile range makes it close to useless. As soon as you take it on a highway, the range will likely drop by half. Which means you can only do a round trip of 37 miles before you have to charge.
Even a very aerodynamic Model 3 loses half of range at highway speeds.
https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/proxy/vkz0SOnR45Gved9B-q9n...
If I'm reading the chart properly it looks like the M3LR gets a smidge better than the advertised range at 65mph?
It's not about "inflating" it. It's more that the energy needed to move your car a certain distance is quadratically related to the speed, due to aerodynamic drag.
Efficient vehicles spend less energy on other stuff besides moving the car (e.g. by having heat pumps, induction motors that can be turned off without any drag, etc), so tests conducted at a lower speed will appear to have a better range than tests at a higher speed. Meanwhile, less efficient vehicles that waste energy at low speeds will appear to have more similar range at both low and high speeds.
The range figure is determined by a test regulated by the EPA and actually does account for a variety of driving conditions, specifically including highway driving. The graphic you linked to actually shows that the advertised range is very close to the range at all highway speeds.
Round trip, you can go somewhere up to ~37 miles away and drive home to recharge on a single charge. You're both saying the same thing:)
> EVs dont lose 50% of their range at highway speeds.
Yes, they do, compared to 25 mph. I even gave you the chart.
Tesla does not quote a 550 mile range for the Model 3, any more than an ICE car’s range is stated as what a hypermiler could get.
As the chart shows, the reverse would be true: if they’re advertising a 150 mile range you would be able to beat that considerably if you drove at 30mph.
I couldn't be more excited about this vehicle (I put $50 down to reserve one), but god damn, that customizer tool is bad. I'm someone who goes to a lot of auto manufacturer websites and makes imaginary builds, so I think I've spent time using the majority of builder apps that are out there, and this is one of the worst. On a laptop, with a shorter screen and a touchpad, it's really hard to use. Which is too bad, since customization is their whole deal.
> "and the only way to listen to music while driving is if you bring along your phone and a Bluetooth speaker"
Why not make a physical connection (power/network) and define a form factor for entertainment system with or without screen and speakers and let other companies design something to fit the space available. I don't understand why no one does this instead of selling cars full of crappy software that can't be upgraded.
Double DIN already exists with fairly standard plugs in the back
That's what cars always used to have. Made them easily stealable though.
This makes a lot of sense for a run around town and short commute car. It specializes for that use case perfectly. I can see a world where families have one decent gas/hybrid car and one cheap EV. That set up could save a lot of gas money over time while meeting the needs of the household.
Also, when is the last time an economy car/truck looked this good? The slate is beautiful.
I think it has a real shot if it arrives as promised, but we know how these things go.
I'm wondering why the hood is so big, given that it doesn't need to contain an engine? Is that where the batteries are located? Or is it just mostly empty space in the form of a frunk serving as a crumple zone to meet crash testing standards? I hope it's not just a strictly aesthetic thing, because you could reduce that distance and end up with an even more practical truck.
It sounds just like the goals of Ford's Model T.
I'd be very interested in buying one of these as my first EV.
If Slate can actually pull this off then this might be the first automobile I buy new. It's almost exactly what I've been begging for.
Main question I have is whether the "blank slate" can be gradually upgraded. Article mentions a battery upgrade, but for example if I did eventually want to install a head unit or whatever, would I be able to do that after driving the truck off the lot? How open will this thing be to aftermarket upgrades?
I love the look and the idea, but I wonder if it will go the way of the small/budget phone?
Will folks revealed preference continue to be big and expensive?
One advantage they might have is that there isn't much on the market for low priced pickup trucks in general. I'd probably rather have a gas pickup than an electric but I don't want to pay the inflated prices that go along with them.
Agreed. The U.S. market had a very long run of both large expensive and small cheap pickup trucks, and people consistently have bought the big luxury pickups. It is why all the small trucks were axed to begin with. Even back in their prime, I saw many more F-150s than Rangers. Its an easy up-sell as I'm sure any car salesman will say: well for only a few more thousand you get into a full-size, and from there, add some options and its over.
>Even back in their prime, I saw many more F-150s than Rangers.
I think you're misremembering. The streets were flooded with Rangers and S10s back in the day. Full sized pickups have been the most popular class of vehicle for decades but that number is grossly inflated by the amount that are bought as fleet vehicles or work vehicles.
It doesn't matter why the number is inflated. If full sized trucks are most popular, then that's what you'll see more of. In any case, there are many people for whom a full-size pickup is their daily driver and not used for work. HN is constantly complaining about it, just not today apparently.
“It is why all the small trucks were axed to begin with.”
No, it is because emissions regulations. A small truck can’t be built on our emissions policies, not that there isn’t a market for one.
I wonder if I could write my own software for this car? Like auto-sensing rain-wipers with an Arduino or something, and if the CAN BUS protocol isn't super hard to use. This would be a car hacking dream.
> RWD on an electric truck, lol. What a joke.
My ignorance is going to shine through here, but isn't the rear axle the one you'd want driven if you had to choose?
Sure, both is "better" but if I need cheap, rear is the better choice?
Depends. rear wheel drives can get stuck on pavement if it is raining and they are trying to go uphill. Snow and ice make it worse. But put some load on and you get enough weight over the axel to be fine. Of course betteries may be under the bed thus providing good weight distribution.
If I undersand the article right, it sounds like they make it with no features but that you add yourself afterwards
"We moved all the complicated parts outside the factory"
What does that really mean? You can paint it yourself, well ok, people may like that. Making it easy to service is great.
If I want electric windows is that adaptable? (It may come with electric windows) When I want to put in a stereo A navigation system? AC? (Might come with it)
It would be cool if the car was a abit "framework" so it has an open well thought out way to add and integrate features a person may want.
THe compnay and 3rd parties could offer up all sorts of cool stuff.
I have dreamt of some entity trying to do this. A completely stripped down vehicle sold for a (hopefully) sustainable profit. I wish them as well as possible, and they will have my interest in purchasing one.
I put down a deposit for one.
An EV that's designed to be user-serviceable, has modular upgrades, and isn't full of surveillance technology? This checks all the boxes for me. Can't wait to play with it.
I'm really intrigued to see how this does. Kudos to Slate for trying something new and building it in Detroit at a great price point.
I see a ton of discussion on social media from people who want to buy simpler vehicles with less features at a better price point (e.g. the Japanese Kei trucks). I'm not convinced Americans will actually buy such a vehicle because we are used to our modern conveniences in new vehicles. You can even see that trend in this thread where people are asking for more features, or things that were phased out decades ago due to safety (e.g. bench seats). Perhaps Slate has figured that out with their options packaging? I'm rooting for them regardless.
> I'm not convinced Americans will actually buy such a vehicle because we are used to our modern conveniences
My town is FULL of workers doing hauling, painting, gardening, construction, etc., and they're all driving old worn rusting pickups that barely seem held together. There's definitely a market for minimal trucks designed to just get the job done without the "modern conveniences".
This has much the same design philosophy as the original Land Rover: tough, reliable, simple and maintainable. It was originally developed as the UK answer to the Jeep, but rapidly became the standard utility vehicle for anyone with an outdoor off road job. Especially farmers. Something like two thirds of all Land Rovers ever made are still in use.
This might well go the same way.
>This has much the same design philosophy as the original Land Rover: tough, reliable, simple and maintainable
Where do you get any of this from? Especially EVs are not something you can easily tinker with as the risk of killing yourself is pretty high. In general they are also more integrated and less maintainable and it seems unlikely that this won't be the case here. Maintainability costs money and to make a 20k car happen every cent needs to be saved.
As for reliability it is obviously one of the first things to sacrifice to make low costs happen. We have seen nothing of this car, I doubt the engineering is even far along.
Looks like a concept that will never actually reach the market.
And if it does and I'm completely wrong, this concept is probably doomed anyways, as it is swinging far too far to the other side away from fancy tech and right into uselessly bare. I'm sure a few people are excited by this, but realistically it will have a tiny real market. Nearly no one wants manual windows and leaving them out isn't saving huge amount of money.
Make it comparable to a decent conventional vehicle, but electric, and you may do well. This though is more useless and non-functional than my old Jeep, which has a trip computer and bluetooth as the biggest "tech features".
It seems performative. They remove a bunch of stuff nobody ever complained about, like paint or radio. Meanwhile it still has an app and it's still electric with pitiful range. The goal isn't to actually fix the car market, but provide a sort of self-flagellation experience so people can feel good about suffering with no radio, no ac, no auto windows... And I doubt they will reach that goal, sounds more like some kind of investor scam. With all these controversial design decisions they can brag to investors it's "making waves on popular platforms like hn".
Man this is so awesome. I do really think they need to consider the fold down bed sides like the kei trucks have.
The bed being plastic doesn’t give me much confidence either. The payload may be similar to a mini truck, but a mini truck’s metal bed will take a significant beating over plastic.
This is very, very close to what I want, but I worry that those two things may prevent me from actually pulling the trigger. While all of the modular features are cool and neat, I don’t really consider them very useful for what I would actually use this truck for.
The purpose of this seems to be a fleet or Personal utility truck, but I still feel like I would be leaning towards a used old Ford Ranger or similar.
The discourse around this thing is hilarious. For years people have been saying “I just want a small, simple truck with no frills and a reasonable price.”
Now, one is finally available, and all the commentary is “Oh, I’m in the target market for this, but I just need them to add:”
- more room for passengers - more payload - an infotainment screen for nav - more room in the bed - more towing capacity - screens in the seats for kids - an app to “manage” it
Guess what! This is why the best-selling vehicles are large trucks, because they give the most people what they want.
Everyone wants a small and cheap and simple car with all the comforts of big and expensive cars. Reality doesn’t work that way!
It's the Microsoft Office paradigm in automotive form. Nobody uses more than 20% of the features in Word or Excel, but nobody uses the same 20%, so it's basically a useless observation. You can't just chop 80% of the features out and still end up with a widely-used product.
They can't sell a vehicle in the US market without a screen, in any case, due to the need for a backup camera.
I wish those Ford Transit vans were made at a cheaper price point. There's not one in stock in my metro area for less than $50,000.
I think one of the most amazing things about this new company is that its run by women who held prominent roles in the Big 3. Its an intriguing vehicle but a Ford Maverick pickup offers far more value for the same price.
Sad to say but if the thing was made in Mexico and was priced at $15,000 it would be a huge hit. By the time you accounted for the $7500 federal tax credit it would be priced at around a quarter the price of a gas 4 cylinder powered pickup. An entire industry of add-ons and wraps would spring up around it.
Not following why it’s women run has any real bearing. Let’s judge people by their accomplishments not their sex and race.
Actually I meant it in a good way. To my knowledge there has never been a car company anywhere that was started by a female team.
Just checked with ChatGPT and it confirmed while there have been women involved with EV and battery startups there hasn't ever been an all female founder led car company. Now that Mary Barra became the CEO of GM it was wildly heralded that there was no longer a glass ceiling in the auto world. But I'd posit actually starting a company, raising money from investors like Jeff Bezos is taking it to another level.
The good news is that I don't think its the last new car company that will get started. I personally know of a guy in Ohio who wants to manufacture a car he built using a diesel engine that gets over 100 mpg and can beat both a Dodge Viper and a Tesla Model 3 to 60 mph.
https://www.autoscout24.com/offers/isuzu-npr-npr-77-35q-li-d...
1/3 of the price including tax credit. Too maximalist?
Just about anyone who doesn't mind the slight inconvenience and has space for a trailer... would be better off with a trailer than a truck.
But this could easily handle a mild commute and nearby errand running. Most "truck" stuff is like buying 5 bags of mulch from the Home Depot that's 10 minutes away. This will handle that perfectly well.
But yes, 20-80% battery usage makes the base model daily range 90 miles, unladen.
You could get a used non-truck EV, add a tow hitch and you'd be able to move more weight in the trunk and in the trailer than this thing can.
Of course, it's a truck, so it can move light + bulky stuff, like appliances and furniture.
Personally, I'd want to pay another $5-10K and get one that can also handle heavy loads. This, but for $30K ($37.5K pre incentives) with no truck-related caveats would be amazing. I'm guessing it wouldn't cost $10K for them to upgrade the suspension + drivetrain.
Really interesting stuff. Reminds me of Ox (https://www.oxdelivers.com/).
1. $50 for a reservation
2. No guarantee of delivery date
3. No right to purchase
4. No guarantee of purchase price
5. No assignment of purchase to other parties
I've got some lunar real estate to sell you if you think this product will ever exist
Kind of a big light phone [0]. China has had these for a bit, I’d guess there’s a decent market for them, though hesitant to buy the first production model of any car, given how dependent we seem to be on warranties and market forces to ensure manufacturing quality and the poor survival rates for new car companies. Interested in v2 for sure.
From the Wikipedia page:
> Unlike most vehicles sold in the United States, the Slate Truck is not expected to have any Internet connectivity
Well that's certainly a sentence. It wasn't true just 20 years ago. It makes me wonder about the world we've grown into with deeply intertwined apps becoming not only the norm but expected.
The idea is there but I'm wondering about the execution. Here's hoping it takes off.
if the truck becomes popular enough post-market modifications will probably be sold as an extra.
If this thing really comes out in a couple years by the time it's ready for mass production to hit consumer hands there will probably be 2 or 3 self driving kits designed for it. The mods for this thing would be amazing.
A buddy of mine who creates shaped interactive art panels with oleds for disney and other groups interactive events texted me about this, installing video panels on this is going to be a breeze.
I'm more excited about this as a platform than even as a car, this is going to be like browser JS, the Lisa and VW Bug for creating an EV tech skill pipeline.
It is an interesting idea, but there is obviously a lot which can go wrong here.
Can you actually build an EV like that, conforming to all regulations, with significant cost reduction? VW is currently trying to build a 20k EV, which seem extremely difficult in Europe and US labor costs are probably higher. The Dacia EVs (which seem closest in concept to a pickup) suffer from many downsides, to make low prices happen.
Do people actually want less screens or do they just say that?
Is customization a road to profitability? VWs ID.1 concept has a similar idea to lower entry price, by making several upgrades user installable, so they can be bought over time.
This is obviously a US only car and the US is very lacking in EV adoption. Will this sell in significant numbers?
Can you actually make it cheaply? Rivian is notoriously unprofitable and making cheap cars is, far, far harder than making expensive cars.
What a gross looking vehicle, and at that price? I just want the old ranger design. I've been using a 2006 ranger for quite a while and it's served me well, I'd like to upgrade it to a ranger XL for that little extra cab room for crap, along with 4WD and power windows and AC, but people rightfully guard them and when they do show up at dealerships they're typically pretty expensive too.
I've thought about importing a Kei, but I don't think it's for me. When I think "American kei truck" I at least think something in the ballpark range cost of a Kei, which is quite a bit less, at least half as expensive for the best options like 4WD, even less if you can compromise. It also has charm unlike this. The range is just ridiculous, too. My little ranger isn't exactly great, I don't push it much more than 300 miles on a tank, but having half that (new! let alone after a few years) is such a deal breaker. Last time I took my truck camping it was around 60 miles each way, and that was a nearby spot.
There's a configurator now.[1] Lots of factory options. The trouble is that it turns into a $30,000 and up vehicle.
This'll seem a like an odd question given the obvious bare-bones approach, but still: Is or could be instrumented for self-driving? I can't imagine us humans driving forever. Otherwise this looks like a dream truck to me. Easy DIY repair, electric, fewer distractions, meant for work not showing off.
Looks interesting. Are there any real-life non-marketing photos of it?
Reminds me of Bollinger prototypes. Whatever happened to those?
https://arstechnica.com/cars/2025/04/amazon-backed-startup-w...
Scroll down. The launch event photos look like real prototypes. A bit closer than the marketing photos.
For comparison, this is a $16k car in China:
https://carnewschina.com/2025/03/25/byd-sealion-05-ev-launhe...
It’s like if you could buy an old Nokia for $200, or a new Android smartphone for $160. The old Nokia certainly has nostalgic qualities and some concrete practical benefits like all-week battery life, but overall it’s not a great deal.
And this is why you have >100% tariffs on Chinese cars — American manufacturers know they can’t compete.
I love the idea. Simple and elegant. Hopefully someone will make something similar in Europe
It's embarrassing when people buy a truck and don't use it for work, towing or payload. So you bought a fuel-inefficient non-aerodynamic vehicle whose storage area is open to the air and unusable for passengers, and it's not big enough to carry or tow large items? What a smart choice.
However, with the SUV package and lift kit, this is actually useful. It's basically the same size (and payload and towing capacity) of the 2nd gen Scion xB. A boxy, roomy, small, cheap car. Absolutely useful and great. (Unlike a tiny truck.)
From the related Ars article[1]:
> Rather than relying on a built-in infotainment system, you'll use your phone plugged into a USB outlet or a dedicated tablet inside the cabin for your entertainment and navigation needs.
How is a "dedicated tablet" different than an infotainment system, other than not having vehicle telematics and controls? Also, a regular tablet UX would be dangerous while driving, and typically they don't have their own mobile data connections.
1. https://arstechnica.com/cars/2025/04/amazon-backed-startup-w...
It's exactly what I think a lot of techies want.
Highly technical people tend to come in two varieties when it comes to electronics in their personal life:
1. Absolutely nothing smart that's not under their direct (or highly configurable) control.
2. Sure just take all my data I don't care. I'll pay subscriptions fees too.
Modern cars mostly do #2... to the point we potentially faced a subscription being required to enable seat warmers [0]. There's basically no cars on the market that do #1 anymore.
And with #2, you're bound by what the vehicle manufacturer decides. They are ending up like forced cable boxes - minimum viable product quality. They can be slow to change pages/views and finicky in touch responses... which I think are actually more dangerous... but this is our only option if this is the car we pick... and almost no one decides on a car for it's infotainment, so it's not a feature that gets much love or attention.
Additionally, technology moves too fast. My first car had a tape deck. The next one had a CD Player.. then I had to get an mp3-player-to-radio dongle, then I replaced my infotainment system with a bluetooth supporting one... and so on.. Even Android Auto (early versions) integrated directly into the infotainment system and needed potentially proprietary cables (USB-to-proprietary connector), and the systems did not look designed to be upgraded/replaced.
This model here allows you to upgrade your infotainment system every time you upgrade your phone (or dedicated tablet)... or simply by changing apps.
Also, Android Auto has mostly solved that UX issue (It's the same UX on a tablet as on an equivalent built-in infotainment system).. Though iPads probably (?) don't have a similar feature.
So I think the 'bring your own infotainment' idea is awesome.
It's not clear what they mean by "dedicated tablet". If it's an integrated add-on provided by the company that just does Android-Auto/CarPlay, then that seems OK. If it's just a holster for a tablet, not so much.
> It's exactly what I think a lot of techies want.
> Highly technical people tend to come in two varieties when it comes to electronics in their personal life:
I get it, I'm one of them. But using a tablet while driving is fundamentally dangerous to other people on the road, drivers or pedestrians. Android Auto and CarPlay are barely constrained enough to allow for distraction free driving.
I've lost hope that we're going back to days of people actually paying attention to the task of driving (even I take phone calls and play media while driving), but normalizing distraction by encouraging use of a tablet or phone seems like a public safety mistake, even if it appeals to the techie crowd.
Not being built-in is significant. Infotainment systems tend to get outdated, and are also a common point of failure that can be expensive to fix, so not having the tablet hardwired in allows for people to choose their own setup and is also more future-proof.
> Infotainment systems tend to get outdated, and are also a common point of failure that can be expensive to fix
Android Auto and CarPlay solve that problem for navigation/communication/entertainment. The automakers aren't going to provide an open API to the vehicle control systems, for both competitive and safety reasons.
What would be nice is the old fashioned DIN interface, where you could install an aftermarket AA/CarPlay unit like this:
https://www.bestbuy.com/site/pioneer-10-1-hd-screen-luminous...
Android Auto for Phones has been dead for a few years. That would be the app you'd use on an Android tablet.
https://www.autoevolution.com/news/android-auto-for-phones-i...
Also, these days AA can connect to the car's systems to do range estimations for its route suggestions and suggest charging on the routes. I'd hope whatever connectivity they do here includes sharing that data with the device in the cabin.
> Also, a regular tablet UX would be dangerous while driving
A passenger could operate it.
Oh, I maybe misread it - thought it meant you could plug your own tablet into the speaker system.
You can do that in any car today. Nor is there a lack of devices available for physically attaching a regular tablet to your dashboard.
The question is whether a car maker should be encouraging or enabling a generic touch screen tablet to be installed on the dashboard versus an infotainment device with constrained functionality like AA/CP designed to minimize driver distraction.
I would be happy with a built-in screen that did nothing but AA/CP while the car was driving, and then reverted to a normal tablet interface when the car is parked.
Climate control, etc should be physical knobs and buttons. Anything critical to driving should be on or near the steering wheel.
I'm not sure why I read this as a $20k guitar pickup...
This is cool, but you can buy a 3 year old used model 3 right now for close to $25k that has 300+ mile range. The model 3 also has, wait for it, a/c and speakers…
How long is the bed of that pickup?
You mean this?
https://www.teslarati.com/tesla-first-pickup-truck-is-a-diy-...
My prediction: this will cost $15K-$25K more before you ever have it in your driveway. Even with tariff and market uncertainties.
People say they, and many other Americans, want a cheap and simple truck. They're lying.
I know you don't believe me but it's true.
Automotive sales numbers are public information. Every single time a VIN is stamped into some metal, that record is public. The gradual decline in the sale of small, simple, cheap trucks is well documented.
People want full-sized trucks.
People say they love manual transmissions, too. They walk right past the manual Tacomas and Jeeps and buy an automatic.
People say they love station wagons. Then they go to the Volvo dealership and walk right past the V60 and buy an XC60.
People say they want a cheap car. Then they walk right past the base model Corolla and throw down $50k on a Rav4 Limited.
Only enthusiasts and weirdos like me will buy one of these.
A company whose audience is enthusiasts and weirdos must charge a shit-ton to stay in business. $20k isn't a shit-ton and if their strategy is to make up the difference on upgrades, they're not selling cheap trucks anymore.
I know what Americans, in aggregate, want. They want a big-ass SUV with heated and cooled seats with a screen that stretches across the entire god damned dash, 360 degree cameras, RGB mood lighting, 47 speakers, and second-row captain's chairs that make getting to the third row easy.
I own 3 cars, a Fiat 124 (MANUAL) Spider, a Volvo V70, and an Alfa Romeo Giulia.
But I am a weirdo, and because of this those companies are about to go extinct (in the US, at least).
I'm the guy that ran OS/2 and BeOS until the bitter end. I prefer writing software in Ada. I had a Saab.
I am literally and actually a subject matter expert on this shit.
I know what normal people want, and this ain't it. I know this because I want it.
are you sure that people want "trucks" the size of tanks or is it that the US is now in an arms race focused on vehicle size? Could it be that reasonably sized vehicles are just not available?
The auto companies' argument about what consumers "want" is mostly nonsense.
Aren't backup cameras mandated in the US now? How do you have a background camera with no screen?
Edit I see the issue. The actual title say no touch screen. The OP altered the title to just say screen for some unexplainable reason.
Maybe this title should be fixed?
Answer's in the article. There is a screen behind the wheel for the speedometer, odometer, etc. The backup cam displays there.
i hate trucks because they're big and trash up my neighborhood with their noise and size, just don't belong in the city. but since some neighbors have started driving electric (rivian, cybertruck), I tolerate them so so so much more. it's amazing how just making them electric has changed (and I hope, continues to change) the gestalt of my block.
All about the chicken
https://www.autoblog.com/news/why-the-chicken-tax-still-cont...
Electric cars make personalization so much easier, glad someone's doing this.
And it's a pickup truck that is an actual pickup truck.
> that is an actual pickup truck.
Which is its ultimate downfall, unfortunately. It being an actual pickup truck means that for all practical purposes you will also need a car, with all the additional headaches of owning more wheels to go along with it, and at its price point plus the price of a car you may as well buy one car with some truck-like features (i.e. the pretend pickup trucks that have become so popular).
If they make a sedan I would buy it in a heartbeat at those prices. A pickup or suv doesn’t work for me.
So incredibly refreshing after the abomination that is the telos was announced
All the images look like renderings. Is the car actually in production?
https://arstechnica.com/cars/2025/04/amazon-backed-startup-w...
This has launch event photos that claim to be of prototypes.
I hope they succeed, this is a great idea. I’d love something like this.
Hand crank windows is a weird choice, are the locks manual as well?
In a 2-door vehicle, you can just lean over and roll up the window and toggle the lock on the other door. If you've ever had an old car then you'll know the annoyance of a broken electrical motor.
I've never had an issue with electric windows, or even know anyone who has
Was that more of a problem on older cars?
Why the downvotes on this comment? If you're not sufficiently curmudgeonly to sympathize with this sentiment, there's lots of other cars for you. I'm sure you can find a subaru outback with a built in purple hair dyer or whatever you want.
Power window "regulators" (the unit that holds and raises/lowers the window) are usually similar in price and weight to cranked manual window assemblies, and can be cheaper. A small motor is not at all expensive and is a less specialized item than a window crank handle and gear unit.
What could save money is not needing to run any wiring whatsoever into the door - if the doors can be made with no speakers, lighting, crash sensors, switches, power locks, or power windows, then the assembly becomes significantly simpler and therefore cheaper since there's no wiring harness to fish (usually a manual production step), no holes and grommets, etc.
But if power windows are going to be an option, I'm not sure how this plays out. Do the power windows come with a wiring harness that requires the user disassemble the interior and fish the wiring? If it comes pre-wired, then the choice for manual windows is actually quite strange and possibly more expensive.
That's why I'm wondering if locks are manual as well. If there's no wiring at all going into the doors then presumably the doors will be cheap. But if they have power going in for locks already, power windows shouldn't be a costly addon.
I think automatic door locks are a US requirement for crash safety.
Lots of trucks are still for work, but they have gotten so expensive more people than ever are considering them as luxury purchases.
Electric windows have been a luxury item for generations.
Traditionally, with an F-150, they were just much slower, prone to failure and expensive to replace.
Especially if you often go in & out from a gated area where you have to roll your window down every time and use your pass or talk to the guard :\
Or roll them all down whenever it has been parked in the hot sun, to quickly let out the overheated air before the air conditioner can become very effective. If you have A/C, or even use it at all :)
Window motors may not last much longer than a set of tires then, and cost as much to replace, often without warning. You're supposed to be able to afford it anyway.
However in the late 1990's the manual knob was moved to a stupid place, and it became impossible to lower the window in one quick second any more.
I can only imagine that the automotive engineers were constantly being bathed in the luxury of their environment and never even put enough test vehicles having no options through any kind of ergonomic comparison.
For the longest time these kind of things were built to provide an extreme amount of comfort for someone having a similar stature to Henry Ford. Almost lasted the entire 20th century before there was such great discontinuity.
Engineers probably didn't test drive any having manual seat adjustment, on long trips either. Otherwise they would have done better than to have an adjustment bar blocking the entire area under the driver's seat in such a way that about 25% of the footroom was lost, which was formerly available as you occasionally adjust your posture for endurance.
It was like expensive sportscar people started designing trucks. You don't sit upright in a sports car so the space is not wasted there. No more twin I-beam front suspension either, you didn't really want a truck that tough any more in the 21st century did you?
They didn't know any better. At least they once did.
And who doesn't like luxury?
Automatic locks is another one, once very seldom seen except in things like Cadillacs. That's why people envied them so much for decades, and when they finally came within reach of the mainstream they flew off the shelf.
too many comments here to read them all
but, MMW, i think they will sell every single unit made
basic truck + freedom of customization will be very popular in the USA
These are going to rust out fast in higher latitudes. You'd think Michiganders would know better.
Hold on, isn't backup cameras mandated for vehicles sold after May 2018?
Great concept. Bring back real small trucks. My grandpa ran a farm with a truck this size.
Disappointed in towing capacity of 1000 pounds ish. I can already do 1700lb on my hybrid rav4
it has a backup camera.
A mandatory part of today’s safety features is a digital rear-view camera. Typically, this view pops up on a modern car’s central infotainment screen, but the Slate doesn’t have one of those. It makes do with just a small display behind the steering wheel as a gauge cluster, which is where that rearview camera will feed.
If Slate succeeds, it would be the total inversion of Tesla's original masterplan strategy of starting with a supercar and then slowly working their way down the value chain. And what's really astonishing is that, not only is this the cheapest electric car in the country, it's one of the cheapest new cars in the country, period.
https://www.cars.com/articles/here-are-the-10-cheapest-new-c...
It's a very different market today than when Tesla started. Tesla's strategy of starting at the high end was necessary to build electric cars from scratch. New competitors can start with existing supply chains and a base of engineering expertise.
I do think Tesla has lost sight of their original plan, though. They should have kept going through one more generation of significant cost reduction/increased volume after Model 3/Y. They are intentionally leaving this part of the market to competitors as they focus on self driving, and I think it's a mistake that will cost them in the near term.
I think Tesla looked at what is selling in the U.S. market and pivoted to the Cybertruck. Small, cheap sedans and wagons just don’t sell that well at retail anymore—in part because people don’t like them, in part because of safety concerns, and in part because there is a huge backlog of cheap used vehicles.
I think the Cybertruck is a prestige project, like the Roadster. It will never compete with the F-150 in the US in its current form, it won't work in the global market either, and probably won't ever be material to Tesla's financial results unless it gets a complete redesign to make it cheaper and less ostentatious.
Slate’s plan is only possible because they have the benefit of almost 2 decades of advancements (read incredible price drop) in batteries and EV related components.
Exact same car 2 decades ago would have cost a hell of a lot more. At which point the lack of bells and whistles would have been a huge problem.
>If Slate succeeds
Obviously a very big "if" making it at that price point will be extremely challenging.
I feel like this is the perfect first car for a teen or college student Gets them from A to B. optimally 5 star crash test rating. Cheap.
If they deliver i would absolutely buy one for when my oldest starts driving in 3 years.
Where I live, a cheap truck was often a Young person's first purchase.
There were a bunch of minimal 2 seaters that were affordable.
And young people move residences a lot. Having a small truck that can hold a mattress was ideal.
The modern luxury behemoth truck is an abomination...
I had an old Nissan XE truck for a few years. I loved it, the thing was simplicity itself.
I assume there's still a lot of vaporware here, but if they can make it reliable and avoid the teething issues of new cars, I'd probably impulse-purchase one. I would also love to see options for AWD and a full-length bed.
"strong safety standards" are what got us to the point of 5000lb pickup trucks and A-pillars that are so wide they arguably kill more people (predominantly pedestrians & cyclists) than their constituent airbags save.
It is cartoon villain tier to compromise the visual range of the driver at the safety expense of everyone outside the vehicle, who is not shielded by 2 tons of mass.
Much of what is wrong with automobiles is a severe inability to think in higher order terms.
The $20K is after incentives, so it's actually $27,500. That still compares favorably to Ford's closest offering, the F-150 PRO, which is $54,999 (pre incentives):
https://www.fordpro.com/en-us/fleet-vehicles/f150-lightning/
The Ford comes standard with the same range as the upgraded Slate, though. The slate can tow 1000lbs, and hold 1,433 lbs, vs the Ford's standard 5000 / 2235, respectively (you can upgrade the range and towing capacity on the ford):
https://www.caranddriver.com/news/a64564869/2027-slate-truck...
Not including a bluetooth capable am/fm radio / speakerphone on a fleet vehicle seems dumb. This cut what, $100?
I can easily see Ford cutting $10K off the cost of the Pro. It looks like it has power windows, and it definitely has an infotainment system. Also, the two row cab adds lots of weight + cost and makes the bed smaller.
Anyway, competition is good. Hopefully slate will make something with an upgraded suspension / power train for $10K more, and maybe eventually a larger one with ford-compatible conversion mounts (for custom work trucks, etc.)
>Is there another EV offering that's closer and available in the US?
No, that's the point, it's filling a niche that basically nothing else does right now. The closest alternative would be a small electric car paired with a small utility trailer. Something like a Nissan Leaf and one of those $500 trailers from harbor freight. Which added up and with discounts probably costs fairly similar to this.
Interesting.
No mention of crash testing or crash-worthiness/safety. Airbags? ABS braking? Collision avoidance (brakes engage based on distance and speed to cars or objects ahead), etc.
Before the hounds say "it is refreshing..." remember that lots of safety features are there because so many people died before they were instituted.
How safe is this plastic body from lateral impact by an F150 or SUV?
One of the reasons for which I do not like or buy old vehicles is the lack of safety features that are common today. All it takes is to land a loved one in the hospital (or worse) to quickly regret the choice to buy a cheap car or an old unsafe car. Years ago my father was t-boned by a full size SUV at a neighborhood intersection, launching his car diagonally across the intersection and onto the front yard of the corner house...through a couple of trees. He walked away from that one because the safety engineering of the vehicle he was driving save his life.
Another note: To me, while this is interesting, it is also a sad commentary on the state of manufacturing in the US. The ONLY WAY to make a $20K car in the US is to strip it down to bare metal...err...not even use metal...or paint...or electronics...or comfortable seats...and have HALF the range of other EV's...and even take out the speakers, etc. And then, you sell not having all those things as a FEATURE! Yup. Brilliant. What's the least we can do to build a car and get away with it?
My prediction is that this thing will die a pretty rapid death or they will have to pivot into making real cars for this market. There's a reason nearly three million conventional trucks were sold in the US last year. Plastic bodies, 150 mile range and barren interiors did not fit the description of a single one of them.
No infotainment is great. We're all dying for a car with no infotainment.
But no stereo at all is not something that anyone wants. A simple radio is as much a basic expectation as "windows that go down".
Aside, why a pickup body? Aren't sedans wildly more popular?
I can't imagine the DIY minimalist crowd is terribly popular, or profitable... I wonder how long they will actually be able to stay in business.
"but is this extreme simplification too much for American consumers?"
No, it's not. This American consumer says bring on the simplicity. Also like that this is not some monster sized thing.
I think many consumers want a simpler "dumb" car, just look at sales of the 5th generation 4Runner. That car came out originally in 2010 and they sold it through 2023 with barely any upgrades and their best sales years were all in the 2020's.
Lots of people say it's because offroading got popular but I think it's also because that car was "dumb" compared to more recent offerings. And personally as an owner of a 4th generation 4Runner, one of the things I like most about is that it's "dumb".
I like the idea of this as a Framework-style vehicle. If they really leaned into the mod community and were making deliberate decisions to support this, it could offer a lot of traction. Shame there's no AWD version of this. That, the larger battery option, in truck mode with a rack and tonneau cover would be great for contractors as an around-town job vehicle.
I'd buy this immediately and just paint it myself. This care looks perfect for modding.
That's really expensive, I'm actually in the process of replacing the plastic front and rear bumpers on my 1999 W210 Benz and just the plastic parts add up to over $1k before paint. Having a shop do the whole thing would probably cost $5k or more. I'd rather pay up front whatever it costs to have steel body panels than deal with plastic.
This Truck is gonna be a big Hit with consumers!
But once it starts selling like hotcakes they'll jack up the price to "Whatever the Market will Bear" relative to how many they're able to produce.
With most people struggling to get by nowadays (economically) we'll love the "less gadgetry" option because all that advanced technology stuff (and I do mean even power windows!) is, as my father always said, "Just something else that's going to eventually break, and was designed so it must be replaced not repaired."
This sounds great. There are not any pictures of the interior but I hope it is also very simple and not full of difficult to reach nooks and crannies that are impossible to clean.
Video review:
Oh HELL yes!! This is almost exactly the kind of thing truck owners have been clamoring for for years now. The only way this could be more exciting is if Ford flipped out and rebooted the Econoline on this concept.
Good point. Is this article designed to feel for demand of a possible product?
there is an interior rendering in the image slider in the article https://platform.theverge.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/202...
It has a base range of 150 miles [0], which won't resolve range anxiety worries as the average American travels 42 miles a day [1] and only has 2 seats. I think it will do well for hobbyists and EV enthusiasts, but it would be hard to compete with a slightly pricier Tacoma. When people buy a pickup truck, they often use it as a daily commuter as well.
> Got a road trip planned? These trips are all doable on a single charge of our standard battery. If you want to go even farther, our extended range battery increases the range to a projected 240 miles from a projected 150 miles. [0]
[0] - https://www.slate.auto/en/charging
[1] - https://www.axios.com/2024/03/24/average-commute-distance-us...
Edit: The average pickup truck purchaser's has a household income of around $110,000 and 75% live outside cities [0]. When they are purchasing a pickup, it is meant to be both a daily driver and an errand vehicle.
Spending $20,000 on a 2 seater bench pickup with 150mi range is ludicrous when you can buy a used 5 seater Honda Fit or Toyota Tacoma for $0-7k more.
This is most likely targeted at fleet usecases like a factory or local deliveries, but this won't make a dent in the primary demographic that purchases pickups, and being overly defensive is doing no favors in thinking about HOW to build a true killer app EV for the American market.
> All true but totally irrelevant
Not really. The average pickup truck purchaser's has a household income of around $110,000 and 75% live outside cities [0]. When they are purchasing a pickup, it is meant to be both a daily driver and an errand vehicle.
Not have 4 seats AND having a lower range makes it a niche vehicle from a consumer sales perspective.
This is most likely being targeted at fleets, which tend to have a local presence and don't have the consumer usecase attached.
> I would absolutely, 100% get this to have an errand vehicle that never leaves the metro area.
You're a software engineer in the Bay Area. You were never the target demographic for pickup truck sales, but you would in fact be a target demo for a product like a Slate Truck.
[0] - https://www.americantrucks.com/pickup-truck-owner-demographi...
>> All true but totally irrelevant
> Not really.
The person you're replying to shares their perspective about why they think your complaints are irrelevant to them. You can't "not really" someone's lived experience. Well you can, but it sounds smug and out of touch.
> Not have 4 seats AND having a lower range makes it a niche vehicle from a consumer sales perspective.
The base model only has two seats. The article explicitly states there will be an SUV conversion kit that you can purchase and install at home. There will also be an extended battery available. It's a very customizable vehicle.
> Not have 4 seats AND having a lower range makes it a niche vehicle from a consumer sales perspective.
In the Bay Area alone, that's huge. A cheap electric 2-seater that can get you into the HOV lanes? Yes please! Who cares if it happens to be truck-shaped. Squint and pretend it's an Electric Camino.
> You're a software engineer in the Bay Area.
...who grew up in the Midwest, learned to drive in a 1970 Chevy Custom with 3-on-the-tree, spent many adult years on the Great Plains, and who happens to live in the Bay Area now.
I am no stranger to trucks.
There are a million things I could use a pickup for today, especially for that price.
> It has a base range of 150 miles [0], which won't resolve range anxiety worries as the average American travels 42 miles a day [1]
What am I missing here? Charge at home and you’ll easily do those 42 miles every day surely?
Especially since your other point said these would be aimed at those outside of cities and those people will presumably have parking/charging at their home.
Disagree. I would buy this as a secondary vehicle for in-city needs, not for road trips. I've been thinking about getting a second car to complement our Kia EV6, but don't want to spend a ton.
Yep, and it's something that Slate's marketing doesn't directly address. Before Tesla's brand perception meltdown due to Elon, a major reason why Tesla was much more popular than other brands was because of the Supercharger network, which helped reduce range anxiety worries in the West Coast.
> a major reason why Tesla was much more popular than other brands was because of the Supercharger network, which helped reduce range anxiety worries in the West Coast.
Can't basically every other brand use those now? Between the compatible Tesla chargers and all the other ones through Charge America and charging overnight at home, there is no concern from a daily driving, or even moderately ranged trip, standpoint. The downside to long trips is the 30+ minute wait at each charging stop, not the lack of chargers.
This is obviously not intended to compete with F-150s and Tacomas. And Honda doesn’t make the Fit anymore. See here for a current Fit owner’s take:
it is extremely important that you read this comment: a company called edison motors out of canada is making a conversion kit that can turn any pickup into a hybrid using a drop-in motor and a really powerful generator. imagine something that costs less than this truck, has a range of many hundreds of miles, and can be used to tow more than ten thousand pounds. and you never have to turn on the generator if you dont need to. groceries on all electric. they are posting videos on youtube about this, its real. i personally believe that these work trucks will be the best in history. the most reliable, the most utility, the best cost.
go the next step, and offer box and wheel/tire deleet, lots of people will have or can get wheels/tires that will fit, if they use one of the popular size combos, and many would opt for a flat deck, or custom purpose box see if it can be squeezed down to 20k, taxes in delivered with no box, they can be stacked, piggy back, just the way commercial heavy trucks are stacked for delivery.....more per load, less trips
This is not real.
This will be real when you can go to some place, pay $20k and drive out with such thing.
If you're into car CGI, this is a much more enjoyable resource [1]!
And the worst thing is that Elon could've been a living legend by building/funding colleges and schools focused on the tech his companies need, software development, robotics etc. Or even given out million dollar scholarships for the very top students.
And he still would've been worth over 250 billion easily.
Instead he chose to buy the president and start "optimising" the government with AI.
We detached this subthread from https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=43801711 and marked it offtopic (because it turned into a generic thread that has nothing to do with the topic that was being discussed in the parent comments).
There's a question about his actual goals in government.
He's an ambitious person. And AI enables a degree of surveillance state that we find it difficult to even begin to imagine. All the logistical difficulties of something like Orwell's 1984, of the Stasi having 1/3 of Berlin on the books as informants against the other 2/3, go away completely. We have more cameras than ever. Every person gets to enjoy the kind of focus that went into tracking down Luigi. DOGE has exfiltrated all our sensitive databases to servers that they control; Every 'Chinese Wall' intended to ensure some kind of separation of concerns has been broken down, almost certainly including various formally classified intelligence-gathering campaigns. You can't necessarily stuff that genie back in the bottle. If somebody wanted to be... not president, but authoritarian leader of a post-democracy, Musk would be well positioned technologically.
It wouldn't be inconceivable to set up an AI to do all the same sort of fraud & identity theft attacks against an individual that for-profit blackhats do, or that a Kiwifarms harassment campaign can do, without much of any actual staffing. Only DOGE starts out with your social security number, your tax records, your drivers' license, license plate reader records, web history, everything. That individual could be a Wall Street Journal editor who wrote something Musk dislikes, or ten thousand Redditors who are making fun of Teslas.
If somebody wanted to be... not president, but authoritarian leader of a post-democracy, Musk would be well positioned technologically.
of course, that was his very explicit goal. Thiel backed Curtis Yarvin, who came up for the plan for this and called it RAGE. google it, it's all written down. they hoped to put in Bezos or Zuckerberg and have a more efficiently-run dictatorship replacing our democracy. because they didn't understand politics, they got the ketamine addict instead, who renamed RAGE to DOGE so he could also use it to power a crypto pump-and-dump.
*edit: and because it was never a realistic plan. because they didn't understand politics
> And the worst thing is that Elon could've been a living legend by building/funding colleges and schools focused on the tech his companies need, software development, robotics etc.
Could he, though?
I mean, he might have the cash, but if you look at his history you don't see that much interest or respect for basic academic principles, or even any basic academic achievement whatsoever.
He conveys an image of someone who is mentally trapped in prepubescence, and who repeatedly does things that a prepubescent kid does to try to gather admiration. I meant who desperately tries to pass themselves off as elite gamers? How long will it take until he moves on to DJing? That's not someone who has any interest in founding education institutions.
The man does have an army of terminally online sycophants, which I now wonder whether they are astroturfed.
> I think the point is he could if he was a different person.
That statement is pointless. The critical factor is not money, it's willingness. You do not even need to be the world's richest man to put together a school. There are pro athletes with a fraction of the wealth that already do meaningful investments in education.
> He has two degrees. BA in Physics and BSc in Economics
You should verify your claims
https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/musk-physics-degree/
From the article:
> Musk's past statements about his educational background, however, have been, at best, imprecise. He has claimed on several occasions to have received a physics degree in 1995 — a claim that was never fully true but which may have aided Musk's early business career.
Elon has proven to truly be the dumbest smart guy ever. He alienated Tesla’s core customers; tree hugging liberals, and anyone who cares about sustainability. The GOP nor their voters care and never will. I called this Tesla stock crash months ago; did not act on it though.
One interesting thing is that he seems completely unaware that he is the problem. Stepping back from DOGE to focus on Tesla again. He thinks that him getting closer to Tesla will help save the brand, when it's exactly his association with it that caused the damage in the first place.
The best thing he could do for Tesla would be to step aside.
> I called this Tesla stock crash months ago
TSLA is currently up 5% MoM despite really, really horrible earnings and outlook. The market can stay irrational longer than you can stay solvent sometimes.
The fact that so many "climate activists" and environmentalists turned on him confirms my suspicion that they didn't think so highly about the earth or climate change in the first place. They care about partisan politics and their tribe more than the planet.
He spent hundreds of millions to get Trump elected, so that now the EPA is gutted, the closing of coal plants has been halted, and federal lands are set to be drilled and mined into oblivion. This is what climate activists correctly opposed and continue to oppose in opposing Musk.
I think less people care about it politically than you think. Most people I know who have Teslas stand by the product even through Elon’s dumb shit.
I think people care more about their own convenience. There’s nothing else in our market that’s even comparable. People talk a lot of shit and it wasn’t great to start but FSD is on a different level now, especially on newer cars like the new Model Y. Having a car that mostly drives itself is the best purchase I’ve ever made.
It doesn’t seem to be slowing down sales in Seattle. New Model Ys are everywhere here.
Tesla once again tells its own CEO Elon Musk to knock it off with the politics - https://electrek.co/2025/04/22/tesla-once-again-tells-ceo-el... - April 22nd, 2025
67% of Americans would not consider buying a Tesla, new poll says - https://electrek.co/2025/03/28/most-americans-would-not-cons... - March 28th, 2025
Tesla sales fall by 49% in Europe even as the electric vehicle market grows - https://apnews.com/article/tesla-sales-recall-trump-byd-b6f5... - March 25, 2025
Tesla is done in Germany: 94% say they won’t buy a Tesla car - https://electrek.co/2025/03/14/tesla-is-done-in-germany-94-s... - March 14th, 2025
Australian Tesla sales plummet as owners rush to distance themselves from Elon Musk -https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2025/mar/06/australia... - March 6th, 2025
(own several Teslas, won't buy another)
This anecdote doesn’t match the data.
It is definitely slowing demand. You can see it in the Q1 numbers and the discounts on vehicles.
You can ask anyone who buys used EVs in Seattle. There is a glut of Tesla sellers and not many buyers.
Like it or not, your car says a lot about you. People bought Teslas because they liked what they said and now they are avoiding them because they don’t like it.
Having a car that mostly drives itself is the best purchase I’ve ever made.
ok, you can get that with a Hyundai though.
higher-quality, too, yet the Tesla costs more.
I think we would’ve lived in a different world if Elon didn’t use twitter. We might have actually landed on Mars already.
> and has a lower carbon footprint
No it doesn't. An electric vehicle takes < 18 months to become carbon negative. Nobody buys a used car expecting it to last than 18 months. If it does, replacing your car every 18 months is not carbon friendly.
... are you complaining that the price of a new vehicle is higher than the price of a used vehicle?
I like it but minimalism always fails for complex products because everyone wants a different 80% of the features cut. You can already see it in the comments haha.
I don't know what laws need to change, or what needs to happen, but for the people in the southern united states, nearly every one of us would be a reasonably priced gas truck. There are no options. I had to buy a grossly overpriced F150 for double what I think it's worth because there's no other option. These fuel economy laws in the USA make no sense. While this truck is neat I guess, there's 0 use case for it for people who really need trucks in the USA.
150 miles of range is pretty terrible, especially when it's winter and you have a load in the back. Suddenly that's 70 miles of range.
I get that it's a bargain price, so that's the tradeoff. But a pretty bad one.