• by Tanya Gazdik , April 27, 2025

For consumers who bemoan how expensive vehicles have become, there is an answer in slight: it's called Slate, which incidentally is an anagram of Tesla, notes Business Insider. 

The bare-bones electric pickup truck is financially backed by two investment funds and Amazon founder Jeff Bezos (according to TechCrunch) and will retail for under $20,000 with the federal EV tax credit (assuming it still exists) by the end of 2026.

But bare bones means bare bones. “The Slate has no infotainment panel, and Bluetooth is not available. Instead, you are supposed to bring your own devices to provide the infotainment while driving the Slate,” according to USA Today. “The Slate comes with brackets to hold your phone, tablet and Bluetooth speaker. As such, the Slate does not come equipped with either Android Auto nor Apple's CarPlay.”

Despite Bezos' involvement, there's no evidence the vehicles will be for sale on Amazon (a deal which Hyundai already brokered, per Marketing Daily.) Instead, they will take the direct-to-consumer approach used by other EVs including Tesla, Rivian and Scout. 

The company officially unveiled the vehicle at an event in Long Beach, California last week. Leading up to the reveal it conducted a stunt in nearby Venice Beach where a vehicle was staged in the street with different wraps. The activation was orchestrated by Mischief @ No Fixed Address, which posted about it on TikTok, creator agency Open Influence and media agency Known. The fake businesses included human taxidermy, witches on demand, therapists who specialize in cat trauma and “CryShare” for driving bawling babies to sleep, according to Muse by Clios.

The vehicle is “about as anti-Tesla as you can get,” according to TechCrunch.  “It’s affordable, deeply customizable, and very analog. It has manual windows and it doesn’t come with a main infotainment screen. Heck, it isn’t even painted. It can also transform from a two-seater pickup to a five-seater SUV.”

The company said during a reveal event on Thursday it will launch with more than 100 different accessories that buyers can use to personalize the truck to their liking. 

“In late March, Slate filed for a trademark on the phrase: 'We Built It. You Make It,'” according to TechCrunch. "There is a long list of goods and services it could cover, including everything from switches and speakers to USB ports and pet harnesses.”

It’s how the company will make money despite the low base price via the sale of higher-margin accessories.

“It’s been engineered and will be manufactured in America, but is this extreme simplification too much for American consumers?” asks The Verge, which calls it “a four-wheeled digital detox.” 

Instead of steel or aluminum, the Slate Truck’s body panels are molded of plastic. 

“The theory is that this makes them more durable and scratch-resistant, if only because the lack of paint means they’re one color all the way through,” according to The Verge.  “Auto enthusiasts of a certain age will remember the same approach used by the now-defunct Saturn Corporation, a manufacturing technique that never caught on across the industry.”

Interested buyers can place a $50 refundable reservation on the company’s website, which is already selling merch like T-shirts and water bottles. 

The high price tag of electric cars and SUVs, even with federal and state credits, has prevented a large chunk of Americans from owning one. 

“Even some of the cheapest models currently available -- the Hyundai Kona, Toyota bZ4x, Fiat 500e, Chevy Equinox EV and Nissan Leaf and Nissan Ariya -- cost more than $30,000,” notes ABC News. “Earlier this week, Tesla CEO Elon Musk reaffirmed that his company was on track to build a low-cost vehicle, with production starting at the end of June.”