Slate’s $24,950 – Slate Auto says its base-model two-seater EV truck will cost $24,950 and reach U.S. roads by the end of the year, betting on a pared-down design and customization add-ons. Inside the newsroom, the appeal of the price collided with sharp disagreement over the t
A small electric truck landed on desks this week with a big claim attached to it: Slate Auto says its base model, a two-seater, will cost $24,950—the “most affordable truck in America.” The company expects the vehicle to hit US roads by the end of the year.
The sticker price did what prices often do: it grabbed attention fast. But in a newsroom where car talk usually means specs and savings plans, the real shock came from what Slate is leaving out.
Slate’s plan to keep the price low is straightforward—strip away many of the features drivers have come to expect. There’s no touchscreen or built-in stereo. The windows run on old-school manual cranks. The truck’s estimated range tops out at just 205 miles. Even the size is a deliberate downgrade in ambition: at 14.5 feet long. the vehicle is closer to a Toyota Camry than a Ford F-150. The driver sits low to the ground, more like a sedan than an SUV.
In a moment when vehicle affordability is tightening, that $24,950 number feels like a lifeline. Fewer than 5% of new vehicles sold last year had starting prices under $25,000, according to car-shopping website Edmunds.
But the newsroom division didn’t come from whether the price could land. It came from the look.
One colleague called it “the ugliest thing I’d ever seen.” Another said they’d happily buy one.
Dan DeFrancesco—this newsletter’s weekday writer—was firmly on the buy-it side. saying: “I know this country was built on excess. (And God knows I love an all-you-can-eat sushi spot.) But less is more with pick-up trucks. Unless you have a professional need for it, owning anything bigger than a Ford F-150 just makes you a hardo.”.
The disagreement matters because Slate is stepping into a tougher market. EV demand has cooled in recent years, making it a difficult time for the company to arrive on the scene.
Slate’s counterpunch is customization. The company says it will offer more than 200 accessories and add-ons. Those include vehicle wraps, seat covers, roof racks, light covers, a stereo, and interior tech. In other words: the company’s barebones truck is meant to be shaped by buyers after the fact.
One staffer tried it a different way—starting with doubt and ending with curiosity. The writer said, “At first glance, I thought the truck was ugly. But after playing around on the website with accessories. colors. and designs. the concept grew on me.” The same writer added that the old-school design feels “quaint” compared with today’s vehicles. and closed with the practical point that “you can’t beat the price.”.
For now, Slate’s pitch has landed in exactly the way the company probably wanted: not just as a cheap EV headline, but as a choice that forces a decision—about what a truck should look like, and how much drivers are willing to trade away for affordability.
Slate Auto EV truck affordable electric vehicle $24 950 205 miles range 14.5 feet long Edmunds customization accessories
205 miles range?? that’s basically a golf cart with a truck body.
I don’t get why they’re fighting about the design, like if it’s $24,950 who cares if it looks weird. No touchscreen is wild though, are we really going back to manual cranks lol.
So it’s cheaper because they removed like… every feature, and then people are mad it looks ugly? Sounds like capitalism working as intended. Also 14.5 feet long? isn’t that like not even a real truck, more like a wagon.
The article lost me halfway but I saw “most affordable truck in America” and thought ok so they’re gonna subsidize it or something. 205 miles is gonna get wrecked in the winter and then everyone’s gonna pretend they didn’t buy it. If it’s a two-seater, why would anyone haul anything? But also, low price = probably the only reason people will love it, even if it looks like a stapler on wheels.