GoKawiilWith its new pickup, Slate Auto is making a simple bet: price matters more than almost anything else. The company announced today that the American-made electric truck will start at $24,950, placing it squarely in the mid-$20,000 price range it had originally promised and making it the least expensive pickup truck and EV available today. At a time when the average new vehicle costs nearly twice that amount, Slate is pitching something that has become increasingly rare in the modern auto market: a genuinely basic new vehicle that doesn’t look that way.
To hit that price point, Slate stripped away features many drivers now take for granted. The truck doesn’t come with a touchscreen, stereo, or even speakers. Instead, it includes a dash mount for your phone. The windows use manual hand cranks. And unlike many new vehicles marketed around increasingly autonomous features, a Slate requires you to do all the driving yourself.
The timing may be right. The average new vehicle sold for $49,220 in May, according to data from Cox Automotive — a price that’s been heading ever upward. Small and midsize pickups averaged $43,044, while new EVs averaged $54,532. Slate’s truck is even cheaper than the average used vehicle, which goes for $26,918. Its closest pickup competitor, the Ford Maverick, starts at around $30,000, while the Chevrolet Bolt EV begins at roughly $29,000.
For decades, automakers have competed to add more features, bigger screens, and increasingly sophisticated software. Slate is doing the opposite. The company believes at least some buyers would rather have a cheaper truck than a premium sound system, massive infotainment display, or suite of driver-assistance technologies. I recently drove the truck in Southern California. While its lack of a touchscreen and roll-up windows attract the most attention, the more surprising part is how normal the vehicle feels on the road.
The vehicle runs counter to a broader trend in the auto industry sometimes referred to as “trimflation” — the push to increase margins by bundling vehicles with more technology and luxury features. As infotainment systems have grown larger and software has become a bigger selling point, truly bare-bones vehicles have become increasingly difficult to find.
At a time when the average new vehicle costs nearly twice that amount, Slate is pitching something that has become increasingly rare in the modern auto market: a genuinely basic new vehicle that doesn’t look that way.
In some ways, Slate is reviving a segment of the market that largely disappeared. For decades, compact pickups such as the Toyota Pickup, Ford Ranger, and Nissan Hardbody served as inexpensive, utilitarian vehicles for young buyers, tradespeople, and anyone who simply needed a truck. But as automakers chased higher margins, pickups grew larger, more luxurious, and substantially more expensive. Today, even many entry-level trucks come loaded with luxuries. Slate is betting there is still demand for a truck that prioritizes affordability over amenities.
That’s not to say buyers can’t customize the vehicle. Slate offers more than 200 accessories, ranging from speakers and seat covers to roof racks and trailer hitches. Eighty percent of them cost under $500. For roughly $5,000, owners can even convert the two-seat pickup into a five-seat SUV. The variety of accessories makes it possible for one Slate to look markedly different from the next.
Slate wants to sell a simple base product and let customers decide which upgrades are worth paying for. The company is also encouraging a do-it-yourself approach as a way to keep costs down. Customers can install wraps, interior accents, lighting upgrades, and other accessories themselves using online video tutorials it’s branding as “Slate U,” or have many upgrades installed for them through a network of more than 3,000 RepairPal-affiliated shops. The car is sold direct-to-consumer, with a fixed manufacturer-set price rather than dealer-negotiated pricing.
For around $500, buyers can add one of the company’s vinyl wraps, dramatically changing the appearance of the vehicle without the cost of a custom paint job. Other accessories, including headlight covers, interior trim pieces, and trailer hitches, are priced closer to what consumers might expect to pay for aftermarket upgrades than factory-installed options.
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