cross-posted from: https://piefed.social/c/electricvehicles/p/2162853/usa-slate-s-new-electric-truck-will-cost-slightly-more-than-24950
Range is said to be 205 mi (330 km), higher than the original estimate. This price is for the basic truck. The SUV configuration is expected to be $5000 more.
Jeff Bezos’s truck?
He’s an investor in Slate. He had no role in the concept or the design.
Yeah I don’t have a problem with giving credit to engineers if it’s a good thing like this. It’s when it directly gives evil people like that more wealth and power.
Jeff Bezos is a very evil man and I don’t want to touch or support anything that benefits him with a million foot pole.
Imagine if it were Musk or Trump or worse. I have a hard time accepting that, ethically.
I love trucks, and the electrification of everything, sustainable infrastructure and energy. But it has to serve the wellness and the future of the people, not a fucking evil billionaire who is going to turn around and choke us all to death as slaves while the takes over the world.
And as much as I really love stuff like this, engineering and sociologically, and would have idolized this as a teenager and bought it blindly could I have afforded it then, I’m an adult now and have a pretty strong sense of social responsibility to my fellow citizens and the future wellness of both people individually and society. And I just… It’s really hard to justify buying or advertising or supporting or even wanting stuff like this if the net outcome is just gonna be the same old, same old.
Like, I don’t want a Tesla anymore. Not only because their quality has dropped SIGNIFICANTLY, but also because the company refused to drop musk after all of his literally political interference and throwing up multiple sig heils or heil hitlers or whatever the fucking Nazi salute.
So when I ask “is this Jeff Bezos’s truck?” And the answer is “he’s an investor”, I really don’t think anybody should be promoting it or talking about it irresponsibly without considering the ethical concerns and track records of these far alt right billionaire backed corporations.
And unfortunately, I still see way too much of it.
I get that people are sick of horrible shit and life is short and these are nice things… But repeated exceptionalism and social irresponsibility are EXACTLY how we got here in the first place. I’m disgusted, disappointed, frustrated, angry, and sad.
I need good news. Not head-in-sand and keep-shitting-in-the-house-because-it-feels-good.
At that point you might as well consider every possible publicly traded company as benefitting Jeff Bezos.
I’m sure Bezos is broadly invested across the entire market. If you’re buying anything from any publicly traded company, you’re giving Bezos some money.
We need to throw the baby out with the bath water. Burn out the cancer. If we can’t plug the leak, it’s time for a new boat.
Then in the meantime, after you’ve tore everything down and while you’re building your utopia from scratch, everyone starves to death.
That’s kind of a shitty argument though. Because I don’t think we should just give up. We have to at least try.
But also, when society is this fucked, this deeply, by this type of cancer… It’s systemic and we’re heading in a very dark direction. People are going to starve to death no matter what, and compared to full on ww3, I think at some point we need to head it off, identify and cut out the cancer, and try our best to not let corruption back into the power vacuum.
None of this is easy. Not easy to do, not easy to talk about, not easy to even think about. It’s uncomfortable. And many won’t agree. But until society isn’t ratfucking select parts of itself and enriching evil people, I think there’s some structural improvement to be had. The real question, then, is how far down do we need to go? How deep do these shitty roots with a stranglehold on all of us go?
Can you recommend an electric truck for me that doesn’t have the stink of men who have raped the planet, children, or exploited the poor?
I think TELO seems better idk
I do understand what you are saying. I do.
But its impossible to not benefit some greedy dickhead CEO of a corporation in one way or another. Anything you buy will do that. Some companies are better than others but there’s no avoiding having the money go to bad actors in some way shape or form in the end. Its all venture capital companies and billionaire ceos all the way down.
Its been designed to be this way.
I don’t want to touch or support anything that benefits him with a million foot pole.
I hate to break it to you, but probably over half the websites you go to are powered by AWS, Amazon Web Services.
I know. I wish it weren’t that way, and I think it important we all strive for better alternatives.
Only 2 doors for the SUV is pretty wonky.
I mean, Blazers and Broncos have been around forever as 2-door SUVs, not a big issue there
ah, but todays full-sized husky American kids can’t squeeze past the seats in a two-door.
The livestock can ride in the bed.
well it’s not a minivan
This sounds nice for someone who needs a truck. But I have lots of kids. Why can’t I get an EV minivan for under $50k?
But I have lots of kids. Why can’t I get an EV minivan for under $50k?
I think you can get a vasectomy for less than that. Unless you’re murican, in which case, condoms maybe… if they’re legal in your state.
Politics. It can be done
https://m.made-in-china.com/hot-china-products/Electric_Mini_Van.html
The Chinese government is subsidizing the cost of their EVs. They are smart enough to realize that’s the future and want people hooked on them as the supplier. So, yeah it can be done cheaply if you own the entire supply chain and receive government subsidies.
There is not an auto manufacturer on this Earth that isn’t heavily subsidized by its government. The same industry, skills, and infrastructure that make it possible to build consumer vehicles also allow you to build military vehicles. In wartime, a government can come to an auto manufacturer and tell them, “you’re done making consumer pickups. You’re making army trucks now!” And domestic industry cannot be blockaded or embargoed.
And that’s not an industry you can just spin up overnight. If your country doesn’t have an auto industry, and you would like one? Even if you have an unlimited budget, it would still take you decades to get to the point of competitiveness. Countries have a lot of incentive to subsidize their domestic auto producers as a means of ensuring the country retains the ability to make its own military vehicles.
I want a people’s van.
Really tho you’d think that vw would be making an easy to maintain ev version of their Volkswagen van instead of targeting 60k+
Perhaps some sort of people’s station wagon.
Or just a people’s wagon.
Or why be so formal, why “people,” instead of the more casual and fun “folks.”
The folk’s wagon, if you will.
I want a people’s van.
You mean the id.buzz?
They’re offering a 5 seat SUV body as well. Not a minivan, but, closer.
The minivan is important. That sliding door means my kids never slam the door open into the next car… Many people get too attached to perfect paint on their car even though they have a history of trading in “that old thing” every 3 years.
Also the SUV config is 2 doors only, not really comfortable for everyday use as a family.
Maybe not a minivan but I’m pretty sure you can configure this with a lot more seats for not too much more and that’s until after market parts become a thing.
FYI: it looks like slate has switched battery chemistry and suppliers. They will now be using LFP batteries. Cheaper, but they’ll last longer. Especially if you charge them to 100% and discharge them below 15%.
An overall win, as there was a zero chance I would have bought one if they put the NMC batteries in it they were going to use.
There will no longer be battery options for a small 150 mile range battery or a bigger battery that would go around 240 miles, though. Now (due to LFP batteries not being as energy dense) there’s only going to be one battery option that they claim will have a 205 mile range.
Unfortunately for me, this means I won’t be getting one. I need to go 180 miles round trip between charges, and that’s just cutting it way too close. Especially during winter time when the range would be reduced by quite a bit.
Yeah, same for me. Buying groceries or going to see a doctor is a 100+mile round trip for me. At a 240 mile range, it was doable for me. At around 205 miles, that’s cutting it really close considering winters here can be very cold trimming the range. And while I know I can charge at home, chargers in the wild are still far and few between.
I still want one though. I’m very jealous of those can find them useful. The whole concept of being able to absolutely repair and change your base vehicle at home and when you want to is going to be a big selling point to many.
Yeah. I’m hoping it’s a big success and after a couple model years all our supply issues with Trump’s dumbass and AI and lack of tax incentives for EV will be different and they release one with a longer range. I want a 20 year vehicle (my Prius is about 20 and it’s still going like a boss at nearly 300k miles) so ideally, with battery ware and such, I’d like one that would start with a 300 mile range. I’d expect that to get me 200 miles in the winter after 10 years of battery ware.
no screens!? I’m sold. would be perfect for me to have a little around town truck like this. but it will be $80,000 by the time I can actually buy one. and I’m sure it tracks everything you do and everywhere you go.
Hello Nissan and Toyota. Where are your small EV and hybrid pick-up trucks?
The new Hilux does have both mhev and bev version.
Edit: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toyota_Hilux
Seems like it’s available everywhere except america
Hilux are not small, look at a Ford Falcon AU Ute.
lol, they’re $66,000 in Canada.
suburu
brumbybrumb-e 🤤subaru e-sambar 🤤🤤🤤
Seriously!
I still cannot fathom why Honda hasn’t released an ev civic with a 120 mile range. it would sell huge.
Might be cheaper to buy a used kei truck and convert it to biodiesel or electric.
Why do EV companies keep trying to make electric trucks, it seems like the least efficient form when it comes to getting long range out of a car, is it that insecure American men won’t buy a ev if it wasn’t in the gender affirming shape of a truck
Yep. Seen this schtick a hundred times.
Now that the seal is broken on price hikes, it’ll climb more and more. About the time it reaches double, the project will be canceled. Investors will be screwed, and some slimeball will run off with the cash just like he always planned to.
Just like all the other ones.
I’m not very familiar with this stuff, but it sounds terrible. When has this happened in the past?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elio_Motors
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lit_Motors
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aptera_Motors
Here’s a few. But there’s more of these dating back at least to the 70s.
Damn, that’s terrible. Thank you for the links (although I’m not going to read them all, to preserve my sanity)
Canoo, Nikola, Bollinger…US EV startups have all been scams. Aptera has been scamming since 2009.
Well, Rivian and Lucid did okay. Tesla is an outlier.
BUT they didn’t lead with a selling price. That’s where my bullshit alarm goes off.
I’d be happy to be wrong on this one, but… The signs are there.
Slightly more than $24,950, so likely less than $30,000
I don’t know where they’re getting the “slightly more” from, but no.
Yeah, leaving the destination charge unknown for this announcement leaves a lot of uncertainty.
I wonder if Aging Wheels will be able to get a hold of one of these for review.
I sure hope so. Maybe he can do a collab with Technology Connections about it?
Alec is the best. Love his stuff. Valid ranting with well backed reason is such a niche area (especially non political) but I really enjoy finding it.
He also helped me make my dishwasher work better.
I’ve been wanting to buy the detergent powder he helped with. But it’s pretty pricey compared to what I can get locally.
You should watch his videos on solar panels if you like a rant, though it gets increasingly political as it goes.
The video may be primarily about solar, but he goes nuclear by the end.
I loved that episode. I don’t mind political stuff, I’m just inundated with it around every corner and happy when I find something without it as a regular or defining feature.
Or Zip-tie Tuning
Oh god, another cross country roadtrip collab video please.
I love the old couple energy they have when they are together, lol.
They did a collab before. I gotta see this
They’ve done two road trip collabs before. Theres been a few other crossovers too, mostly on Aging Wheels. . Though Robert did appear in Alex’s video about the color Brown.
Can an Electrick Truck Tow Long Distance?
I am a avid fan and patreon of both of them, lol.
I have just placed my pre-order. I’m so pumped!!! :D
Nice. Did they have options to select at this point, or just the base truck?
You can go on their site and spec it all out with pricing. A few accessories have pricing incoming on then but most of the accessories seem reasonably priced.
I was faffing about in the designer; did they remove the option for power windows entirely?
So it wasn’t just me, I didn’t see power window options either this time around…
Interesting, the telematics module is sold separately at $275.00. So for everyone worrying about spying, for this vehicle you got to opt-in and pay extra for it.
I read that the telematics package is meant for fleets, not average buyers
For remote app to vehicle features:
Description A plug-and-play solution that acts as a cellular bridge between your smartphone and your Slate vehicle, unlocking features like remote access and battery pre-conditioning.
Product details Includes: One (1) Telematics Unit, complete with a one year service subscription for your vehicle. Fits all body styles.
I’d hope you can precondition your battery from within the truck as well.
Yeah I don’t know, that’s just what Slate said “the telematics module is primarily for fleet customers, Slate told Ars.”
https://arstechnica.com/features/2026/06/we-take-a-ride-in-slates-24950-electric-pickup/
This! I’m probably ready to pay a bit more to NOT be under constant surveillance by a car maker!
Very interesting indeed.
I’m fairly sure some spying is required by law, like the new driver cam legislation. Wonder how they’ll get past that.
I was wondering about that 2027 legislation and how this vehicle is affected. I didn’t see anything. Maybe that’s a next year production problem.
It goes into effect September 2027 and I’m guessing there will be a price increase.
The driver cam does not need Internet connectivity to meet the new standards.
Never mind the low price, not having that shit built in is the killer feature for me, making it the only new car I would even consider buying. (It’s just too bad they won’t have a 4x4 version for another couple of years.)
It is kinda good that there’s an optional module available, though, because it means there’s an interface that, in theory, a third-party module running Free Software could hook into.
I’m fairly sure that the aftermarket will sort out 4x4 situation
The aftermarket is not going to make an entirely different drive train.
If there is enough money they will. Though I agree with your doubt that enough people will buy this to make it worth it.
Maybe not for an ICE, but it wouldn’t be hard for an EV
Tons of cars fet drivetrain swaps! It’s not bad, lots of kits out there and a little custom fab goes a long way. I have personally put hemis and 8hps in JKs, swapped an 02 drivetrain into my 87 YJ, have swapped a gas V8 rover to a diesel td5, have many auto to manual and vice versa conversion. Hell my co worker just put a Corvette engine in a rover backed by a 6 speed tremec and an adapter plate to the original rover t case. It’s surprisingly simple! Hell u can even convert ice to elec pretty easily if u have the where-with-all!
You don’t need 4 wheel drive with an EV truck, the weight is properly distributed between the 4 wheels, not like stupid pickups that put all the weight over the wrong drive wheels.
Pickups don’t need 4wd due to poor weight distribution, they need it for traction on loose surfaces.
JFC…take a physics class. The drive wheels are in back, the cab and motor are in front. Of course there is no traction, all the weight is at the wrong end and 99% of idiots who buy those trucks drive with empty beds.
My point is that 4WD is never used on pavement in pickups. Many pickups don’t even have 4WD and they do just fine, they have plenty of traction on pavement. Trucks don’t have 4WD due to weight distribution, they have it so people can take their trucks off the pavement. If you never intend to go off pavement, like so many pickup owners, you don’t need 4WD regardless of whether you’re in an ICE or EV truck. If you want to go offroad in an ICE or EV truck, you’ll want 4WD.
I have taken a few physics classes, was required to get some science credits to obtain my CS degree. I’m pretty sure they didn’t cover this concept as, well, duh.
There are tons of vehicles vehicles than can drive off road without 4WD. Most of Rally racing has been done with rear wheel drive vehicles, and they’re actually racing, not just casually driving. The reason a truck might not be able to handle it is because trucks are actually not set up well for it, unless they’re loaded. Like the comment above says, the weight distribution is bad for it, until you load the bed. This isn’t true for an EV truck. The weight is further back, so the rear wheels won’t lose traction as easily.
Anyone who thinks they need 4WD to off-road doesn’t know what they’re talking about. Can it help? Sure. Is it required? Far from it.
Saying 4WD helps offroad is the understatement of the century.
I’ve extensively offroaded in vehicles that aren’t really built for going offroad - a Subaru Loyale 4x4 with/without a rear locker, a lifted Crown Vic, and a lifted P2 Volvo XC70. The crown vic was so much less capable than the stock Subaru Loyale or the Volvo, even with the trunk full of weight, due to it being RWD. It was all about speed and momentum to get up hills, whereas the Volvo can just crawl up stuff. The Subaru can’t crawl up stuff, as it’s a manual and doesn’t have the low range gearbox, but as long as you stay in the power band of 1st gear it’s unstoppable in places the crown vic would be totally spinning out. I always called the crown vic the hammer of offroading, since you kinda were just forced to send it up every steep hill.
Lol rally racing is done on dirt roads. It’s not off road untill it isn’t a road, in which case u need 4x4! Also handy for when there’s a foot of snow on the roads, or during mud season around here where u find Subarus bellied out on dirt roads that are now mud pits. Bonus points if you have lockers or limited slips.
A pickup is supposed to be used such that the weight is properly loaded. If you don’t have the back full of firewood or something else anyway you are doing it wrong.
Then again if you don’t have a full 8 foot bed you are doing it wrong, and those are almost impossible to buy.
I have a modern-ish F150 with a single cab and 8ft bed. I feel like I have the only one that isnt a company truck.
I do if I want to take it on proper off-road trails, mudding and rock-crawling and such.
because it means there’s an interface that, in theory, a third-party module running Free Software could hook into
Absolutely this!
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There’s an entire website about it
Cargo is 1500lbs. Towing is 2000lbs. I doubt… at the same time.
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Those are numbers similar to a small truck in the 1980’s. Im sure its fine unless youre one of these guys who NEEDS to haul four tons of cow shit to texas twice a week or whatever excuse is always given against a small electric vehicle.
The payload is actually pretty damn good for a truck of its size. Compare it to an S10, most are rated for 999 pounds in the bed. In which I have hauled cow shit, half a ton at a time, from one end of the county to the other. Thing is…I don’t think the Slate can carry 1500 pounds of cow shit, the bed is too small.
Towing capacity is better than they initially said, earlier they quoted 1400, 2000 is lawnmower trailer territory. Compare that to the 5600 pound towing capacity of my S10.
And how often do you use the 5,600 pound towing capacity?
Personally? Never have. I know folks with similar trucks who do so daily.
Here’s my thing though: It’s got weirdly high onboard payload capacity, but a small bed. So…how do you load it that heavy? At the same time, it has a low towing capacity, so it’s not great for a contractor pulling a trailer. It’s almost backwards in a way.
Its not for contractors any more than its for people who think they need to tow four tons of cow shit to texas twice a week.
Contractors have trucks. People who want to traffic feces to texas have trucks. This truck isnt for them. Its for the person who just needs to grab stuff from the garden center or haul a couple of bikes to the lake without buying a $70,000 land yacht.
They venn diagrammed too close to the sun. They tried to make a single vehicle appeal to as many people as they could, meaning it’s for basically no one. It sucks at everything.
It’s a pickup truck that has a weirdly high cargo weight rating for the tiny bed you’d have to haul it in. Ideal for those who must move very dense cargo very short distances, like our nation’s many millions of short-haul plutonium deliverymen. I’m sure in 1985, plutonium is available at every corner drug store.
It’s a 2-door 5-seat SUV in a market that already has three 2-door 2-row SUVs: The Jeep Wrangler, the Ford Bronco and the Land Rover Defender. All three of those are pretty serious 4WD offroad machines, all three are available as more normie-fied 4-door variants, and all three sell WAY more 4-doors than 2-doors. Because what the 2020’s American public needs is a full-size sedan, but they want to look rugged and outdoorsy, because if they actually drove a sedan or minivan, in the words of Jeremy Clarkson: “That says 'I’ve had my children and now I’m waiting to die.”
It’s an EV with the frame weight and aerodynamics of a pickup truck. So for it’s battery capacity, it’s got awful range.
It’s an EV that’s also cheap. So it’s got 400V architecture, no Vehicle-To-Load or Vehicle-To-Home, no 110VAC outlet, relatively slow charging despite its relatively small battery, and no heat pump.
So much of its fundamental design is in conflict with itself that it really only appeals to people who have no cargo, no passengers, and nowhere to go. It’ll probably carry home some Stouffer’s and White Claws from the Food Lion every week.
Shame too; I kinda like the eschewing of dashboard tech, the a la carte options list, prominent whatever-the-owner-wants mounting rails everywhere.
As Canadian…
American company?, nope
Owned by Bezos?, hell nah
Bezos was one investor, not the owner
Slate raised at least $111 million in Series A financing, including an undisclosed amount from Bezos. Slate then raised $600 million in 2024 from Mark Walter, the controlling owner of the Los Angeles Dodgers and CEO of Guggenheim Partners, Jeff Bezos, and General Catalyst, a venture capital firm.[5] In mid-2026, the company said it had completed a $650m series C investment round, which took its total capital raised to $1.4bn.[6]
Bezos was seed money AND part of the owner conglomerate that raised all the capital the company started with in 2024. That is enough for me to avoid this like the plague as it will, certain as the sun is hot, be enshitified to the core
If you do not believe me, here is an article explaining how this is all a big Amazon initiative
https://techcrunch.com/2025/04/08/inside-the-ev-startup-secretly-backed-by-jeff-bezos/
I would truly not be surprised that this would be an attempt to take over there ev truck market, but manufacturers should have been paying attention. There’s a huge market for small ass trucks, no one is catering to it
While I’m sure they’ll try to enshittify, the downside to that plan is that they need to make sure no one takes their place and they need to have something people want that they can enshittify. The benefit of simplicity is that it makes it simpler for another manufacturer to pick up the slack.
There’s a huge market for small ass trucks, no one is catering to it
Absolutely correct. The American car makers keep on saying “we only want big trucks” but that is complete BS, there is plenty of demand for smaller trucks which is why they have lobbied the gov to all but ban any possible import
The benefit of simplicity is that it makes it simpler for another manufacturer to pick up the slack.
While this is true in theory, in practice it rarely shows up. If these trucks do deliver a good, simple experience at $25K, others would not be able to just copy it and catch up. It would be easier for any of the big guys to just buy the company.
If the company is not for sale, then they would have the monopoly on small trucks and thus, freedom to enshitify
While this is true in theory, in practice it rarely shows up. If these trucks do deliver a good, simple experience at $25K, others would not be able to just copy it and catch up. It would be easier for any of the big guys to just buy the company.
I agree, but without the complications of a combustion engine, it makes it a lot easier. You can buy ev conversion kits for around $15k, so there’s also an “I’ll make my own, with blackjack, and hookers” option.
so there’s also an “I’ll make my own, with blackjack, and hookers” option.
Always the best option! hahahaha
there is plenty of demand for smaller trucks
Blame a 62 year old law.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chicken_tax
I had this badboy in the 90s and it was the most practical vehicle.
There’s a huge market for small ass trucks, no one is catering to it
That’s incorrect. The Ford Maverick and Hyundai Santa Cruz exist and are very popular.
Toyota is about to release one to compete with the Maverick, and Dodge has a small and a mid sized truck in the works.
That’s incorrect. The Ford Maverick and Hyundai Santa Cruz exist and are very popular.
And they are still inefficient monsters compared to what a real small truck should be:
Ford Maverick (2022+):
-
Length: Approx. 199.7 inches (5.07 meters) almost 1.7 meters larger, 6 feet or so
-
Width: Approx. 72.6 inches (1.84 meters)
-
Height: Approx. 68.7 inches (1.75 meters)
-
Bed Length: 4.5 feet (approx. 54 inches / 1.37 meters) 45% LESS cargo space than a kei truck
Typical Kei Truck (e.g., Suzuki Carry):
-
Length: Max legal limit is 3.4 meters (133.9 inches / 11.15 feet).
-
Width: Max legal limit is 1.48 meters (58.3 inches). Often around 1.4 meters.
-
Height: Varies, but typically around 1.9–2.0 meters (75–79 inches) including the cab/bed height, though the cargo bed side walls are very low (often ~1 meter total height from ground).
-
Bed Length: Typically around 2.0 meters (78 inches / 6.5 feet), which is actually longer than the Maverick’s bed in some configurations relative to the vehicle length, though the total footprint is much smaller.
Kei trucks are power limited and speed limited for urban use only.
yes. they are small so they can work best in urban areas… nobody wants a kei truqk to work a farmein texas
You gotta add a normal US truck to your stats.
The Santa Cruz and Maverick are 2-3.5ft shorter than a Ram 1500.
I have a Santa Cruz, and it looks like a toy truck next to the normal ones. Especially next to duallies.
oh yes most others are way bigger… but I was comparing the “small” trucks that are actually available in the USA to make the point they are not in the same level the real small trucks are
-
The Ford Maverick and Hyundai Santa Cruz
Neither are small.
I’m guessing you’ve never seen them next to a regular pickup. They’re 20-40in shorter in length than a Ram 1500 (depending on cab configuration).
My Santa Cruz is shorter than their engine compartment. When I park between two regular trucks mine looks like a hotwheels truck.
Shit, it’s even smaller than a Toyota Helix.
Those are midsized. I would say Hyundai is the only one with the Santa Cruz, and that’s not really a truck.
The Santa Cruz is exactly as much as a truck as the Ford Maverick is (which is to say, they’re both unibody vehicles).
The Santa Cruz is absolutely a truck. It even has a 3500lb towing capacity. Plus it’s only 4in shorter than the Maverick.
I drove a small truck at one point. Think a late 90s Tacoma, Ranger, or something like that. I don’t want an F250. I don’t want a Ram 3500. I just want to be able to haul a bed full of bikes to the MTB trail and help my friends move a washing machine.
Small truck form factor is only one checkbox on my list. I want to do that with electric instead of gas, yes, but as cheaply as possible without all the expensive gimmicks and touch screens. Give me manual roll up windows if they’re cheaper, I don’t care. 25k USD is still too much in Canada.
Exactly mini-truck FTW! They used to be everywhere. Now you can’t find one.
Slate has a size comparison widget on their website. You can show it with the silhouette of a current full size pickup and a circa 1985 small pickup. It’s almost exactly the same size as that generation.
That’s cool. 99spokes does that for bicycles and I’ve found it useful in that respect. Would be cool to compare all of the cars I ever had like that.
I really love my hybrid Maverick. It is still bigger than I want, but it works really well and averages about 40mpg. I can also fit it in a normal parking spot, which is nice.
I wish the Maverick was body on frame and had better tow capacity. It’s almost what I want.
There’s a huge market for small ass trucks, no one is catering to it
Ford is. The Maverick is selling like hotcakes (not the 60s coupe). And they have an electric small truck coming soon as well. There’s also Tello.
For the life of me I don’t know why we don’t develop something like this in Canada. It’s so frustrating, we have the people, the manufacturing space, the materials, we could do this.
Whenever something about Canada making vehicles gets brought up, all the nay sayers climb on immediately saying how it can’t be done. I’m sick and tired of them. Nothing worth doing comes easy, if left to these naysayers we’d all be still living in squalor.
We need to move away from the U.S. entanglement, the American public can’t be trusted to elect a proper government.
Building our own low cost, modest feature vehicles would be an excellent start. How many features of a car do people use for a normal commute to work, or such? I’d love a truck like the Slate, except it has to have 4 wheel drive ability. After having Hondas with all wheel drive, I’ll never go back to an older 2 wheel drive vehicle.
Before the current political chaos, you would have made a mint. A little ingenuity and affordable value, along with the worlds second biggest car market next door would have been huge
We don’t do R&D in Canada. All we do is assemble shitty vehicles for export.
4WD is unnecessary if you use proper winter tires.
100000000% agree
Ive had TWO vehicles that were manufactured in Canada. They were both fine. What weirdos are saying canada cant build cars?
I heard that Bezos left the company as an investor. I don’t blame you for disliking anything American, but Slate Auto seems alright so far…
He was never “in it”; but he put up the seed money, then participated in the main round of fund raising and placed a ton of his people in the company. So even if his is not personally involved, he has all the strings he needs to pull it where he wants it to go (which, IMO, means Slate will be enshitified to the full the moment those little trucks start selling)
https://techcrunch.com/2025/04/08/inside-the-ev-startup-secretly-backed-by-jeff-bezos/
What I wonder is how exactly are they going to enshittify it? It’s extremely barebones and modular in a way that anyone can design add-ons and accessories for it. I can see them doing subscriptions and the like for various add-ons but you can always just get the base model and get add-ons elsewhere.
They can betray the customer in many different ways… I am not willing to pay $25K to find out
I think my desire for a small electric pickup truck might override my caution in this case, we’ll see if I get burned. At the very least I’m not going to preorder and will wait for real critical reviews after it’s released.
that’s honestly a good approach… I’d do the same
Generally yes, but with a modular and simple-by-design vehicle… how though?
They could simply stop producing certain parts, sneak a specific custom piece somewhere, provide no diagrams or documentation for third parties to produce repairs. They could simply design parts that fail just after warranty. There is an app that goes with it, right there they have the chance to scan and sell your data, push ads to you, track your driving, etc.
I don’t know exactly but there are more ways they can enshitify a product than my imagination allows.
You see, greedy people do not enshitify for sport, they do it for greed as enshitification means more money for them. So unless you are convinced Bezos put money here to help people and not make as much money as possible back, the only logical conclusion is that he wants to milk it as hard as possible, this is what he does.
If they enshittify in the future, then you can just not buy one of the enshittified trucks. The old ones will still be out there, rolling around fine, without any internet connection that the company could use to remotely sabotage them.
It’s never going to be released. Zero prototypes and being pushed by a billionaire.
At this point I think there’s a high likelihood that production will start close to their plan of late this year. As the other commenter said, you can go watch multiple videos of test drives. Pre-orders opened yesterday. But what do I know?
They’ve been promoting it recently and have several working prototypes that they’ve been driving influencers around in. There was one video with Marques Brownlee and they even let him drive it himself.
Same as a European, I do hope it succeeds though and as much as I hate bezos if he’s backing shit like this my opinion of him has increased by about 3.83%.
Hmm? We have much better options available in Europe
With this much modularity and a simple-by-design approach?
New Chinese EVs will be hitting the streets soon. Much cheaper and higher quality.
Higher quality from CCP run China. Nope. If the EV was from Taiwan, then yes.
Lol.
Wow, people really are this dumb.
Eleven down votes from the CCP representatives.
Sounds like it’s your chance to pull an Edison (like the Canadian Edison semi trucks).
Ew Edison…
But yes, some other poster also was surprised something like this could not be started up in Canada
I know our government here is also crappy and has tried to squash related initiatives before but I should look into it more
Is your issue with the man or the company? I actually don’t know much about Edison trucks beyond that they exist.
The man… Edison was last century Jobs, best that can be said is that he had a good eye for business but basically just took other people’s work, milked them and toss them aside making a profit for himself in the process without regards to the harm he was knowingly causing
Yes I’m aware of his story. The Canadian company named themselves such because they were stealing Tesla’s (Elon musk’s company) idea for the electric semi namely because they never delivered and the guy really wanted one so figured he may as well make one himself. They seem like a pretty decent company, although very small.
oh wow, that I did not know (the company’s backstory), thanks for sharing
