► New Slate truck announced
► US start-up backed by Jeff Bezos
► Customisable EV will cost $20k
Introducing Slate: the new automotive brand that’s just launched in the US with its first vehicle – a super cheap, super customisable electric truck.
The new brand, which is a start-up that’s been backed by the likes of Amazon’s Jeff Bezos, has gone public with its new EV that’s designed to bring things back to basics.
Its look is thoroughly retro, with clean surfaces and functional design details. Its size is retro, too, with Slate saying its base truck is more akin to something like a pick-up from the 1980s, rather than the behemoths we see on the road today.
Slate’s CEO, Chris Barman, is also pushing affordability with the brand’s new truck. ‘The definition of what’s affordable is broken,’ he says, adding that the ‘radical truck platform is so customisable that it can transform from a two-seat pick-up to a five-seat SUV.’ And it can – albeit with something Slate is calling a ‘flat-pack accessory SUV kit.’ Better get your Allen keys out.
That also allows for an immense amount of customisation, with Slate dreaming up a range of kits and looks from the base platform.
It really is designed to be as simple as possible, with details like steel wheels, manual roll-down windows and physical switchgear inside are all included. As for infotainment, Slate simply provides a mount for your phone.
The truck is all-electric, with a right-sized battery for the platform – a 52.7kWh pack with a 201bhp electric motor on the rear axle. Slate says this model is targeting a 150-mile range. If that’s not enough, a larger 84.3kWh pack will be offered, nudging peak range up to 240 miles.
Slate will make its trucks in America – which will certainly please the current government and its supporters – and says that the entry price for the truck will come under $20,000 after federal incentives. That’s £15k to us in the UK.