Jeff Bezos-backed Slate Auto prices its truck at just under $25,000, but buyers have to be willing to make some sacrifices
Slate Auto has revealed the pricing of its new vehicle, which it called the "most affordable" truck in America.
Slate Auto, the electric-vehicle startup backed by Jeff Bezos, among others, has officially confirmed its plans to sell trucks for under $25,000.
The startup said its first-ever truck will be priced at $24,950. That's more than the sub-$20,000 starting price Slate had targeted before the federal EV tax credit was scrapped, but it's still cheaper than most other cars on the road. Slate is also offering two SUVs that start at $29,950.
Slate said its new vehicle is the "most affordable truck in America," and it's likely the cheapest EV as well. Most other comparably priced EVs in the U.S. are closer to $30,000, including the 2027 Chevrolet Bolt, which Car and Driver named its most affordable EV.
Just 4.7% of new vehicles sold for $25,000 or less in 2025, compared with nearly 21% in 2019, according to Edmunds data.
Comparable EV pickups are also generally expensive: Tesla's $(TSLA)$ Cybertruck currently starts at $69,990, while Rivian Automotive (RIVN) prices its R1T at $79,990. Ford Motor $(F)$ is working on a $30,000 EV truck, but that isn't expected to be available until next year. Slate's truck is due to start shipping out in the final months of 2026.
The low price does come with a few trade-offs. For one, the truck doesn't come with a touchscreen - a staple of modern infotainment systems - or even a radio. The vehicle also comes with hand-cranked windows.
It has an estimated driving range of just 205 miles, a top speed of 90 miles per hour and a power train made up of a single electric motor, and it is rear-wheel-drive only. It takes an estimated 8 seconds for the vehicle to reach 60 miles per hour, a bit longer than the electric Chevy Bolt's 6.7 seconds, per Car and Driver's testing.
"Slate is making a $25,000 bet that drivers still want something simple," Ivan Drury, director of insights at Edmunds, said in a statement. "The base pricing is the headline, but the entry-level price point is paired with an unconventional build and a powertrain that is proven harder to sell today."
"The real question is whether the enticing price alone can overcome that," Drury added.
Slate's business model also heavily features customization, which can get expensive. The company offers more than 200 accessories and more than 100 wrap colors, with full vehicle wraps priced at under $500. The vehicle can also be converted from a pickup to an SUV, or vice versa, after purchase.
So far, the approach appears to be resonating with consumers.
"More than 180,000 reservation holders have told us they're ready for a vehicle that's affordable, reliable, and built around their lives," Slate CEO Peter Faricy said in a statement.
Faricy is a former executive at Bezos's Amazon (AMZN) and the ex-CEO of solar-energy firm SunPower $(SPWR)$. He's the startup's second CEO, having taken the reins from Chrysler veteran Chris Barman, who is now Slate's president of vehicles.
Since its founding in 2022, Slate has raised $1.46 billion, according to Pitchbook data. That includes a $650 million fundraising round announced in April.
In an interview with CNBC, Faricy said that every vehicle Slate makes will be gross-margin positive. The Michigan-based startup plans to record positive free cash flow and earnings before taxes, depreciation and amortization by 2027, he said.
"No other automotive company has been able to do that before. So it's ambitious," Faricy told CNBC.
The U.S. EV market has started to stabilize over the last few months as the industry carries on without government support, according to Cox Automotive data. But some EV companies have been struggling.
Rivian conducted several rounds of layoffs over the past year as it prepared to launch its R2 SUV, which costs about $58,000. Lucid $(LCID)$ this week said it would cut 18% of its U.S. workforce as its chief operating officer, Marc Winterhoff, left the company. It had already laid off 12% of its U.S. workforce in February.
And several EV startups have aimed for the sky only to fall short: Just look at electric-truck makers Nikola and Fisker, which went bankrupt in 2024. Fisker's bankruptcy left its customers with pricy cars reliant on software updates that were no longer available.
-William Gavin
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(END) Dow Jones Newswires
June 24, 2026 12:05 ET (16:05 GMT)
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