“Non-gearheads” now have the prospect to design their very own automobiles.
Final month, a picture appeared on Reddit of an unidentifiable small truck in a parking zone in Los Angeles. The sighting was first noted by Carscoops simply after TechCrunch reported that Jeff Bezos was making an “inexpensive” automobile via a “secretive EV startup” known as Slate Auto.
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Web sleuths shortly put collectively (and TechCrunch confirmed) that the truck within the Reddit picture was the precise Slate Auto idea automotive.
Now, the corporate is prepared for reservations, and personalization is vital. Every little thing is customizable, from the outside look to the colour to the inside knobs.
“We predict everybody ought to have the ability to personalize their automotive,” the web site says. “However automobiles aren’t constructed to be custom-made by non-gearheads (we love you, gearheads). So, we modified that.”
Offered by Slate Auto
In a video saying the brand new “radically easy, radically inexpensive Slate truck” on X, CEO Chris Barman stated the value begins within the “mid 20s,” although will probably be nearer to $20,000 (after federal EV tax credit). The one-cab electrical truck is ready to be delivered to prospects in late 2026. The corporate is based in Troy, Michigan.
The individuals spoke. We constructed. Meet the radically easy, radically inexpensive Slate. Reserve yours at https://t.co/Y5RkOIFCRo pic.twitter.com/uvSZVpdkWv
— Slate Auto (@slateauto) April 25, 2025
“There is a huge inhabitants of individuals on the market in relation to secure, dependable, inexpensive transportation; there simply actually aren’t many options for them,” CEO Chris Barman told Business Insider forward of the official unveiling.
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A technique the corporate is conserving it inexpensive is thru its customization choices. For instance, the vehicles are wrapped, not painted, and could be modified at a buyer’s whim.
“With different automobiles, you choose your shade once you purchase it, and that is it,” the web site says. “With a Slate, you possibly can choose your shade every time—and alter it every time. It is the primary automobile of its sort designed to be simply wrapped.”
Wrap kits will begin round $500, in line with the corporate. (Although conserving it the straightforward grey—as per the Reddit reveal—will nonetheless stand out.)
Amazon founder Bezos, Mark Walter (Los Angeles Dodgers majority proprietor and CEO of Guggenheim Companions), and investor Thomas Tull have helped the brand new automotive firm elevate not less than $111 million, per TechCrunch.
NBC reports that, in line with a document filed with the Securities and Trade Fee, Melinda Lewison, the top of Bezos’ household workplace, is the brand new Slate Auto director.
