2027 Slate Truck Previewed: Both Inspired And Inane

Slate Auto has released the details of its introductory model. Dubbed simply the Slate Truck, the pickup will be a small electric vehicle trading on its unparalleled simplicity, extensive customization and comparatively low point of entry after federal EV incentives. But it's not yet clear if the company has come up with a brilliant new automotive ethos or is just trying to sell you a bunch of stuff by not installing it during assembly.

The Slate Truck will be manufactured in Michigan by Slate Auto, which initially gained notoriety by being financially supported by Amazon’s Jeff Bezos. Pickups will be built in a singular bare-bones configuration with the ability to customize it after the fact. However, without any upfitting, you’re getting a very petite tuck with manually adjusted seats, hand-cranked windows, and one of the most basic interiors imaginable.

Slate Trucks are all single-cab with a 4x5-foot bed and come without a central infotainment screen. Instead, customers get a singular 4-inch display that is situated behind the steering wheel. Body panels are a composite material (designed to be dent resistant), base wheels futuristic steelies (painted black), and you get all the modern safety gear mandated by the government (with no extras). It doesn’t even come with a standard audio system and power door locks seem to be the standard feature of note.

However, Slate would argue that legacy automakers’ infotainment systems are wildly distracting and become prematurely outdated. The company insists that you’re better off just throwing a Bluetooth speaker into the vehicle and pairing it with your phone. It’s honestly a fair criticism, even if it isn’t exactly the solution we’d hoped for. The fact that this brand is even willing to offer a mostly de-contented vehicle is something of a novelty and a much-needed change of pace.

Of particular interest is the fact that this isn't strictly a "connected vehicle." Last week, Slate Auto told Inside EVs that over-the-air updates were technically possible. But a person would need to use their phone to upload anything to the truck. That would seem to indicate it doesn't have a modem of its own and that is an extremely appealing prospect during a period where the user interface on many new automobiles has become downright invasive and unpleasant.

“We didn’t want to force connectivity on everyone, and raise the price because of connectivity for everyone, when you don't actually need it,” Christophe Charpentier, Slate’s head of mobile experience, explained. “We can actually run the updates through the phone. We can actually provide you the location of chargers through the phone. And so, technically speaking, we actually don't need connectivity.”

This is likely something a healthy percentage of drivers would love to hear from the legacy brands right now. We'll be certain to double check that the car doesn't transmit any data on its own closer to launch because the absence of a central display, and relative privacy offered here, could be a big selling point for some. Even though one would similarly expect it to be a deal-breaker for others, those people probably wouldn't buy something like the Slate Truck to begin with.

Despite receiving a significant amount of praise in the automotive press in general, it remains difficult to join in fully. With a starting MSRP of around $27,000 — which drops to $20,000 after federal EV incentives — you’re arguably not getting a surplus of truck for the money and the aforementioned customization could quickly drive up the price, albeit indirectly.

Customers will reportedly have a long list of visual customization options, which will be handy since Slate only plans on selling the pickup with a grey plastic body. It's kind of like the Model T in that respect. But only if Henry Ford was also willing to sell you an unfathomable number of vinyl body wraps, decals, and plastic trim pieces. The Slate parts catalog will similarly offer a robust number of purchasable items that affect how the vehicle functions. This is said to include lowering kits, lift kits to pair with gnarly tires, caps to SUV-ify the pickup, and even the absent electric windows or central touchscreen. The only catch is that you have to install a lot of the optional features yourself.

While the company has suggested that dual-motor variants offering all-wheel drive could be offered later, the initial Slate Truck will be a single-motor, rear-drive vehicle with a 52.7-kWh battery. The manufacturer stated that output would be 201 horsepower and 195 lb-ft of torque — yielding a 0-60 mph time of roughly 8.0 seconds.

Payload is said to be capped at a very specific 1,433 pounds and max towing is pegged at 1,000 pounds. Driving range is supposed to be about 150 miles, which almost tragically makes this an errand vehicle with the ability to do some light work within the nearest county. Although, if you do want to stretch its legs, the Slate Truck uses the now-ubiquitous NACS type charging port and the company does offer a 84.3-kWh battery that increases its max range to 240 miles.

Those aren’t staggeringly impressive figures, especially considering how small of a vehicle this happens to be relative to the battery size. But, when viewed in relation to the significantly larger electric pickups with comparatively massive price tags, the mile-per-dollar value could be worse. The base-ranged Slate Truck could still make a viable urban vehicle and even serve a commercial purpose. You'd just presumably need to keep things very local if you planned on carrying a lot of weight.

There are other things to like about the truck, however. Even though it’s the direct result of cost cutting, the exterior design is charmingly straightforward. Slate has likewise made a big deal about sourcing components from the United States and has retained physical controls wherever possible. A subset of America has been asking for simple and affordable vehicles using less tech for years. But packaging that concept into a small, all-electric pickup was very unexpected.

Unless the powertrain turns out to be absolutely bulletproof, or somehow easily user serviceable, this is not exactly the basic vehicle people were clamoring for. It’s also only cheap when you take into consideration the EV tax credits and heniously bloated MSRP of other modern vehicles — which will admittedly come better equipped than the Slate pickup.

For example, the Ford Maverick starts at roughly $24,000 (before taxes or fees) and offers slightly better payload and towing. It also comes with electric windows, an extra row of seats, and a standard 2.0-liter EcoBoost motor that you could at least attempt to maintain yourself. Ford offers some robust customization options, too. While it would be nice to have a stripper, single-cab version of the Ford with manual windows, a longer bed, and reduced price tag, the standard truck is still fairly competitive.

Sadly, the Maverick is about to go up in price significantly. But Slate could potentially reap the rewards by capturing soon-to-be disgruntled Ford shoppers.

When you look at the Slate Truck, it's a little difficult not to think about the Toyota Hilux Champ. That's the basic and highly customizable small Japanese pickup that starts around $13,000 in Southeast Asia and caused a media buzz in the West. We’re unlikely to get the model here due to U.S. regulations and the 25 percent tariff on trucks imported into the United States established via the 1964 “chicken tax.” But it’s extremely similar to the Slate in overall concept and makes you wonder if someone wasn't copying Toyota's homework. The only major difference is that Champ uses a roster of small gasoline and diesel engines instead of an all-electric powertrain.

It’s really not fair to pass final judgement without actually testing a vehicle and your author is supremely curious about what the Slate pickup is like to drive. But the big picture still feels hazy. The concept of selling a small, basic automobile that has lights and door handles that aren’t side-dependent (allowing them to be reused to cut production costs) is a phenomenal idea. However, making it an EV and pricing it as much as a well-equipped midsize sedan would have cost eight years ago doesn’t feel like a slam dunk.

While the Slate Truck feels like a potentially useful secondary vehicle and fun to customize in your own garage, range limitations will prevent it from becoming the household’s mainstay. Its true affordability also hinges heavily on government subsidies and settling for something without any frills. Regardless, it will be interesting to see how it performs in terms of sales once the pickup becomes available late in 2026.

[Images: Slate Auto]

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