The Slate Truck Is Two Feet Shorter Than Ford Maverick but Has a Bigger Bed
The unusually small sizing should put this little EV in a class of one. The post The Slate Truck Is Two Feet Shorter Than Ford Maverick but Has a Bigger Bed appeared first on The Drive.
Slate, the new electric car firm rumored to be backed by Jeff Bezos, wants to revolutionize the pickup segment with an electric truck that costs less than $20,000 after federal incentives. That figure would make the model, which is simply called Truck, the most affordable new pickup on the American market. It will also be the smallest: At approximately 174 inches long, the first Slate model is more than 20 inches shorter than the already-compact Ford Maverick.
Offered only as a single-cab (an optional DIY SUV Kit can add an enclosed rear and seats in the back, though), the Truck stretches 174.6 inches long, 70.6 inches wide excluding the mirrors, and 69.3 inches tall. It rides on a 108.9-inch wheelbase. For context, the Maverick, which is one of the smallest pickups you can buy new, measures 199.8 inches long, 72.6 inches wide, and 68.5 inches wide. Put another way, if Ford offered a single-cab Maverick, it would be about the same size as Slate’s Truck.
| Slate Truck | 2025 Ford Maverick | The Slate is… | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Length | 174.6 inches | 199.8 inches | 25.2 inches shorter |
| Width (excluding mirrors) | 70.6 inches | 72.6 inches | 2 inches narrower |
| Height | 69.3 inches | 68.5 inches | 0.8 inches higher |
| Wheelbase | 108.9 inches | 121.1 inches | 12.2 inches shorter between wheels |
Like most vehicles, trucks have gotten pretty damn big in recent years, and you need to set your time machine to the 1980s to find one that’s about the same size as the Slate. Remember the original Ford Ranger? The boxy one launched for 1983? It measured 175 inches long and rode on a 108-inch long wheelbase with a standard bed, though at 67 inches wide it offered less interior space than Slate’s pickup.
Even the second-gen Ranger was longer than the new Slate Truck: It stretched around 184 inches from end to end in its shortest configuration. The current-gen Ranger, meanwhile, measures over 200 inches long regardless of how it’s configured. The F-150? That’s 209 inches with a regular cab.
Even the wedge-shaped Dodge Rampage was about 10 inches longer than the electric Truck. You won’t find anything that’s Slate-sized in Europe, where pickups have gotten significantly bigger in recent years as well, but there’s a model that’s somewhat similar available in Mexico. Essentially a badge-engineered Fiat Strada, the Ram 700 is a car-based, unibody pickup that measures 176 inches long and 69 inches wide.
The Truck’s small size could prove to be a boon for Slate; It’s essentially going to land in a class of one. You don’t need a dually F-350 Super Duty to tow a lawnmower or haul a few hundred pounds of mulch. And, it’s surprisingly practical considering its dimensions—on paper, at least. The bed measures 42.9 inches wide between the wheel arches and 60 inches long. In comparison, the Maverick’s bed measures 42.6 inches wide and 54.4 inches long. Slate quotes a 1,433-pound payload and a 1,000-pound towing capacity. Ford, on the other hand, says that the Maverick can haul up to 1,500 pounds and tow up to 2,000 pounds, though the 4K Tow Package increases that figure to 4,000 pounds.
| Slate Truck | 2025 Ford Maverick | The Slate has/can… | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bed Length | 60 inches | 54.4 inches | 5.6-inch longer bed |
| Bed Width (between wheel arches) | 42.9 inches | 42.6 inches | 0.3-inch wider bed |
| Bed Volume | 37 cubic feet | 33.3 cubic feet | 3.7-cubic-feet bigger bed |
| Max Payload | 1,433 pounds | 1,500 pounds | haul 67 pounds less |
| Max Towing | 1,000 pounds | 2,000 pounds 4K Tow Package: 4,000 pounds | tow 1,000-3,000 pounds less |
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The post The Slate Truck Is Two Feet Shorter Than Ford Maverick but Has a Bigger Bed appeared first on The Drive.
