This convertible electric truck could be the cheapest EV in the US
Americans have new names Electric vehicle marketand that’s rocking things in places that matter most: price. The Startup Slate arrived on a $25,000 slate truck, a minimalist and nonsense electric vehicle built for customization and real-world use. Forget Premium Gimmicks – This truck offers an adaptable modular platform that allows you to convert to an SUV with hand-crafted windows, a Barebones dash, and a DIY accessory kit.
That’s what Michigan-based EV Startup Slate does. It works secretly I’ve been raising funds for a few years now Amazon Chief Jeff Bezos and many other wealthy investors. (Bezos’ Amazon also worked hard to launch Libian $700 million initial investment At the lush green car manufacturer of the time. ) In a world where most EV startups start Expensive flagship model Before scaling down to cheap additions, the bottom-up, low-priced brand approach is novel and given current uncertainty Inflation, tariffs And the rising cost of goods, perhaps timely.
A little guy
The slate truck is surprisingly small. With a 108.9-inch wheelbase, it’s only 174.6 inches from bumper to bumper, and the small EV is shorter than 21 inches Hyundai Santa Cruz And 25 inches short Ford’s Maverickthe smallest pickup truck available to buy in the US today. Of course, these are four-door crew cab pickups with rear seats, but the state pickups are single-cab two-seaters (at least in standard configuration).
Despite his small height, the standard 4-foot bed on the Slate is about 1 per cent with Ford’s 4.5 feet and Hyundai’s 4-footers. Additionally, the EV features 7 cubic feet of “frank” storage space under the hood. The small truck with payloads up to 1,433 pounds is found in the ballparks of other compact pickups and should be a decent runaway for errands with small hauling. However, its 1,000 pound towing capacity is significantly lower than its combustion-based competitors.
Minimal, customizable
The small size is part of how slate expects truck prices to “keep under $20,000 after federal incentives,” but a minimal approach to brand features, bells and whistles is a major part of how to keep costs down. First of all, the EV appears to be in only one color (flat grey). Customers are advised to tickle any colours or colouring that are flashy and wrap slate trucks. Basic 17-inch steel wheels fill the truck’s wheel arches, while body panels feature exposed hardware.
Spartan interior grips the windows using a mobile phone for infotainment and muscle strength.
Inside, rather than the huge touchscreen found in most modern cars, the slate truck features a universal phone mount with basic digital instrument clusters and USB power supplies. The idea is, why waste money on the big screen when most drivers use their phones for navigation, phones and media anyway? Drivers that prefer a larger screen for navigation can choose to install a dedicated tablet.
It’s not a completely low technology. The slate truck comes with driver aid and safety features such as active emergency braking and forward collision warnings at startup, but you can zoom in on the photo and spy on hand windows as well. That’s a dedicated slate method to keep bare bones, basic transport and electric trucks low costs. The newborn automaker says it will offer over 100 accessories, bundles and options at the time of purchase (or as post-sale accessories) to allow owners to customize their slate trucks to meet their needs and style.
DIY SUV kit
Perhaps the most interesting accessory is the SUV kit that allows the owner to convert a two-seat pickup into a five-seat SUV. Arriving in flat packs like IKEA furniture, SUV kits can be installed in driveways as Slate service centers, reliable mechanics, or DIY projects, with additional rear occupant roll cages, airbags and of course rear seats.
How quickly can you convert? If it’s quick, you can flip between the two configurations depending on your weekly needs (a pickup truck for weekend yard work and an SUV for hitting town with your family).
A simple performance
The modest sized pickups are equipped with similarly modest electric powertrains, which are less impressive on paper, but should be appropriate for the basic needs of many drivers.
The 150 kilowatt (201 horsepower) motor twists the rear wheels with 195 pound-feet of torque. The truck’s estimated 0-60 mph sprint for 8 seconds and top speed of 90 mph per hour means it’s not a neck snapper, but it should provide proper performance for commuting and driving.
The EV comes with a standard 52.7 kilowatt-hour battery that can last up to 150 miles between charges. Slate also offers an 84.3-KWH accessory battery that targets the 240-mile range. The designation of a larger battery as a brand’s “accessory” seems to imply that it can be replaced or upgraded after purchase. This is a very interesting suggestion.
Slate trucks have sacrifices a lot to reach low prices. Still, I would like to deposit a $50 deposit into one.
When it’s time to charge, the user plugs into the slate truck NACS charging port Approximately 5 hours with an 11kW level 2 home charger. With Tesla’s superchargers (or other DC fast charging stations via adapters), EVs can quickly juice from 20% to 80% in “less than 30 minutes.” This helps to add about 90-140 miles in 30 minutes. While this isn’t the fastest charging EV in the world, I don’t think Slate expects most takers to travel cross-country with Spartan pickups.
Cheapest EV in America
Slate says it will build a slate truck here in the United States at an industrialized factory that may be located near Indianapolis, Indiana. Although the price hasn’t been fixed, the carmaker expects to launch federal tax incentives of up to $7,500 anywhere in a ballpark priced at $25,000, making it the most. New EVs that are affordable in the USin the case of truth. Consumer sales are open online today slate.auto Comes with a refundable $50 deposit.