GARDENA, California – “It’s a real truck.” That was my first thought as a $24,950 2027 Slate electric pickup accelerated down Figueroa Street on a cool Los Angeles morning this week.
I didn’t realize just how skeptical I’d been of Slate’s do-it-yourself EV ‘til that moment. Pieces didn’t fall off. The wind didn’t whistle through gaps in the body work. Bumps didn’t rattle my teeth and twist my spine. It’s a real truck.
Attention must be paid.
The startup’s success is by no means assured, but you can bet established automakers will be among Slate’s first customers: “How’d they do it? What’d we miss? What can we copy? Is this trouble?”
Here’s the big news Slate made at its new design studio a few miles from LAX this week:
Slate’s website is taking orders today. Deliveries should begin in the fourth quarter.
You’re unique, why isn’t your vehicle?
“Mass customization” is Slate’s super power, CEO Peter Faricy told me at the company’s headquarters in the Detroit suburb of Troy.
I saw about a dozen pickups and SUVs in California this week. No two looked the same, and they were flanked by walls displaying dozens of parts owners can use to make their truck unique.
The number of possible combinations is already in the hundreds of thousands, on its way to infinity: Slate may eventually offer one-of-a-kind exteriors with wraps in colors and patterns customers create.
Slate expects the average owner to spend around $5,000 on wraps and accessories.
A “tricked out” (in the company’s words) SUV on display stickered around $35,000 and had features including a square-back SUV roof, 31.5-inch all terrain tires, tablet holder, window cranks and HVAC vents in accent colors. Owners can do the work themselves or go to a nationwide network of authorized repair shops.
The concept drew high-profile investors like Amazon founder Jeff Bezos.
80% of accessories cost less than $500
Slate makes 200 accessories today, everything from rear seats, roof and roll bar that transform the pickup into an SUV to eight colors of interior trim panels that owners can swap at will.
An AI generator produced a hypothetical example based on keywords from my last vacation: New Orleans. Music. Dogs.
Honestly, it was adorable, mostly in New Orleans’ signature purple, adorned with musical symbols and pawprints.
The 54 “basic” color wraps initially available will cost less than $500, as will 80% of the initially available accessories.
Slate is working with independent customizers to produce even more parts.
Slate builds relatively simple vehicles and offer parts for customization by owners or repair shops. The vehicle’s body panels are plastic, its structure a conventional steel frame and suspension.
Huge questions ahead
The Slate accelerated, braked, rode and steered like any small pickup – to the extent you can judge those things from the passenger seat – in a brief ride around Gardena.
It may, in fact ride better than bigger pickups that are intended for work, because the Slate clearly isn’t. The little pickup can tow up to 2,000 pounds – no word on how that affects range, there’s not a standard test for that yet – and carry up to 1,550 pound in its two-seat cab and bed. It’s no workhorse, more of a Shetland pony.
That cab layout raises another big question: Do people want a two-door pickup? Current sales indicate the answer is a resounding “No.” Four-door crew cab and extended cab pickups dominate the market.
Equally, there’s no evidence customers in 2026 will buy a vehicle with hand-cranked windows, no audio or navigation system.
Slate’s response is a standard-equipment smart-phone cradle and the ability to bring your own Bluetooth speakers into the vehicle or buy one or three factory-installed speakers in the dash board.
Express yourself
For all its thought-provoking potential, Slate also shares thousands of mundane challenges with established automakers. Will its vehicles start every time? Does the charging system work? Will it squeak, whether due to issues at the factory or because owners didn’t install parts right?
Time will tell, but Slate’s $25,000 EV is is a real truck, less an entry-level vehicle than a fashion statement, holiday decoration and parade float.
2027 Slate pickup at a glance
Two-door, two-passenger compact pickup
Base price $24,950
Rear-wheel drive
181-hp electric motor
8.0 seconds 0-60 mph
Top speed 90 mph
65 kWh LFP battery
Estimated range: 205 miles
NACS charging port
Charging time: 4 hours to go from 20-100% at 240v; 30 minutes to go from 10-80% at 90 kW
Wheelbase 108.9 inches
Length: 174.6 inches
Width: 70.6 inches without mirrors
Height 68.0 inches
Cab volume 49.8 cubic feet
7.0 cubic foot front trunk
60.5-inch bed length
2,000-lb towing capacity
1,550 payload
Curb weight: 4,048 pounds
Contact Mark Phelan: mmphelan@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @mark_phelan. Read more on autos and sign up for our autos newsletter. Become a subscriber.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Slate’s $25K electric pickup will shake up the auto industry
Reporting by Mark Phelan, Detroit Free Press / Detroit Free Press
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Mark Phelan, Detroit Free Press | USA TODAY Network
