- Amazon-backed Slate Auto arrives out of the blue with tantalizing product
- Ultra-simple pick-up truck is designed for everyday use
- Expected EV range is up to 240 miles
Seemingly out of the blue, an Amazon-backed EV start-up has arrived on the scene, offering an ultra-simple, low-price electric pick-up truck for the North American market.
With funding from Amazon’s Jeff Bezos, Slate Auto is proposing a basic, highly configurable pick-up truck that bucks the trend of a gargantuan footprint and masses of wasted space, for a compact and highly configurable shell that is built for hard work.
Sizing up more like a classic Toyota or Nissan truck from the early 1980s, the Slate pick-up features easily-wrapped composite panels that are refreshingly free of chrome and other decorative touches.
Instead, Slate says it has made the panels as easy to wrap as possible and will sell custom decal and wrap kits for as little as $500 – no expensive metallic paint options here.
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In addition to this, Slate is aiming for a base price of $27,000 (around £20,000 / AU$42,000), which could see some trucks sold for as little as $20,000 or less, depending on local incentives and tax breaks.
The retro-styled two-seat pick-up truck comes with as 1047-liter load bay that is an easy height for both loading and hauling equipment, while the rear can be converted to a five-seat SUV with the appropriate kit and and rear tonneau cover, sold by Slate.
In terms of power, this is handled by a single motor that is mounted on the rear axle. So far, Slate has said that the option of a 52.7kWh or a larger 84.3kWh battery will be on the table – both of which are mounted under the floor for maximum load space and interior roominess.
The truck will have a relatively restrained (for an EV, anyway) 201bhp and 195 lb ft torque on tap, with the 0-60mph sprint time pegged at eight-seconds flat. The top speed is just 90mph.
There’s a sizable ‘frunk’ at the front, which is large enough for a couple of carry-on suitcases, while the interior is deliberately basic: there’s a phone or tablet holder and the option of adding accessory speakers that sit inside the glovebox.
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Rather than attempting to compete with Elon Musk’s Cybertruck, Slate has deliberately taken the polar opposite approach – keeping things cheap and simple, offering a good old-fashioned pick-up truck that can be bought by the masses and worked hard.
While the body style might now be a lifestyle choice, there are still vast swathes of North America (and beyond) that require a truck for daily use, whether that’s for work or simply hauling lots of lifestyle accessories.
Granted, it won’t have the load or towing capacity of some of the largest trucks out there. But Slate’s offering looks great and it touted to be comfortable and, above all else, really simple.
The interior is stylish enough to not look completely utilitarian, but it is also refreshingly bereft of massive displays and soft surfaces that get chewed up with daily hard usage.
It comes as standard with basic cruise control, central locking and a USB charging point, because everyone has a smartphone or tablet, right? So let the devices in our pockets take on infotainment duties.
However, the company has ensured it has got the EV stuff right, namely a decent battery and useable daily range, as well as fast charging that it says will see a 10-80% top-up take just 30 minutes.
Despite Slate seemingly springing out of nowhere, it ticks a lot of boxes for me. It’s everything the Tesla Cybertruck isn’t.
Small, understated, neatly styled, practical, well considered and well within the reach of most folk’s budget. The Michigan-based EV start-up will commence production of its utilitarian truck next year and I wouldn’t be surprised if it’s a huge success.
