American electric-vehicle startup founded in 2022 and backed by investors including Jeff Bezos. Its first product is the Slate Truck, a sub-$25,000 modular electric pickup that converts into an SUV, built around radical simplicity and customer customization.
Slate Auto is an American electric-vehicle startup founded in 2022 and backed by a group of investors that includes Jeff Bezos. After developing in relative quiet, it emerged with a single, deliberately contrarian idea: instead of chasing range, power and ever-larger touchscreens, build the most affordable electric vehicle possible and let owners add what they actually want.
That idea takes physical form in the Slate Truck, the company’s first product. It is a two-seat electric pickup priced from $24,950 that can be converted into a five-seat SUV with bolt-on kits. The body panels are molded from unpainted grey composite, removing the paint shop from the factory, and the cabin drops the central screen and standard audio in favour of physical controls and a phone mount.
Slate is headquartered in Troy, Michigan, plans to build in Indiana and Michigan, and sells directly to customers rather than through franchised dealers. Deliveries of the Truck are scheduled to begin in the fourth quarter of 2026.
