Official: Slate Auto has revealed its *sub-$20k* electric car

Just when we thought we’d exhausted all talk of a billionaire’s electric pickup truck, another one casually slides into the chat. This time around it’s a truck from Slate Auto, a new, super-secret car company based in Troy, Michigan.

Is this one bulletproof? Can it hover or translate Klingon to English with robust computational power? Nope, none of that. In fact, the Slate truck’s mission is one of utter simplicity. It's a straightforward two-seater pickup with a single electric motor driving the rear wheels.

With a standard 52.7kWh pack, the Slate truck is... slated to provide 150 miles of range or 240 if you upgrade to an 84.3kWh pack. Power output is said to be around 201hp and 195lb ft of torque. The 0 to 60mph is said to be a whopping eight seconds, and the truck supposedly tops out at 90mph.

We’re talking true-blue simple stuff, too: crank windows, HVAC and not much else. You even have to bring your own phone or tablet to mount on the dash if you’re looking for any infotainment system. Thankfully, you won’t have to supply your own safety gear, because the truck will have up to eight airbags, forward collision warning and emergency braking at the very least.

So it’s not a range champ, it’s not a speed demon and it’s likely not going to withstand hot lead. What it will do is be easy on the wallet. The simplicity of it all is meant to facilitate a sub $20,000 after federal incentives. Yeah, exactly.

On top of that, with an optional accessory kit the Slate can be converted to a five-seat SUV. Slate also touts “unlimited personalization” thanks to hundreds of additional accessories to build up the truck into the vehicle of your dreams. Custom wraps are also on the table. On the whole, the Slate truck is being promoted with a very big DIY slant, similar to the early marketing push of the Ford Maverick.

At this point, we should probably address the billionaire in the room. From what we know of Slate Auto, it’s backed by Amazon’s own Jeff Bezos which would explain how a brand-new company could craft an all-new car in near-secrecy. Though Bezos is not being propped up as the founder or CEO of Slate Auto, the business is thoroughly linked to Amazon on the backend. The CEO is in fact Chris Barman, a Chrysler veteran with almost 20 years under her belt, which includes a stint as VP of electrical and electronics.

It all sounds very interesting, and while history has taught us to not get our hopes up, where this differs from other car announcements from brand-new companies is that it all sounds very… plausible. No party tricks or out-there promises, just a cheap, simple truck for day-to-day use. We’ll wait and see what happens, but color us intrigued to see how this plays out.