Slate Auto CEO on How to Build $25K Electric Truck

With the average cost of a new car edging toward the $50,000 mark, affordable, basic transportation is becoming increasingly difficult for many Americans.

Slate, a new EV startup backed by Jeff Bezos, believes its new $25,000 pickup truck, which could cost less than $20,000 with tax credits, could help change that, its CEO, Chris Barman, told Business Insider.

“There’s a massive population of people out there when it comes to safe, reliable, affordable transportation; there just really aren’t many alternatives for them,” Barman told us in an interview ahead of the unveiling of the new EV this week.

A $25,000 price point would mean achieving something the current EV sales king, Tesla, has been unable to do. Elon Musk has long teased consumers with the prospect of a $25,000 Tesla model, but there’s no firm timeline for its release.

Slate’s truck could be a cure for the EV affordability problem

The average price of an EV in the US is $59,000. Electric pickups are even more expensive, with prices exceeding $100,000 on models like the Ford F150 Lightning, Rivian R1T, and Tesla Cybertruck.

The Slate Truck, which comes standard with 150 miles of range, is expected to be the cheapest new electric vehicle and pickup truck in the US, staking out a spot in the market no truck — electric or otherwise — has been able to.

According to Barman, the focus on simplicity and affordability drew her to Slate.

“I grew up on a farm. My first car was a 1984 Ford Ranger pickup, with a five-speed manual, manual windows, and no air conditioning,” Barman said. “It was basic transportation, but I loved the freedom it gave me to go places and do things.”

Barman, who joined as CEO in May 2022, is a mechanical engineer by trade. She spent most of her career with Chrysler in product development, culminating in her role as Fiat-Chrysler Automotive’s Vice President of Electrical and Electronics.

During the design process of the EV truck, Barman and the Slate team considered how to meet customers’ needs while also achieving the affordability target.

For example, Barman explained that their EV has a key fob because the cheaper metal blade key is more of a hassle to use, especially at night, while the fancier passive touch-sensitive locks are more convenient but would have added too much cost.

“That’s just an example of how we went through system by system and talked about, and were really thoughtful about what it means to get the cost out of the vehicle,” Barman said.

Slate’s model is built around choice and freedom — and return business

By offering a basic, no-frills base model, which the company refers to as a “blank slate,” the startup’s business model is centered on letting the consumer decide what creature comforts they need in a vehicle and when they can afford it.

“It gives freedom of choice to the owner of what accessories they would want to put on the vehicle, either at the time of purchase or over time, depending on their budget,” Barman said.

You can upgrade or personalize almost every part of the vehicle, except the battery pack, at any point during its service life.

“It’s a complete paradigm change in the car buying experience,” she told us.

This means an owner on a tight budget can start with the base truck, which has crank windows and no radio, and steadily upgrade and personalize the vehicle over time with different color wraps or upgraded infotainment.

There’s even a kit that transforms the truck into a five-passenger SUV.

The wide array of accessories allows the Slate EV to grow and evolve with its owner’s needs.

“It may be, they were single when they first purchased the truck, and they recently got married, and a few years later, they have, a family, and instead of having to exchange it out for a completely new vehicle, they can convert it into a five passenger SUV and continue to use the vehicle,” Barman explained.

This saves the consumer from having to sell or trade in a paid-for vehicle and generates additional revenue for Slate from a single sale.

Slate built the DIY EV

As vehicles become increasingly complex and expensive, Slate is becoming a rarity as one of the few manufacturers encouraging owners to work on their cars.

Since it plans to deploy a direct sales model, it doesn’t have to worry about sustaining a network of dealers who depend on their service departments to make ends meet.

According to Slate’s CEO, upgrade work on its vehicles is designed to be easily enough for owners to do themselves, and the company plans to offer instructional videos called “Slate University” to guide them through the work.

This includes series hardware installs like adding power windows and even the SUV Kit, including rear seats, a roll cage, and airbags.

Although the company plans to have local partner facilities that can do the work professionally if the owner isn’t up to doing the wrenching themselves.

The Slate truck, which is expected to be built in an as-yet-unnamed facility in the Midwestern US, will begin customer deliveries at the end of 2026, the company says.

“We would like to see what we can do to go into an existing facility that has been shuttered and reindustrialize and revitalize that community,” Barman said.

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