Slate Auto Prices Electric Pickup Truck Starting at $24,950 Slate Auto is challenging the EV market’s obsession with high-tech features and rising prices by launching an ultra-basic electric pickup that starts at $24,950, undercutting every new EV and pickup on sale in the U.S. The move pits radical simplicity against an industry built on screens, software, and costly add-ons.

Early strategy and battery rethink

In the company’s early planning, Slate intended to use nickel-manganese-cobalt (NMC) cells, favored for their high energy density and longer range but burdened by expensive nickel and cobalt inputs. As costs climbed and supply concerns mounted, that plan grew less tenable.

Over the past few years, the U.S. battery landscape shifted. Automakers increasingly experimented with cheaper lithium-iron-phosphate (LFP) chemistry, which is about 40% less expensive but historically offered less range. Policy changes also mattered: once federal tax credits tied to domestic sourcing were scrapped, Chinese-made LFP cells re-entered the picture, making imports viable again for U.S. EVs.

Slate ultimately switched to LFP, dropped an optional 240-mile pack, and instead boosted the standard battery from 150 to 205 miles of range, aligning with its mission to build the cheapest EV on the market.

Launch details and price play

On June 24, Slate formally revealed pricing: its American-made electric truck will start at $24,950, making it “the least expensive pickup truck and EV available today.” A companion SUV variant will start at $29,950, targeting buyers who want a similar package in a different form factor.

To hit those numbers, Slate stripped away features many drivers now consider standard: no touchscreen, no stereo or speakers, manual hand-crank windows, and no advanced driver-assistance suite — just a phone mount and basic controls. This stands in contrast to decades of “trimflation,” where automakers competed on screens and software rather than simplicity.

Market context and competing perspectives

Industry data underscores Slate’s bet on price. The average new vehicle sold in May for $49,220, with small and midsize pickups averaging $43,044 and new EVs $54,532. Slate’s truck even undercuts the average used-vehicle price of $26,918 and sits well below rivals like the Ford Maverick and Chevrolet Bolt, both around $29,000–$30,000.

Supporters see the truck as a return to a “genuinely basic new vehicle” at a time when many buyers are priced out of the market. Critics, however, may question whether drivers accustomed to modern infotainment and driver-assistance systems will accept such a stripped-down EV, or whether cost savings and a 205-mile range are enough to offset the missing tech.

Still, with backing from high-profile investors and a battery strategy tuned to falling LFP costs, Slate is betting that, in an overheated market, affordability and simplicity can be a selling point rather than a compromise.

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