New carmaker Slate will launch a $25,000 electric pickup truck in the US. Amazon founder Jeff Bezos is reportedly among the investors.
Now a new American manufacturer is entering the field with a wild project: An electric pickup truck for only DKK 175,000.
According to TechCrunch, a startup called Slate is working to make electric cars cheaper and more accessible. Its first product will be a compact pickup truck with two seats – and a price tag that could turn the market upside down.
At the same time, it is reported that Amazon founder Jeff Bezos has invested in the project.
Slate Auto was founded in 2022 and has yet to officially launch. However, according to TechCrunch , the company is a spinoff of another Bezos-related company called Re:Build Manufacturing.
Jeff Bezos and several billionaires behind Slate Auto
The startup has quietly assembled a team of employees from Ford, General Motors, Stellantis and Harley-Davidson, as well as investors including LA Dodgers owner Mark Walter and billionaire Thomas Tull.
Jeff Bezos' involvement reportedly includes an investment in the company's first round of capital, which reportedly raised at least $111 million – equivalent to around DKK 770 million.
The company has not yet released any details about the car. Neither specifications, battery size nor launch date have been announced. However, interested parties can sign up for newsletters on the company's website.
Slate will compete with established brands like Tesla and Rivian
Several startups have tried their hand at the electric car market in recent years, but not all have been successful. Fisker Inc. collapsed in 2024, and even established players like Lucid and Rivian are struggling with high production costs.
That's why Slate is being viewed with critical eyes. It's difficult and expensive to establish a car brand from scratch – especially in a pressured market where demand for cheap electric cars is increasing, but financing has become more difficult.
Yet several industry professionals believe that the time is ripe for an affordable electric car, as Slate now promises.
As production costs for batteries and motors fall, new actuators may gain a foothold – if they can keep the price and production down.
Can Slate Auto reach the global market?
The electric pickup will be produced near Indianapolis, Indiana, USA. The design will be created at a design studio in California, but it is not yet known whether the model will be sold outside the United States.
If the price of around DKK 175,000 holds, it will be much cheaper than most current electric cars – also in Europe.
For comparison, a Tesla Model Y in Denmark costs from DKK 340,000.
It cannot therefore be ruled out that Slate will attempt to enter the European market in the future – and thus become a real alternative to the Chinese electric cars, which several politicians and manufacturers have criticized.
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