Slate Vs. Telo: How The EV Truck Startups Stack Up

But the Slate and the Telo MT1 represent very different visions of what an electric truck can be. Here's how they stack up across key areas like range, price, design and performance. Just remember, neither of these trucks is on sale yet, so we're going off of targeted, preliminary information. 

Slate Auto vs. Telo Trucks

Slate was founded in 2022 and came out of stealth in April, when it also unveiled its debut model. It's staffed up by industry veterans from Tesla, Harley-Davidson, Chrysler and more. The idea behind Slate is to create the affordable, bare-bones electric vehicle that the U.S. has been missing. 

Telo Trucks revealed the design of its truck, the MT1, in late 2023. The California-based startup is a scrappier operation, comprising just 11 engineers. It's all about creating a super-compact, functional truck for people who live in and near cities. 

Both are venture-backed. Slate has raised at least $111 million from investors including Amazon's Jeff Bezos, TechCrunch reported. Telo's investors include Tesla co-founder Marc Tarpenning, through his firm Spero Ventures. 

Design & Size

The Slate follows a hyper-traditional, boxy design. Squint and you can barely tell that it's electric or built after the year 2005. 

The MT1, on the other hand, looks like it's from the future. It has a squished front end, and you can tell the intention was to leverage the inherent flexibility of an EV platform to create extra space in a compact design. 

The Slate is a spartan two-seater with a five-foot bed. The Telo also has a five-foot bet, but manages to squeeze in five seats. 

The Telo is 152 inches long, about the size of a Mini Cooper. The Slate is 174.6 inches long. That's still about two feet shorter than a Ford Maverick. 

The Telo boasts a stylish, minimalist interior with interesting textures and a modestly sized touchscreen front and center. The Slate takes the minimalism to a whole different level with a gray interior, manual windows, lots of plastic and no infotainment screen. 

Notable Features

Customization is a big part of how Slate is trying to differentiate itself. Slate buyers get an extremely basic truck as standard, but they can also choose from a vast catalog of cool accessories. 

That includes a bolt-on SUV kit that adds a roof and a second row. Other add-ons include interior finishes, speakers (you don't get any sound system otherwise) and colorful vinyl wraps (every truck comes in gray from the factory). 

The Telo offers a collapsable midgate, which allows long items like surfboards or full-size sheets of plywood to poke into the cab. It comes with an extra transverse cargo area behind the back seats, much like Rivian's Gear Tunnel. 

And it can be optioned with extra seats in the bed and an enclosed roof. 

Price

Slate says its truck will start at less than $20,000, after factoring in the federal incentive for plug-in car buyers. That means the actual MSRP should be around $27,000. 

Telo says the MT1 will cost $41,520 and up. Factoring in the $7,500 federal rebate theoretically knocks that down to roughly $34,000. 

Range, Batteries & Charging

Here's how these trucks stack up in terms of their EV specs. 

Truck Stuff & Performance

Neither of these trucks is designed to replace your Ford Super Duty. They're more for trips to Home Depot or carrying a couple of bikes to the trails, or potentially specialized fleet applications. But the Telo claims better performance numbers across the board. Again, the Slate is more about basic transportation. Telo plans to charge more for more capability. 

When Can You Buy One?

Both trucks are available to reserve now with a refundable deposit. Telo aims to start production in 2026 through a contract manufacturer, using off-the-shelf components to bring down cost. 

Slate has taken over a Warsaw, Indiana, printing factory, where it will kick off production in Q4 of 2026. 

Got a tip or question about the EV world? Contact the author: Tim.Levin@InsideEVs.com