Slate Auto is a very different kind of car startup. Its electric pickup is positioned as a stripped-down antidote to today's overly complicated vehicles, featuring no screen, no radio and crank windows. Instead of options packages, there will be over 100 accessories—from leather seats to stereos—that owners can mix, match and DIY install. The targeted price tag is practically unheard-of for a new electric vehicle: somewhere in the mid-$20,000 range.
And then there's the name—or lack thereof. Slate's two-door truck isn't called the Slate Truck, or the Slate One, or the Slate anything, for that matter. It's just called the Slate. Which raises a fundamental question about the startup's business: Is this it?
I put the question to Slate CEO Chris Barman this week: Will there be more Slate models of different shapes and sizes in the future? Without going into specifics, she said the intention is to make more Slate vehicles down the line.
"We're really focused on the vehicle we're taking market today," she said. "We aspire that there will be more in the future. But right now, we're focused on the Blank Slate, the truck configuration that we're offering today, that can be modified into an SUV."
Of course, it makes perfect sense that Slate is eyeing more models. Rather than building an entire company around one product, offering more body styles and price points would help the automaker cast a wider net over time and create a lasting business. This is why Toyota's 2026 lineup includes more than 10 different crossovers and SUVs, not two or three. People like options.
But this is also something we haven't heard from Slate before. In its marketing materials, the automaker stresses that it's all about selling a single model.
"Slate is a single model—by design. While most automakers create sprawling lineups, our philosophy is about doing one thing exceptionally well: building a vehicle that’s durable, adaptable, and future proof," the company says on its website. "Traditional automakers often upsell buyers into new vehicles every few years. We’re flipping that model on its head by creating a vehicle that’s upgradeable, customizable, and extendable."
Indeed, as Barman alluded to in our conversation, the Slate truck isn't a single vehicle in the traditional sense. It's more like a modular platform, and that allows the startup to play in multiple vehicle segments without rolling out distinct models.
The company's factory in Indiana will churn out one uniform variant, which Slate says goes a long way toward reducing manufacturing cost and complexity. The so-called Blank Slate is a grey, two-door pickup with no added equipment, apart from the larger battery option if the customer chooses it.
From there, buyers can purchase a bolt-on kit that transforms the pickup into three different types of SUVs, or a van-like cargo carrier. It's an ingenious proposition. Still, none of those add-ons fundamentally change the Slate's diminutive size or the fact that it only has two doors. Auto industry analysts have told me in the past that the Slate's two-door design in particular will limit its appeal.
Future variants that follow the same shapeshifting blueprint could expand Slate's reach. I think a Slate that's more of a midsize truck, like a Toyota Tacoma or a Ford Ranger, could sell well. Americans snapped up a record 275,000 Tacomas last year. That Slate could have four doors, more space for passengers, a larger bed and maybe even a bolt-in third-row.
I don't see any reason why Slate couldn't adapt its modular approach to a full-size truck either. But it makes sense that the manufacturer is starting out with a compact pickup; that's where there's the least competition and the best opportunity to come in at a low price.
For now, Slate has its work cut out. The whole theory that people want a basic, highly customizable vehicle is intriguing but still unproven in the marketplace. Slate has racked up 150,000 refundable reservations, which is a good sign.
Production is set to begin by the end of this year, and that needs to go off without a hitch too. Barman said that Slate's body shop equipment is mostly installed, that machinery will go into the general assembly area in the coming weeks, and that it's getting ready to build its next prototypes in the spring.
She said she's more focused on near-term execution than any future plans. Following our interview in San Francisco, she was off to participate in cold-weather testing in Minnesota.
"2026 is important to us, and that's what we're staying focused on," Barman said.
Contact the author: Tim.Levin@InsideEVs.com
