Slate Electric SUV, Pickup Switchable Model Goals For Light-Duty Fleets

If electric vehicles could pull off a fashion week in Paris, Slate would stand out on the runway with its palette of creative designs, accessories, colours, and structural options.

Those were evident at a splashy, funky-vibed, red-carpet-black-curtain debut event June 24 in Gardena, California, where the EV manufacturer displayed an eclectic electric vehicle model that tries to be every little thing most EVs aren’t: Reasonably priced, easy, retro, and plainspoken with an endearing flair for the weird.

“What Slate is doing for the automotive industry is directly related to the conversations that Americans are having day by day,” said Christine Barman, Slate’s president of vehicles, in a gap stage keynote. “For years, the typical latest vehicle price has moved farther away from what working Americans can afford. Reasonably than taste luxury or sell our future customers features that they simply don’t need, Slate is grounded in point of fact.”

The electrical pickup will start at $24,950, joining only a handful of other EVs priced under $25,000. Slate also offers two SUV variants, the Squareback and Fastback, with pricing starting at $29,950. The corporate opened pre-orders the identical day and plans to sell on to consumers and start customer deliveries in Q4 2026.

Minutes before Barman spoke, CEO Peter Faricy announced that Slate had reached 180,000 reservations as of the previous week.

“Slate is so rather more than simply a reasonable truck,” Faricy said. “It is a fastback SUV that is sporty. It is a square back SUV that has great room. And it is also a lovely two-door pickup. It isn’t only one SUV, but there are a lot of SUV versions you’ll be able to make it into.”

 On the creative side, the Slate Marketplace will offer over 200 accessories and parts, with over 80% priced under $500 including roof racks, stereos, seat covers and lighting features. Greater than 100 wrap colours can be available at launch.

“Recent cars didn’t get expensive overnight,” Faricy said. “It happened one feature, one package, one trim level at a time. But somewhere, thousands and thousands of Americans got left behind. The one thing I can share with you today is Slate is here to vary that.”

In an interview, Slate’s head of fleet sales Drew Walker said fleet interest has been strongest amongst state and native government fleets, business service and maintenance fleets, and campus operations corresponding to hospitals, universities, and ports.

“These customers value the truck’s compact size, sustainability and Class 1 work-truck capability,” Walker said. Slate has also seen interest from vocational fleets and small businesses and expects some business fleets to start taking delivery of vehicles this 12 months, he added.

Throughout the open airy museum-formatted layout, attendees could leisurely peruse various versions of the vehicle and inform themselves at displays of its various attributes and accessories. Slate offered attendees around-the-block demo rides within the pickup truck version. Hosts at a restaurant-style welcome stand and furnished waiting area managed a waitlist with text alerts to riders next up.

Slate also officially released updated vehicle specifications, capability figures, and production plans:

•  The pickup truck uses a simplified architecture with fewer than half as many parts as a typical truck and relies on physical controls as a substitute of a digital touchscreen interface.
•  For fleet operators evaluating low-cost electric vehicle options, the updated specifications include an estimated driving range of 205 miles, a 37% increase from the corporate’s previous estimate. Slate noted that the figure relies on an estimate of the EPA test cycle and isn’t an official EPA-rated range.
• The vehicle uses a single-motor, rear-wheel-drive powertrain paired with a lithium iron phosphate battery pack rated at 65 kWh, including 63 kWh of usable energy. Slate lists output at 135 kW and 264 Nm of torque. The corporate estimates a 0-60 mph acceleration time of 8.0 seconds and a top speed of 90 mph.
•  Charging is supported through the North American Charging Standard (NACS). The truck can charge from 20% to 80% in about half-hour using a 120-kW DC fast charger, in keeping with company estimates. The vehicle also includes an 11-kW onboard charger, with a full Level 2 AC charge from 20% to 100% estimated at 4 hours.
• Slate also increased the vehicle’s capability rankings. The pickup now carries a maximum payload rating of 1,550 kilos and a maximum towing capability of two,000 kilos. The improvements are intended to expand the vehicle’s utility for hauling cargo and equipment.
• The pickup has a curb weight of 4,048 kilos and a gross vehicle weight rating of 5,689 kilos.
• Cargo space features a 35.1-cubic-foot pickup bed and a 7-cubic-foot front trunk.
• Service and repairs can be available through a network of greater than 3,000 RepairPal shops nationwide, including greater than 100 facilities able to performing high-voltage EV service. The corporate said the vehicle can be backed by a 10-year, 110,000-mile battery and powertrain warranty.
• Founded in 2022, Slate plans to assemble vehicles at a factory in Warsaw, Indiana. It would invest nearly $400 million in the power and expects the project to create greater than 2,000 jobs.

Barman described the corporate’s “stealthy” four-year development process, starting with sketches and whiteboard concepts before advancing through alpha mules, beta prototypes, and full design validation.

Engineering teams tested the vehicles in extreme cold and hot climates while refining thermal management, towing capability, aerodynamics, and sturdiness without compromising affordability.

“We got down to do what the industry couldn’t do and truly construct a reasonable vehicle that individuals would love,” Barman said. “For many shoppers who were only considering used vehicles, a Slate truck can be a potentially life-changing version. For others, the straightforward undeniable fact that a automotive is actively working to lower prices and deliver a vehicle that could be fully customized is a worthy mission.”