Range
- Small battery range: 240km
- Big battery range: 385km
Motor
- Motor: Single motor, rear wheel drive
- Power: 150kW
- Torque: 264Nm
- 0-100km: 8s
- Top speed: 145km/h
Dimensions
- Bed length: 1.5m
- Vehicle length: 4.4m
- Vehicle height: 1.8m
- Vehicle width: 1.8m
Comparison
- 2025 Kia Niro length: 4.4m
- 2025 Ford Maverick length: 5.1m
- 1985 Toyota Pickup/Hilux length: 4.7m
Weights
- Curb weight 1634kg
- Max payload 650kg
- Max towing 454kg
Charging
- Port: NACS
- Onboard charger: 11kW
- Level 1 AC, 3.6kw, 20-100%: 11h
- Level 2 AC, 11kW, 20-100%: under 5h
- Level 3 DC, 120kW, 20-80%: under 30m
Safety
- Traction Control
- Electronic Stability Control
- Forward Collision Warning
- Automatic Emergency Braking
- 2-stage Driver/Passenger Airbags
- Full Length Side Curtain Airbags (Truck 2) (SUV 4)
- Seat Side Airbags (2)
- Backup Camera
- Pedestrian Identification
- Auto High Beam
More info
Where’s the bullet point for Bezos? Hard pass if that shit bag is involved in anyway.
Something like this I imagine I’d be happy with. A sedan/crossover and this. Wouldn’t take it out the county. Just trips to hardware/gardening stores and moving furniture. More than enough range and speed to go to work too. Any long drive I’d probably get an Accord hybrid or something. 2 vehicle family
Cool but now I’m worried this is being spammed everywhere. New capitalism marketing at foot?
yea im already slightly tired of seeing this truck after the day(s) it’s been promoted.
Can someone please convert some of these numbers to freedom units? Specifically the range, horsepower, torque, and 0-60 numbers?
I actually think for once, you guys do it
0-60mph is mostly deprecated these days in favor of 0-62mph, which just so happens to be the same as 0-100km/h — what a coincidence!
I’m aware of this, and it’s not the same because there is a 2 MPH difference. So the 0-60 number will be smaller, albeit slightly.
They specified 1 significant figure — at that level it’s the same.
Very interesting, but please give me power windows and a dumb infotainment unit that does Android Auto/CarPlay. No Internet connection. No integration with the rest of the car.
Available as optional extras
I struggle to understand the point of a truck that can only tow 500kg… that and such awful range. If the range were doubled this would be a great deal, but as is it’s just dead in the water.
That’s because you’re thinking of trucks used first and foremost for heavy duty “truck stuff.” That is not the only market for trucks, at least in the US: https://www.thedrive.com/news/26907/you-dont-need-a-full-size-pickup-truck-you-need-a-cowboy-costume
According to Edwards’ data, 75 percent of truck owners use their truck for towing one time a year or less (meaning, never). Nearly 70 percent of truck owners go off-road one time a year or less. And a full 35 percent of truck owners use their truck for hauling—putting something in the bed, its ostensible raison d’être—once a year or less.
It can probably tow more, usually 500 kg is like the bare minimum for American cars. Also us towing standards are a bit more strict. A car in the EU is rated to tow more than a car in the US, even if it’s identical.
Even if it were 1000kg, that’s still way below what a truck would want to tow though.
Low towing capacity and an outrageously miserable bed size. Less than five feet? The powertrain of this should have been put in a station wagon, not a “truck.”
239 miles / 150 miles for big/small battery in angry eagle units.
Under $20k after federal incentives*
Yeah, this is my issue with the government incentives for EVs, especially now that they are more common and can be deducted from the sale price. Most retailers are just jacking up the price to whatever the cap for the rebate is while pretending it’s still a good deal.
This is the same argument used for blaming the cost of college on government loans for education, for $$$ housing prices in cities that offer low income subsidies, for food prices due to food stamps…
I hardly think $27.5k could be considered “jacking up the price” but I also don’t appreciate advertising pricing that is dependent on a government incentive that may not even exist when the vehicles are actually delivered.
Curb weight 1634kg
This was the standout spec that might make me consider one.
I’ve been looking mainly at small hatchbacks/SUVs, and they all seem to weigh in at over 1800kg. And many are over 2000kg. Excluding Aptera…
What makes that spec a priority for you?
Weight affects basically everything. Less weight means less cost to buy, better range, better handling, less cost of maintenance (brakes, tires, etc), better safety, less getting stuck off-road, and so on…
Tires? General handling? Crash safety for others?
+1
Weight is everything. Removing it makes almost literally every aspect of a car better, and it’s usually a terrible negative for EVs.
Interesting! I must say I never considered it. My kia soul EV was heavy but handled very well. Loved that thing.
Oh yeah, its more than that. Low weight helps acceleration, braking (so safety), handling, range, wear on every component, and most of all, cost. The same sized tires will need less pressure, wear much less, and grip harder. If the car is lighter, you don’t need as stiff a chassis, nor as much braking to lock the wheels, less battery, motor, which means you can take even more weight off the car… You get where I’m going.
Racecars are fast because they are light, not because they have big engines and expensive bodies. Little 1500lb cars can lap a $3 million 1500hp (and quite heavy, because of all the stuff in it) Bugatti around a track.
Heavy cars can handle OK, but the cost is big.
EVs have a very low COG due to the batteries being at the bottom of the car. This is a good thing for handling but making them lighter would be even better.
.
? I don’t know what that means.
I was putting that comment up to come back to see what the guy above you answered your question with.
Have you tried the “star” feature? That does exactly what you’re looking for, but without useless posts.
Nope never have. I’m using boost app. What is it,
It saves the comment/post, and you can find them later by going to your profile.
Here it is in the mobile version of the web app, it’s the star. Click that, and then you’ll see then under your profile -> saved.
Since that is a full stop, maybe it means having to stop all that weight when braking?
In that case AWD and ABS are more important than curb weight.
After seeing announcements and headlines like this for over 10 years and just about nothing available for sale I just kind of yawn Now. Good way to raise some venture capital though. does it have AI? let’s do this
AI catalytic converter technology!
Tbh, I’m super into this. Especially if the range could be extended slightly or if the truck is somewhat hackable.
But then… Bezos. Ugh.
Aside from being backed by Bezos, this seems like Lemmy the car. Under 20K, an EV, no stupid touch screen, designed to be repaired and modded, and even crank windows.
I bet the catch, aside from Bezos, is the range or charge speed.
It will need to have a screen to comply with safety standards. A back up camera is mandatory.
The Citroen Ami is a “cycle car” under French law and doesn’t have to meet the same standards.
I don’t think that it has a cell modem, either, because it sounds like it eschews a baked-in entertainment computer:
https://www.caranddriver.com/news/a64564869/2027-slate-truck-revealed/
Roll-down windows come standard, as do manually adjustable rearview mirrors. An audio or infotainment system is noticeably missing, too. Instead, your cellphone or tablet serves these functions, with a dock for the former included and one for the latter available as an optional accessory. Better like the sound coming out from your phone or tablet’s speakers, too, because the Slate lacks speakers, though the brand’s accessory division will gladly hook you up with a set.
Honestly, if you took my last year of comments complaining about privacy-infringing cars and those complaining about changes to what a truck is, this does kind of look to be addressing both. Gotta see what the actual production vehicle is like in real life, of course, but…
When I say the truck is small, I mean it. At 174.6 inches, it’s about 2 feet shorter in overall length than the 2025 Ford Maverick and Hyundai Santa Cruz. And to use the Wayback Machine to a time when compact pickups were actually compact, it’s roughly the same size as the compact pickups of 1980: the Toyota truck, Chevy LUV and Ford Courier. Notably, no other automakers have offered trucks of this size in America since the mid 1990s.
Yeah, like the “inexpensive, no-frills utility vehicle” that pickups originally were.
because the Slate lacks speakers,
I mean, I get they need to cut costs, but come on… a damn radio wouldnt have killed them
Didn’t some Scions come with no radio? The idea being they were targeted at younger folks who were more likely to customize their stereo, so “no stereo, but all the speaker grilles and mount points for one” is a bit like the “no operating system -$211” option on a Laptop. Happy Linux user noises.
Honestly, as long as it’s easily DIY upgradable (accessible speaker mounting locations, standard DIN panels, etc) I am all for this. Most OEM audio systems are stupidly overpriced and suck complete donkey balls compared to what you can get for a few hundred bucks at Crutchfield and install in an afternoon.
For the last 20 years or so, most factory audio systems are so integrated into the rest of the electronics that they can be an absolute nightmare to upgrade unless you are a pro, which means you get the worst of both worlds: garbage audio, AND a steep upgrade path.
I agree, and everyone basically want Apple/Android CarPlay units anyway. The hard part will be getting a wiring harness installed, unless there is some space provided in the dash (putting speakers or anything else in a door is really annoying for the experienced, and too tall an order for the beginner.
You can get them, but I kind of like the idea of just a Bluetooth third-party speaker
The Citroen AMI doesn’t have speakers either, it comes with a Bluetooth speaker instead, which you can use outside the car. It makes sense if you just think of the entertainment stuff as something that shouldn’t be part of the car and can easily be upgraded/replaced down the line.
Agreed. It’s a car. I have an entertainment system at home and great speakers for listening. Cars suck for actual listening quality anyways.
You spent hours in that thing and phone speakers are not made to be louder than traffic and drive noises, especially not for so long. Also a radio offers traffic and accident news from local stations. And if they cheap out on speakers I am quite sure they also don’t offer USB ports to charge the phone you run in lieu of a build in system
I am quite sure they also don’t offer USB ports to charge the phone you run in lieu of a build in system
I definitely read an article somewhere where it says that they provide USB power for the tablet/phone.
kagis
This article has it:
https://www.roadandtrack.com/news/a64580484/slate-truck-ev-pickup-truck-suv/
The Truck will come with a phone mount and convenient USB power to mount your phone or a tablet to the dash.
EDIT: I think that a better criticism is that this thing is just a prototype, still almost two years away from mass production, assuming everything goes right for them. Like, they could have any number of things go wrong (the Trump tariff situation, for one…hard to have any idea where things will be). It could be that they crash into problems trying to get mass production going. It could be that they can’t hit their target price point.
Speakers are optional. I built one on their site. Speakers are available.
They shouldn’t be an upgrade. Basic speakers are like 50 bucks, for an item that costs 20k, thats a drop in the bucket
You can buy a mid-range loudspeaker for like $5 at an electronics store.
This vehicle is clearly meant as an errand truck, not a roadtripper. It wasn’t that long ago when base model work trucks didn’t have a radio or speakers installed.
Quit getting pissy over something that doesn’t even exist yet.
100% in agreement with all your points. Simplicity and modular! Look how well the original mustang did, because you could actually get what you wanted. That has disappeared completely now
I don’t think that it has a cell modem, either
So it’s not coming to Europe then.
Is there a requirement for big brother data tracking over there?
Cars must be able to autonomously call emergency services. You don’t need a SIM for that, or for that matter have the modem switched on all the time.
…and that system is only activated in case of an accident. The spec explicitly states that there is no continuous tracking of vehicle position or other parameters.
I’m from the states, but what’s stopping one from removing the modem or snipping the antenna?
They sell emergency car lights that you pop up on top of the car ala secret police (but yellow). They have a modem that when activated automatically notifies the road services of you being there stopped.
Why would you?
Possibly, technical inspections. I’m not sure whether it’s a requirement for cars to be street legal or just a requirement for cars to be sold on the market. The regulation only mentions that it’s about type approval but it’s not like modifying a car automatically nullifies its type approval.
Certainly would be hard to argue for authorities that snipping the eCall would endanger others, similar situation as with seat belts I don’t think legislation is unified there.
No but the emergency assistant system is required, and for that you need a cell modem.
No, the catch is that it isn’t real.
@ me when it’s rolling off the production line.
Until then…it will have
you will be able toI love this truck. I want one. It’s just that it’s a VC pump and dump.
Yeah they said they’re hoping to be producing them by 2026. So likely won’t be available till 2027/28
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As long as it gets 50+ miles range reliably in winter, it’s perfect as a commuter/weekend project truck. I generally look for 150 miles range for this, since winter can cut effective range in half. I don’t care about charge speed since I’ll just plug it in at night.
Good news, its range is 150 miles.
I mean Bezos backed Rivian too. Or Amazon did, anyway.
Standard Range (52.7 kWh) (est.): 150 miles
seems like but manageable for most people
That’s not 150 miles of actual driving range, it’s more like 75-100miles of actual range.
It’s 150 miles of rated range, presumably according to the EPA standard, just like every other EV is rated. The EPA standards have recently been updated to reflect more accurately.
Yes, and yet it is still so very far from reality when it comes to BEVs. It’s fine when comparing cars because it’s a well defined standard, but it’s terrible at indicating actual range especially if you don’t live in dry warm climate.
It’s really not. You can’t account for climate with a single number. That’s why standards exist.
They do say that they also offer a larger battery pack with a 240 mi range, but yeah, even so, it’s not gonna be a great vehicle for long-distance highway travel compared to a current ICE vehicle. Fine for a commuter, though.
Don’t buy a truck if you’re just a daily commuter, that’s just plain dumb. Get a BEV with much better efficiency and a tow hitch for the occasional needs.
Point me to an electric sedan I can buy for $20k and I will.
A GWM Ora is about the equivalent of US$20K in Australia (no subsidies). So its doable.
A bacon egg vehicle?
Battery Electric Vehicle
But…it has a battery? What makes the difference?
The truck form is just one of the body options for it. I mean, you can’t get it in sedan form, but the website configurator thing has options for small SUV and fastback.
All are tall models with shit efficiency.
My car doesn’t even go >200mi but I’ve driven it on multi-thousand mile trips with no problem.
I do have a concern about that; a lot of pickup truck missions are go-and-get-it. The best lumber yard in my area just happens to be about 75 miles away. Not a problem for my S10, right on the cusp of what this thing can do.
I very much doubt their target market is people commuting to the office.
I want it as a commuter because it’s cheap and can be used as a weekend project truck. The second part isn’t necessary, but it’s nice to not need to rent one.
well its less it doesnt have a touch screen, the touch screen is an optional purchase.
the range iirc in some overview is 2 options, one was i think 150mi, the other was 240mi
No, there is no optional touch screen. The one featured in their media is a phone/iPad running the Slate app.
From my other link, I don’t think that the touch screen is an optional purchase. I don’t think that they’re selling any entertainment computer to have a screen on. It says that they come standard with a smartphone mounting point or optionally with a tablet mounting point. But the car computer is bring-your-own, and not built into the car. Which…is what I’ve wanted, because computers age out a lot more quickly than cars do.
I assume that there’ll be an OBD-II slot that one can hook up to to feed data about the car to the phone/tablet. There’s software that can make use of that. Dunno if there’s any other data typically exposed to car computers other than what that provides.
China is already making better cars for way less, but I guess the good thing for them is that they won’t sell to the US.
This is actually pretty cool and makes sense. Can’t wait to see what the 3D printer community does with this if the dash can be customized with accessories. Anyone know when a test drive would be covered?
Please keep in mind that this is after tax incentives. So let’s just assume the tax incentives are zero and call it 27,000 just to be on the safe side.
Looks about right.
https://www.caranddriver.com/news/a64564869/2027-slate-truck-revealed/
The Slate Truck is a bare-bones EV that’s expected to cost a little under $27,500, which can drop to less than $20,000 with the federal EV tax credit included.
a little under $27,500
Soooo $27,499?
Elon: I’m going to rule America to make people buy my shit.
Trump: I’m removing EV tax credits.
Elon: Why is nobody buying my overpriced deathtraps?
One thing that makes me nervous is that there are so many screws exposed. It seems like it would be really easy for thieves to just walk up with a hex key and steal your bumper or panels… 🤔
You can already theoretically do this with the doors on a Jeep, but it hasn’t exactly turned into an epidemic.
The panels are plastic, so while this is a concern, they probably wouldn’t get much for them. Bumper I’m less sure about.
A buddy of mine got his Tacoma tailgate stolen in broad daylight during a kid’s football game… I hope any really valuable parts are secured…
Use some Rokset on all your fasteners; the only way to break the threadlocker is with heat, and heat would also destroy the bodywork. So you could still replace damaged panels, but you couldn’t steal them.
