Slate's New Affordable Electric Pickup Truck Will Cost Slightly More Than the Reported $24,950
www.caranddriver.com
The bare-bones Blank Slate's base price will rise to over $25,000 once its mandatory destination fee is finalized.
    • Jhex@lemmy.worldEnglish
      58·
      1 month ago

      Slate raised at least $111 million in Series A financing, including an undisclosed amount from Bezos. Slate then raised $600 million in 2024 from Mark Walter, the controlling owner of the Los Angeles Dodgers and CEO of Guggenheim Partners, Jeff Bezos, and General Catalyst, a venture capital firm.[5] In mid-2026, the company said it had completed a $650m series C investment round, which took its total capital raised to $1.4bn.[6]

      source

      Bezos was seed money AND part of the owner conglomerate that raised all the capital the company started with in 2024. That is enough for me to avoid this like the plague as it will, certain as the sun is hot, be enshitified to the core

      If you do not believe me, here is an article explaining how this is all a big Amazon initiative

      https://techcrunch.com/2025/04/08/inside-the-ev-startup-secretly-backed-by-jeff-bezos/

      • cenzorrll@piefed.caEnglish
        21·
        1 month ago

        I would truly not be surprised that this would be an attempt to take over there ev truck market, but manufacturers should have been paying attention. There’s a huge market for small ass trucks, no one is catering to it

        While I’m sure they’ll try to enshittify, the downside to that plan is that they need to make sure no one takes their place and they need to have something people want that they can enshittify. The benefit of simplicity is that it makes it simpler for another manufacturer to pick up the slack.

        • njordomir@lemmy.worldEnglish
          24·
          1 month ago

          I drove a small truck at one point. Think a late 90s Tacoma, Ranger, or something like that. I don’t want an F250. I don’t want a Ram 3500. I just want to be able to haul a bed full of bikes to the MTB trail and help my friends move a washing machine.

          • tychosmoose@piefed.socialOPEnglish
            16·
            1 month ago

            Slate has a size comparison widget on their website. You can show it with the silhouette of a current full size pickup and a circa 1985 small pickup. It’s almost exactly the same size as that generation.

            • njordomir@lemmy.worldEnglish
              5·
              1 month ago

              That’s cool. 99spokes does that for bicycles and I’ve found it useful in that respect. Would be cool to compare all of the cars I ever had like that.

          • dogslayeggs@lemmy.worldEnglish
            4·
            1 month ago

            I really love my hybrid Maverick. It is still bigger than I want, but it works really well and averages about 40mpg. I can also fit it in a normal parking spot, which is nice.

            • 5in1K@lemmy.zipEnglish
              2·
              1 month ago

              I wish the Maverick was body on frame and had better tow capacity. It’s almost what I want.

        • Jhex@lemmy.worldEnglish
          8·
          1 month ago

          There’s a huge market for small ass trucks, no one is catering to it

          Absolutely correct. The American car makers keep on saying “we only want big trucks” but that is complete BS, there is plenty of demand for smaller trucks which is why they have lobbied the gov to all but ban any possible import

          The benefit of simplicity is that it makes it simpler for another manufacturer to pick up the slack.

          While this is true in theory, in practice it rarely shows up. If these trucks do deliver a good, simple experience at $25K, others would not be able to just copy it and catch up. It would be easier for any of the big guys to just buy the company.

          If the company is not for sale, then they would have the monopoly on small trucks and thus, freedom to enshitify

          • cenzorrll@piefed.caEnglish
            4·
            1 month ago

            While this is true in theory, in practice it rarely shows up. If these trucks do deliver a good, simple experience at $25K, others would not be able to just copy it and catch up. It would be easier for any of the big guys to just buy the company.

            I agree, but without the complications of a combustion engine, it makes it a lot easier. You can buy ev conversion kits for around $15k, so there’s also an “I’ll make my own, with blackjack, and hookers” option.

            • Jhex@lemmy.worldEnglish
              2·
              1 month ago

              so there’s also an “I’ll make my own, with blackjack, and hookers” option.

              Always the best option! hahahaha

        • artyom@piefed.socialEnglish
          5·
          1 month ago

          There’s a huge market for small ass trucks, no one is catering to it

          Ford is. The Maverick is selling like hotcakes (not the 60s coupe). And they have an electric small truck coming soon as well. There’s also Tello.