Slate Emerges From Stealth With Bezos Backing and 100K Reservations in 3 Weeks
The biggest surprise in the small truck space this year: Slate Auto, a startup that spent three years operating in complete stealth, publicly unveiled its electric pickup at an event in Long Beach, California on April 24, 2025. Within three weeks, the company had collected 100,000 refundable $50 reservations. The number has since surpassed 150,000.
The Truck
The Slate Truck is deliberately minimalist. Two seats, no touchscreen, no stereo, no power windows. Starting under $28,000, it's the most affordable EV truck announced. The specs are straightforward: 201 horsepower from a single rear motor, 150 or 240 miles of range depending on battery choice (52.7 or 84.3 kWh), a 60-inch bed, and 1,433 lbs of payload capacity. It comes with a Tesla-style NACS charging port.
The real hook is modularity — over 100 accessories at launch, removable body panels, vinyl wraps, and a flat-pack SUV conversion kit that adds rear seats for a total of five passengers.
The Money Behind It
Slate raised $600 million in 2024 from Jeff Bezos, Mark Walter (LA Dodgers owner / Guggenheim Partners CEO), and General Catalyst. The company was founded in 2022 inside Re:Build Manufacturing and is headquartered in Troy, Michigan.
What's Next
Slate has announced a $383.5 million investment in a manufacturing plant in Warsaw, Indiana — a repurposed printing facility that will create over 2,100 jobs. Production is targeted for end of 2026, with a capacity goal of 150,000 vehicles per year. Jay Leno has already test-driven a prototype, comparing it favorably to honest work trucks of the 1960s and '70s.
Our Take
Slate has instantly become one of the most credible entries on this tracker. The funding is real ($600M+), the factory investment is real ($383M), and the demand signal is staggering (150K+ reservations). The minimalist philosophy won't be for everyone, but the price-to-capability ratio is hard to argue with. Now they just have to build the thing.