Will the Slate EV pickup truck completely kill off all Cybertruck sales there?
When Tesla first announced the cybertruck many were excited for it but after hefty delays and a substantially higher price tag than expected, sales are less than stellar. Now, Slate Auto, a new EV startup backed by Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, has just revealed its first vehicle, an all-electric pickup truck. So is Tesla finally done?
Unveiled with dramatic flair at a launch event in Long Beach, California, the Slate EV pickup truck is slated (see what I did there?) to hit the U.S market in 2026 with a starting price of just USD25,000 (approximately RM109,424) making it ridiculously cheaper than the Tesla.
Moreover, designed to be highly customizable and affordable, the Slate Truck arrives in a minimalist base model that strips away standard features like power windows and even a radio. The idea, according to CEO Chris Barman, is to give buyers complete freedom to personalize their truck exactly how they want it based on their budget.
Manufactured somewhere in the Midwest, the Slate Truck aims to become the most affordable EV and pickup truck on the U.S. market. So now wiyh such an attractive price tag and the freedom to make the truck 100 percent you, we ask the question, will Slate ever come to Malaysia?
Given the current state of the tariff war, it is unlikely but we can hope. The base Slate Truck features a 52.7kWh battery and a 201hp RWD electric motor, good for about 150 miles (about 241km)of range. For those needing more distance, an optional 84.3 kWh battery will extend the range up to 240 miles (roughky 386km).
On top of that, the Slate truck can be charged overnight with faster charging likely being an option customers can buy and despite the base model being very bare bones lavking even power windows, Slate still includes important safety features like automatic emergency braking and forward collision warning.
Every Slate truck leaves the factory with steel wheels, crank windows and no-frills styling and a standout feature is an optional SUV conversion kit that transforms the pickup into a five-passenger SUV in about an hour. Clearly the Slate truck is not just aiming to compete with the Tesla Cybertruck, but to completely outdo it at every turn.
We got all this from Business Insider and their full article is linked here. Thank you Business Insider for the information and images.
