Slate Auto raises $650 million as production gets closer and closer

The electric pickup startup Slate Auto starts the week off well. This morning it announced it has raised $650 million as part of its latest funding round.

Slate is a refreshing outlier among all the aspiring new electric vehicle OEMs. Lucid debuted with an electric sedan that intended to move the game on from the Tesla Model S. Rivian said, “What if [we had] supercar suspension and a smiley face for an EV with serious off-road skills?” Both arguably succeeded. Sony Honda Mobility wanted to make the EV a true digital content hub, at least until one half of that joint venture called time—who knows how that project would have turned out, although I suspect sales would have been underwhelming.

But Slate, which got its start in 2022, is doing things differently. It’s not starting sales with something near six-figures; far from it. The abolishment of the federal clean vehicle tax credit was no doubt inconvenient—with it, a sub-$20,000 starting price was possible, but even at “mid-$20,000s” the Slate Truck should match or undercut the Ford Maverick XL, currently the cheapest pickup on sale in the US.

Slate is taking a radical approach to meet that price. It will be assembled from just 600 parts, a tenth the amount of normal pickup trucks. The body panels are plastic and unpainted, and so there’s no need for stamping or a paint shop. Each truck will be built at the company’s Warsaw, Indiana, factory in the same blank configuration: two doors, manual windows, and no infotainment or touchscreens. People on the Internet for some time now have said they want to buy something uncomplicated and bare-bones, and Slate Auto is taking them at their word.

Every Slate truck uses a 201 hp (150 kW) motor driving the rear wheels, but there are two choices of battery: 57.2 kWh with a target range of 150 miles (241 km), and a larger 84.3 kWh pack with a target range of 240 miles (386 km). Flat-pack kits will let owners evolve their trucks, adding a covered bed or even change it into a five-door SUV, and if you don’t like the molded gray panels, plenty of body wraps will be offered. Repairs and warranties will be handled by a network of 4,000 RepairPal service centers that Slate has partnered with.

With this latest infusion of funds, a successful launch later this year now seems even more likely.

“Our Series C round of funding will enable Slate to reach the next stages of production his year: on time and on budget,” said CEO Peter Faricy. “We can’t wait for our future customers to preorder their Slate Trucks beginning in June.”