The very first thing you discover about the Slate Truck is its measurement. It’s small, surprisingly so. In a rustic the place vehicles typically include their own zip code, Slate’s pickup is refreshingly puny, measuring 174.6 inches lengthy, 70.6 inches large, and 69.3 inches tall, with a curb weight of roughly 3,602 kilos (1,634kg). As a reference level, it’s almost the similar measurement as Marty McFly’s 1985 Toyota SR5 from Back to the Future.
But inside, that diminutive feeling disappears, as I discovered myself with ample quantities of head- and legroom. As a comparatively tallish man (over 6 ft) who typically feels cramped in most automobiles, I couldn’t imagine the quantity of room I had in such a small truck.
According to Tisha Johnson, Slate’s head of design, that is no accident. While many automobiles are designed with a most top of round 6 ft 1 inch, Slate needed to create an inside house that was extra ample and comfy. The emphasis on spatial consolation, she tells me, aligns with the startup’s broader design philosophy of usability and accessibility.
I’ll admit that I’ve been skeptical about the Slate Truck because it was first introduced final 12 months. A two-seater electrical pickup with no paint, no radio, no energy home windows, not even a dang cell connection — who is that this for? In its try to construct an electrical truck that most individuals might afford, Slate left quite a bit on the reducing room flooring. We’ve seen loads of minimalist EVs earlier than, however this was strolling a really wonderful line between spartan and sterile. After all, there are many mid-$20,000 non-electric automobiles that additionally include radios and navigation methods. How a lot minimalism is too a lot minimalism?
After sitting in the truck for only a minute, although, I used to be swayed. There is minimalism that feels virtually hostile to the consumer, hiding vital controls like gear shifting behind a digital interface that requires a number of faucets and swipes earlier than you get the desired response.
And then there’s Slate’s strategy to minimalism, which is extra centered on utility, affordability, and, most significantly, selection. As chief designer, Johnson brings a number of a long time of expertise along with her, together with 10 years at a bit firm recognized for its explicit model of Swedish minimalism known as Volvo. Johnson instructed me that in the design course of for the Slate Truck, the workforce would debate which options to maintain and which to toss out.
“When we recognize that we can take something out, and that deletion is lower cost, then we’re all about it,” she mentioned. “Because we say that the dollars that we save in making the vehicle, those are dollars back to our customers.”
Often the arguments would get heated. At one level, the Slate designers argued over whether or not to incorporate an HVAC system. With local weather change and excessive warmth seemingly a everlasting fixture for the future, Johnson knew the truck couldn’t afford to lose air-con. So evidently, the pro-HVAC aspect received.
“What I love about that is it was an honest debate,” Johnson mentioned. “We had to tug and pull on that topic. It wasn’t an automatic.”
But different creature comforts had been tossed apart, like a stereo and built-in audio system. The truck does have a small speaker for legally required audio notifications, however that’s it. Customers can set up their own Bluetooth audio system, which the car is designed to accommodate. But in any other case, Slate’s philosophy is: Why make everybody pay for one thing only some individuals might want?
Of course, most individuals would in all probability choose to have a built-in stereo system. But Slate thinks it will probably lure individuals in with strong checklist of equipment and aftermarket kits. Wraps, decals, chunky wheels, suspension elevate and decreasing, even a package that transforms the two-seater pickup right into a five-seater compact SUV. Slate desires to let its clients do the customizing.
The truck I noticed was what the firm calls its Blank Slate — no paint, no wraps, nothing however drab grey physique panels that had various nicks and scratches. (Slate made 20 prototypes which were doing plenty of heavy touring to auto exhibits and different promotional occasions over the previous 12 months.) But I’ve seen all the photographs of Slate vehicles in a wide range of colours, together with one which imitates the iconic NYC “We are happy to serve you” espresso cup design. There will even be a bunch of 3D-printed elements, like grilles and rear mild casings, that homeowners can swap out and in. Johnson mentioned the concept is to let clients outline their truck, somewhat than select from a predetermined checklist of trims.
“Do they want to start with the truck, get the SUV kit later? What works for them? That’s an important story for us,” she mentioned. “Some folks will say, ‘Okay, these are the dollars I have right now. Let me get that truck.’ And then two years later they’ll say, ‘Okay, I’m in a different position now.’”
This dedication to minimalism and affordability will result in some vital tradeoffs. The truck’s upright design, for instance, will create extra wind resistance that makes it tougher to maximise aerodynamic vary. That’s why so many EVs today are formed like blobs or teardrops. Right now, Slate is providing the truck in two battery configurations: a 53kWh one that gives an EPA-estimated vary of 150 miles and an 84kWh pack with as much as 240 miles of vary.
Neither of these numbers may be very spectacular. Even the Chevy Bolt can rise up to 260 miles of vary, and it begins at round the similar worth as the Slate Truck. And the Bolt comes with energy home windows, radio, in-car navigation… you already know, all the things we’ve come to count on after we purchase a brand new automotive.
Johnson mentioned these tradeoffs come from “a real clarity” about how individuals are most probably to make use of the Slate Truck, which is as an city car for day by day driving or commutes. “Any chance we had, we questioned the conventional approach to things,” she mentioned. “So error is error. Yes, you have to work with it in a very particular way to optimize performance.”
In different phrases, the Slate Truck shouldn’t should be a “bullet in space,” as Johnson described it. It is usually a lot extra. And because of the bevy of add-ons, every one can look distinct from the different, with out a lot problem.
Will Slate’s guess repay? This in unquestionably certainly one of the worst occasions to launch a brand-new EV. Or perhaps it’s the greatest time, with each automotive costs and fuel costs on the rise. Maybe an endlessly configurable, breathlessly minimal, tiny two-seat truck is simply what the physician ordered.
We received’t have to attend lengthy to search out out. Slate says the first vehicles will attain clients at the finish of 2026.
Photography by Owen Grove