Introduction:

In the rise of Electric vehicles and new startup companies that rose up from the shadows in the last 5 years such as Rivian, Lucid and Polestar are all trying to accomplish one goal, to make the perfect electric car for any type of consumer, sure most of them are expensive however you do have cheaper options available such as the Nissan Leaf and the newer Hyundai Kona EV but even those are on the higher end costing upwards of up to the higher $20,000 and low end $30,000 range however there is a new low cost electric vehicle that has just entered the playing field simply called “slate” or “blank slate” and as corny as it sounds they’re not wrong.

Overview:

Announced on April 27th, 2025 as the truck that will cost “Under $20,000” shocked many consumers including maybe you or me (believe me i couldn’t believe it either) so that got me thinking… Is it actually $20,000? For the price and the name “blank Slate” it’s exactly how it sounds, the truck comes in one color, painted in one color to be exact as weirdly enough you can’t option it with paint, but you can option it with a vinyl wrap to whatever color you would like, you want a simple red or blue color? Slate has it. You want something more vibrant and bold? Slate has it. You want a bright neon pink color that appears as a chrome color? wait for it… Slate has it. Any color that you desire Slate offers it as you can choose a color of choice that they don’t offer (at an extra cost), it also comes with other custom options including different wheels, bumpers, decals, partial wraps (im not sure what that is), lighting, interior parts, audio and tech, dashboard trim and what they call “Slatelets” which are like croc charms but for your slate truck as they stick onto your dashboard as a little charm (how cute) -not really-, I can’t imagine that will soon get out of hand like how jeep owners have a weird obsession with putting rubber duckies on their dashboards but who am i to judge, and better yet, you can get a SUV body shell for it as well.

Is it actually $20,000? and is it worth it??

To start off.. remember when i said that the slate truck costed under $20,000? well, its partially true and might be false as time passes and their development stages progress, let me explain, It doesn’t actually cost under $20,000, the starting price is $27,000, but with the EV tax credits for new Electric Vehicles it will only cost $19,950 with the $7,500 tax credit however, it won’t last long due to Donald Trump ending the EV incentives for those purchasing a new electric vehicle to help draw buyers away from gas cars as the Left leaning side of the political spectrum believe they are harmful for the environment (which they’re not) but it was worth a shot, so no, the Slate does not cost $20,000 and probably won’t upon its planned release in 2027 (if it gets released) and for the non-advertised price of $27,000 you get a basic truck, it’s not painted, it has steel wheels, it has plastic body panels, ok, not bad, however for $30,000, you don’t get a navigation system, or a radio, or speakers which are add-on options by the way, and yet for exactly $27,000 i can give into my selfish ways and buy a nice Saleen Mustang, but for those who have $27,000 to spend for a car or SUV (in this case a better alternative to the Slate Truck with the SUV add-on) there are better options in my opinion which to name a few you can buy yourself a mid-range Toyota Corolla Cross, Chevy Trax, Volkswagen Taos or even a Buick Envista which weirdly enough is considered a luxury car on certain trim levels, or if you need a truck your only 2 options would be a Ford Maverick or a Nissan Frontier which start under $30,000 (before tariff prices) and can pretty much do the same job a slate can except it has 3 more seats (or 2 in the frontiers case if you get a King Cab) but still the Slate does offer more bed space than the maverick with the maverick coming in at 4.5 feet of bed space while the slate offers 5 feet of bed space, but to be fair you can just put down the tailgate for when you need, the Slate truck has a decent power offering despite its cost and size, powered by a 52.7-kWh battery from a single motor mounted to the rear axle making this a rear-wheel drive with a 0-60 time of 8 seconds flat which is slow to most standards but for the price you shouldn’t expect more, you get 150 miles of range and an all-wheel drive model is expected with 240 miles of range but it has a lackluster 1,450 pounds of towing capacity.

Will this be a failure or a success?

As this truck promises to be under $20,000 it is extremely unlikely this will be the case by the time 2027 comes around, not only that most consumers would rather buy a used truck for that price anyways without any worries of range anxiety or the lack of capabilities that a normal truck possesses, not only that the price of $27,000 without the incentives for a truck without a radio or even an audiosystem and a lack of many other features it will be a tough sell to consumers as i see the only people buying these would be companies in need of a commuter truck for hauling goods across town and that’s about it, sure it’s a nice idea and the customization is insane in terms of a new car but for the price its not that appealing to me or even most consumers, even for a truck slightly larger than a 1985 Toyota Tacoma single cab for the asking price its a nice thought but not a good idea considering most consumers are getting rid of their electric vehicles because they are fed up with their flaws and problems and going back to gas vehicles and even the high cost is a turn off to most people in the market, but it was a good try though.

Final thoughts:

In the rise and fall of electric vehicles they’re still going strong in terms of sales like the rise of Rivian and Chinese electric car makers overseas and others as Tesla falls from the top and the idea of a small “affordable” electric truck isn’t the best idea considering it costs $27,000 without incentives which they will go away in the near future soon, but i could be wrong as this company may be the next big hit in the automotive industry however they might be off to a rough start considering what i explained earlier with what consumers would rather spend that money on a used truck of SUV, but i could be wrong as they anticipate that this will grow into something much larger than they are right now, only time will tell.

Specs:

• targeted cost of under $20,000 (with incentives)
• 201 horsepower
• 0-60 time of 8 seconds
• range of 150-240 miles on a full charge
• on sale winter of 2026
• 5 foot bed space
• 2 door-2 passenger pickup truck or 4 passenger 2 door SUV