This electric ute is shaping as the anti-Tesla for EV buyers

The Age

04-05-2025

With Tesla's reputation falling and Chinese exports to the US under threat, an automotive start-up backed by Amazon founder Jeff Bezos plan to offer an alternative – a small and affordable ute it hopes will become the Ford Model T of electric vehicles.
Slate Auto has been flying under the radar for years, hiring employees from the likes of Ford, General Motors and Harley-Davidson, and is led by Chrysler veteran Christine Barman as its chief executive. It has significant Amazon roots, having originally spun out of the Re:Build Manufacturing incubator.
According to a report from Tech Crunch, the company raised at least US$111 million in a Series A round in 2023, plus an undisclosed amount in a series B late last year, with Bezos and other Amazon executives among the investors. The leads of Slate's digital, e-commerce and in-vehicle experience divisions also come by way of Amazon.
Is Slate ready to join a line of budding Tesla killers? Given the size of the company, it will need to make a lot more vehicles to hurt Elon Musk's baby, which is shipping millions of cars per year. Slate is likely to be pumping out closer to 100,000 cars. But it does offer an attractive option to those who want an everyday electric ute rather than a $100,000 Cybertruck, or EV enthusiasts who have soured on Tesla for political reasons.
Slate's car, which will reportedly roll off the production line next year, certainly carries an air of tech start-up disruption. While most EV companies debut with an expensive car and work towards the middle of the market, Slate plans to start low; it will offer its vehicle starting at $US20,000 ($31,000), or around a third of the average price for a new EV in the United States.
The idea is that it will eat a lot of the cost of manufacturing the car, and rely on an ecosystem of upgrades, add-ons and aesthetic customisations to bring in more money over time.
The 'Blank Slate', as the vehicle in its default state is called, is a small car. As shown on the company's website, it's closer to the size of a 1985 Toyota ute than to the massive American 'trucks' commonly seen on the road today. It's also much simpler than most new electric vehicles, with very little in the way of extra features. Unless you want to add them.
The vehicle has two seats, no digital screen, no electric windows and no audio system. It has air-conditioning, a phone or tablet holder, old-school window winders and trunk space under the bonnet. It comes in grey but is designed for optional wraps in any colour, and it's built to be augmented with a range of add-ons.