28-07-2025
Slate Auto still betting big on simplified, affordable EV pickup
When Will Haseltine saw images online of a small, boxy electric pickup from start-up Slate Auto earlier this year he immediately got onto the waiting list. The sparse interior and crank windows reminded him of the no-frills pickups he grew up with in Memphis, Tennessee — but he was most enamoured with the sub-$20,000 (R357,069) price tag.
That price, though, factored in a $7,500 (R133,904) federal tax break, which is set, a casualty of the budget package US President Donald Trump signed into law earlier this month. Now Haseltine isn't sure the truck will fit his budget when it comes out, expected late next year.
'The Slate was the first time I looked at a car, wanted it, and could also make it happen,' said Haseltine, a 39-year-old musical instrument technician. Without the tax credit, he said: 'That's just plain too much.'
Michigan-based Slate has raised $700m (R12.49bn) from investors, including founder Jeff Bezos, and has racked up more than 100,000 reservations for its cars. But the company is launching into a tough US market.
A few years ago hopeful entrepreneurs were looking to cash in on the global transition to electric cars. But US electric vehicle (EV) sales growth has cooled as consumer interest has faded. The loss of federal tax breaks will further hurt demand, car executives and analysts predict.
Like other EV start-ups, Slate probably faces a long road to profitability. The EV business has proven to be a money loser for most industry players, partly because batteries remain relatively expensive. Even in China, where smaller, inexpensive EVs have proliferated and companies enjoy a cost advantage over Western carmakers, most are unprofitable.
