Newcomer Slate Auto plans to drive domestic manufacturing with Indiana EV plant

© Slate Auto | https://www.slate.auto

Buzz has been building for weeks about the new electric vehicle (EV) company backed by Jeff Bezos, and then last week Slate Auto finally emerged from stealth mode with its affordable, simple, customizable electric pickup truck.

“The definition of what’s affordable is broken,” says Slate CEO Chris Barman. “Slate exists to put the power back in the hands of customers who have been ignored by the auto industry. Slate is a radical truck platform so customizable that it can transform from a 2-seat pickup to a 5-seat SUV.”

The EV is offered as what the company calls a “Blank Slate” with options for more than 100 accessories, available individually or bundled, which can be added at time of purchase or later. It can indeed be transformed from a pickup into an SUV with a flat-pack accessory kit that can be assembled by the customer or by a professional. It’s not even painted – Slate is designing the vehicle to be wrapped, a process that can be undone or redone multiple times to change up its look.

After revealing the flashy – or anti-flashy, as it were; simplicity is at the core of Slate’s model – details of the new design, the company announced this week that it will also be boosting U.S. manufacturing by assembling the EV in Warsaw, Indiana. Slate plans to take over a former LSC Communications-owned printing plant that closed in 2023, beginning production in 2026 and creating more than 2,000 jobs.

Slate aims to manufacture 150,000 vehicles per year at the 1.4 millionft² facility, an ambitious goal that may be doable thanks to the EV’s stripped-down design – in addition to being presented unpainted, it also features old-fashioned crank windows and HVAC knobs in lieu of touch screens and automation. It does offer modern safety features, however, such as active emergency braking, forward collision warning, and up to eight airbags.

As for the details EV consumers tend to be most interested in, the Slate will feature a 52.7kWh battery pack with 150kW output and a range targeted at 150 miles, with an accessory 84.3kWh pack offering targeted range of 240 miles. As the EV is still in pre-production, these numbers aren’t set in stone, but they give potential buyers some idea of what they can expect.

According to Slate, the price of the vehicle is expected to be less than $20,000 after federal incentives. The future of said incentives is currently uncertain, but with or without them, the Slate is still slated to be potentially the most affordable EV in the United States. As cost has been a major factor limiting the widespread adoption of EVs by U.S. consumers, Slate could break through that barrier. As charging stations become more widely available and manufacturers strive to outdo each other with the longest-lasting, fastest-charging batteries, the most common EV-related concerns are being addressed.

Capitalism is driven by competition, so Slate’s inexpensive model is likely to spur other manufacturers to pursue affordability more aggressively. Despite government-driven attempts to slow or halt the development of EVs in the United States, innovations aimed at consumer pain points may do the opposite and finally break the industry open.