Sue Callaway is cofounder of Glovebox Media and provides expert EV analysis for The Cool Down.
Slate Auto, the EV startup that won Jeff Bezos and LA Dodgers owner Mark Walter, among others, as big investors in its unique plug-and-play, a la carte approach to building a truly affordable truck, took another leap forward in August by officially opening a manufacturing facility in Warsaw, Indiana.
Slate first unveiled its "Blank Slate" vehicle in April. Within two weeks, the company received more than 100,000 reservations from interested buyers, who each paid a refundable $50 deposit to save their spot in line.
Over the summer, Slate executives took one of their prototypes on a cross-country road show, stopping in towns and cities along the way to let the media and consumers get up close to the truck.
I caught up with them in Newport, Rhode Island, and talked with a few company executives, including Tisha Johnson, Slate's head of design, and Ben Whitla, the head of brand and marketing. What they shared and what I saw was nothing short of genius.
A confident, nicely proportioned neon blue sportback sat in the baking sun of a seaside parking lot as a small group of us circled it. Johnson explained that all Slates will be identical when they leave the factory. Customization — including body style (pickup, sportback, or SUV), an infinite number of color choices in the form of easily changeable vinyl wraps, and dozens of plug-and-play accessories — will be in the hands of the owner to assemble and change at will.
"We poured our DNA into the front fascia," Johnson explained. "There's a lack of ego in our design — no precious materials or expensive grills, just exposed fasteners that signal how easy it is to change them."
All around, the Slate's composite body fasteners were visible. The company will ship panels, parts, vinyl wraps, taillight covers, and so on to owners in flat shipping boxes, and all will pass strict quality and safety tests. Customers will be able to literally DIY their way from a pickup to an SUV in just a few short hours — from the comfort of their own garage. Imagine fixing a ding yourself instead of going through an expensive body shop.
Slate's configurator tool has been blowing up over the last few months, with consumers endlessly playing around with shapes, wheels, wraps, decals, and add-ons like roof racks.
"Our greatest advocates are our customers," Whitla said. "We often get ideas for new designs from them."
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The interior choices are equally empowering, and the interior itself is refreshingly blank. There are no screens, no infotainment systems (if you want them, you can add them later).
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Sign me up 👍 You get a simple dock for your smartphone in the center of the dashboard, through which Slate will send over-the-air software updates, cutting out the need for expensive modems and extra tech. Windows go up and down manually. If you want speakers, you can buy as few or as many as you like, making the Slate a compelling choice both for first-time buyers and those who want to deck them out.
Jeff Jablansky, the head of PR and communications, walked us through Slate University, an online repository the company is building with how-to information for owners. Each DIY project will be rated for its difficulty and will include details like the number and type of wrenches you'll need and whether it's a one- or two-person job.
"The key to customization is enabling buyers to do it themselves," Jablansky explained.
I snuck a peek at a very unofficial video of a ten-year-old wrapping a Slate in a new vinyl skin. It made the process look fun — and hard to mess up (if you want a pro to do it, though, Slate will provide help there, too.)
Slate plans to produce the first production vehicles in 2026 and is hoping that it will be able to hold the starting price to around $25,000, or as low as sub-$20,000 in states that will offer EV-friendly tax credits, as the federal incentives expire at the end of September 2025.
If it gets the quality right, Slate might just give car buyers things that they've always wanted and never had, including affordability, full design freedom, safety, and, well, fun. To me, that is the very definition of game-changing.
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